by Usama Alshaibi

The inaugural edition of CSU’s Through the Student Lens Film Festival is scheduled to premiere online at 6 p.m. on May 3 and run through May 17. With a total runtime of just 57 minutes, the festival features 23 short films made by students and recent alumni.  

The films run two to four minutes in length and vary widely in topic, approach, and style. Many of the films focus on local campus issues and students’ experiences. Selections were made by student and faculty programmers with the goal to showcase and celebrate impressive films made by students and alumni. Moreover, the festival has largely been led by the creative efforts of students Lauryn Ritchie, Zara Allen, and Kendall Constable.  

Through the Student Lens was originally planned and scheduled for an in-person premiere in late March 2020. The film festival was postponed, expanded, and shifted to an online format. Tickets are free and films are available to view at https://tsl2021.eventive.org  

“Most of these films were made only using a smart phone and free editing tools,” notes the festival’s program director, Usama Alshaibi, teaching associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Colorado State University. Many of the featured films were made by first time student filmmakers in Alshaibi’s SPCM class, The Personal Lens-Making Media.  

Through the Student Lens Film Festival is divided into two programs. Program 1 is titled “Before,” referring to before the pandemic, and addresses topics such as death, anxiety, and hate groups on CSU’s campus. Program 2, titled “After,” is composed of films that were made during the pandemic and examine the issues students faced as a new reality took hold of their lives.  

Alshaibi says, “Not only do these films express the inner lives of students today, but this is also a historical record of a generation deeply impacted by our global pandemic.”