3rd Student Film Contest 2022-2023

For STEM Majors to blow off STEAM 

Building on the success of the previous two Student Film Contests, we are now getting ready to embark on the 3rd iteration of this activity for our students. But first some reflections.

We had many challenges due to COVID. The 2nd (2019) UW Student Film Contest had to end in the virtual world during April 2020 without a real-world screening of the amazing films with popcorn and the handing of trophies. We did get some coverage out of it though – see here. Back then there was so much uncertainty and angst that we just wanted ‘to get it over with’. But make no mistake – the last contest was quite successful. Using Filmfreeway, we opened it up to STEM majors across the world.  In the foreign submissions category 169 submissions were received, out of which 15 were shortlisted for relevance to STEAM and judged by a jury of 5 film critics.  In the domestic submissions category, four US University teams worked diligently over many months under close mentorship to produce outstanding films on STEM. Two of these were by UW teams and one by University of Rhode Island. Another team from Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur partnered with a UW team for film.

For future participation (3rd one planned for in 2022-2023- all depending on COVID and how much we get done), interested student parties at UW can just email at uwoscars@uw.edu. That’s really the easiest approach to get the ball rolling. Non-UW (and overseas) parties can just submit their film when FilmFreeway site is open again. Details on FilmFilmFreeway will be available in due time. First-timers may also check the link ‘What is STEAM‘ and the films made by student teams in past contests.  Once you’ve contacted me with an idea, and teams are formed, the fun will begin on campus, just like the past contests of 2017 and 2019.