WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Images Cinema in Williamstown has always been about education and opening film fans to different viewpoints of filmmaking. In introducing the Berkshire Student Film Festival, occurring on Saturday with both 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. screenings of short films, the venue hopes to create a more expanded community, with increased communication among local creatives.
Janet Curran, managing director of the cinema, first began her film journey as a student at Williams College when she spent time at Images nearly 20 years ago. “I was a volunteer, so I got to see movies for free,” Curran said. “It was great. I got to watch movies multiple times and really study ... films that I really loved. That was a really important part of my time as a student.” In turn, Curran believes in passing and encouraging that experience in a new generation.
The impetus for the new film festival came from the executive director of Images: Dan Hudson and board chair Kevin O'Rourke. O'Rourke works in the theater program at Williams College and knew there was a lot of interest in filmmaking there, even though there isn't a formalized department within the school. “I think they both kind of just synchronously came up with the thought that we should do this,” Curran continued. “And so that's why we're doing it now.”
Curran said festival organizers wanted to engage with students all over the area, and not just the immediate Williamstown/North Adams vicinity. It was important to her that there be representatives from a lot of different schools participating in the program. Images brought in an intern, Minnie Lerner, to spearhead the Student Engagement Committee.
“Minnie did a lot of outreach,” Curran said. “I think she contacted every single school within a 25-mile radius to see if there was a film class or a film club? And if there wasn't, could they hang a flyer about (us) seeking submissions?" Eventually, Lerner ended up assembling a screening committee consisting of students from Bennington College, Buxton, MCLA and Williams College
Curran worked as a sounding board for Lerner, giving input and offering recommendations in terms of different avenues and initiatives for her to explore. After the screening committee vetted down the submissions, Curran and Hudson screened the films themselves. Curran said they did not know what to expect in terms of how many and what kinds of submissions they would get. There was also a question of quality. “And I have to say, I was really pleasantly surprised by how good the films were.”
A consistency across the board, Curran found, is that many of the films had a local or regional connection. She mentions two documentary shorts that stuck with her. One is called “A Bucolic Exile,” by Julian Arenas. It is a short film about how the Shah of Iran's son came to Williams Colleges in the late 1970s. “It was under 10 minutes,” Curran explained, “but it was this short but very well-executed documentary about this (unique subject).” Having lived in Williamstown for 25 years, Curran said she never heard about the piece of local lore. “So it was just this interesting story about something that happened in Williamstown.”
Curran also mentioned another short, a documentary/personal essay called “Dear Mr. L” by Myla Dougherty. It is about a student coming to Williams after her grandfather had attended the school many years prior. “And she's reading his letters where he makes reference to different parts of Williamstown. I thought it was a really lovely film that was talking about the history of Williamstown and the college, but also about her personal interaction with these different things.”
Curran said having a festival like this with these kinds of short films just reaffirms the mission Images promotes. The organization aims to encourage new voices to look at and tell stories in new ways.
“Things can be (done) your own way,” Curran added. “And I think, especially in film, we have these ideas about what's 'good' in our minds that I think shuts a lot of creativity down.” She said some of the filmmakers she really loves are those who are able to step outside the box. "Because you can't create something new and innovative if you're just trying to meet people's expectations."
Curran said this kind of film festival, like many events at Images, is meant to make every night its own kind of impromptu community. “You always have people after the film standing around in the lobby or right in front of the entrance. It's just like, people watch a movie and then they want to talk. I mean, not always, but a lot of times.”
These people want to know what other people think about what they just saw, how it relates to something in their own lives or something that they read.
Film festivals, especially ones like Berkshire Student Film Festival, Curran added, are about that discovery. “And what a beautiful thing it would be if people felt empowered to do more visual storytelling.”