This week, Birmingham-Southern’s Media and Film Studies (MFS) Program is hosting their second Hilltop Film Festival of Diversity and Inclusion. Screenings, panels, and other events are running now through April 25 in several locations on campus.

The first festival was held in fall 2020 with the aim to discuss, honor, and celebrate the perspectives underrepresented in the mainstream film industry, including the work of LGBTQ+, racial and ethnic minority, and female directors and producers. Assistant Professor of Media and Film Studies Robert Corna and MFS graduate Nicholas Medina ’20 began planning the festival during the 2019-2020 academic year and now see it in motion.

The fall event was open to faculty, staff, and students, and featured discussions about different cultures and genres. This year, guests are able to attend under COVID-19 restrictions, and the festival is taking place over the course of the week in outdoor venues like Hill Amphitheatre and indoor theatres like Munger Auditorium, Norton Theater, and the Geodome.

Each day of the festival opens with a panel, followed by film screenings. Senior MFS major Allan Monterrubio – who is this year’s festival coordinator – has organized the festival team that has scouted screening locations, created promotional designs, and, of course, picked the film submissions to curate the event.

“This year we received submissions from 49 different countries,” Monterrubio says. “My favorite part of the event has been viewing submissions from around the world. I think it’s imperative that, as students, we realize that there exists a point of view that is different from ours, and I want to bring those experiences to people through cinema.”

Along with screenings of their selected works, the festival team will also be awarding filmmakers showcased during the event. This spring, honors for best narrative short, best documentary short, best animated short, best music video, and the audience award will all be recognized. The team this year has also partnered with Sidewalk Film Festival and Cinema to offer up to 60 BSC faculty, staff, and students free admission to the Sidewalk Cinema on Wednesday night, April 21.

Most importantly to the purpose of the film festival, Monterrubio and others hope that members of the BSC campus community and beyond engage in meaningful discussions about different cultures and perspectives – discussions that can be enhanced by the film genre.

“I’m interested to see what type of conversations we can spark between students, and hopefully we can expand their worldview in a positive and significant way,” Monterrubio says.

Find more detailed information about the event and submission process on the Hilltop Film Festival of Diversity and Inclusion Film Freeway site. Here is schedule of events open to the campus community:

Friday, April 16

6:30-7:30 p.m. – People of Color Panel
Hill Music Amphitheatre

7:30-9:30 p.m. – Film Screenings
Hill Music Amphitheatre

Tuesday, April 20

5:30-6:30 p.m. – LGBTQ+ Panel
Alumni Fountain

5-7 p.m. – Doodle’s Italian Ice available
Alumni Fountain

7-10 p.m. – Film Screenings
Norton Theater

Wednesday, April 21

6-8 p.m. – Film Screenings

Free admission at Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema