The Student Leadership Council’s public relations committee will sponsor Lee’s first film festival on Feb. 7, 2009.

The film festival is designed for amateur film students wishing to express their creativity in writing and producing their own films.

“The film festival will be an opportunity for students to show original short films,” Brie McDaniel, assistant director of Student Development, said.

The films will be judged by faculty from the Department of Communications and the Arts. Films in the top ten will be shown the day of the festival when students will have a chance to vote on their favorite ones.

A panel of three to four judges will ultimately make the final decision on the winner, but will also take the students’ vote into account.

The top three winners will receive a cash prize.

Each film, based on the theme of courage, should be 4-6 minutes long and must adhere to the Lee University Community Covenant.

“I especially like the theme because it can be either specific or broad, so it does not limit the students’ creativity,” Tori Lee, SLC public relations secretary, said.

Each person can submit up to two films, but the films must be separate story lines because they will be judged against each other.

Students wishing to participate should e-mail LeeFilmFestival@gmail.com to receive a copy of the official judging criteria and rules on how to submit their DVDs.

Films will be due in mid-January so that the judges can screen the films and conduct the preliminary judging process.

Lee University will spearhead the event, in conjunction with McDaniel, SLC and the Department of Communications and the Arts.

“It’s a really unique opportunity for people to be creative,” Lee said. “It’s the first one like it at Lee, and we hope to continue this event every year.”