UA Student-Run Black Warrior Film Festival Listed as Rising Tide

The University of Alabama’s student-run Black Warrior Film Festival appeared in campus materials under the Rising Tide Film Festival name and staged a hybrid program of virtual panels and in-person screenings that included 38 selected entries and a $10,000 Holle Award. All events were free and festival information pointed to the festival website, blackwarriorfilmfest.com.

The weekend opened with virtual industry panels at scheduled times: State of the Industry: Producing at 11:30 a.m., State of the Industry: Casting at 12:50 p.m., and The Importance of Diversity, On and Off Camera at 2:10 p.m. A marquee virtual event, An Evening with Phyllis Nagy, ran at 3:30 p.m.; Nagy is credited as a theater and film director, screenwriter and playwright, an Emmy nominee for her 2005 debut Mrs. Harris, and an Academy Award nominee for the 2015 screenplay Carol, which features Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson and Kyle Chandler. Organizers referenced pandemic lessons from the prior year’s virtual programming and drive-in screenings when describing the mix of virtual and in-person activities.

Saturday combined morning virtual sessions and an in-person block in Ferguson Theatre at the UA Student Center. Virtual items included State of the Industry: Film Festivals at 10:00 a.m. and Alumni in the Industry at 11:20 a.m. The Ferguson Theatre slate began at 3:00 p.m. with an experimental film block, followed by comedy at 4:00 p.m., horror at 5:20 p.m., and a Capstone block at 6:35 p.m. Sunday continued in Ferguson Theatre with a 1:00 p.m. documentary block, a 2:00 p.m. drama block and a 3:00 p.m. Holle session noted as submissions up for a $10,000 Holle Award; the weekend closed with a virtual awards ceremony at 7:00 p.m.

Campus calendar listings show related programming under Rising Tide Film Festival on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Bevill Hall 1000, with a full-day schedule from 9:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. that included I Have a Film Degree, Now What? at 9:30 a.m., documentary and horror blocks, a Charmin Lee keynote from 3:20 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., and an awards ceremony at 6:45 p.m. Promotional posts on social media referenced another showing at the Bama Theater on April 18, indicating multiple venue usages around the festival: Ferguson Theatre, Bevill Hall 1000 and Bama Theater appear in different listings.

The festival selection list included 13 entries by University of Alabama students among the 38 total selections, and student filmmakers received prominent placement in program blocks and panels. Kailey New, identified as director of the University of Alabama’s Black Warrior Film Institute for 2022 and a senior from Fort Payne majoring in creative media with a minor in creative writing, recounted an early start in filmmaking: "... before I even knew what short films were," she said. "But we don't talk about that. It was about a mad scientist who had to create this cure to turn a statue back into a person. I made copies for my family. ...They keep threatening to play it."

The weekend featured multiple State of the Industry panels on producing, casting and festivals, alumni panels, workshops and a keynote, underscoring the student-led focus described in campus pages. The festival’s mixed-venue presentation and overlapping naming, Black Warrior Film Festival and Rising Tide Film Festival, were both on display across listings and venues while the program showcased student work, visiting speakers and the Holle Award competition.