Liverpool John Moores University have announced that the LJMU MA Film Festival will return for its “4th edition”.
The event is scheduled to take place online from March 15-22 online and in-person from March 18-22.
This pioneering approach to post-graduate study is spearheaded by Dr Lydia Papadimitriou as part of the MA Film course.
Lydia said: “Co-organising and curating a real festival enables our MA students to gain hands-on experience in a variety of disciplines, including, trailer editing, social media campaign management, public relations, and live event management.
“The transferable skills developed over the course of the festival are also deployable in a variety of sectors, meaning that students gain from their studies both academically and professionally.
“I am so pleased that the LJMU MA Film Festival is going from strength to strength. For the first time since we started off in the middle of the pandemic, the festival is now going to be fully in-person and online, offering the best possible combination to reach audiences both locally and globally.”
The festival is organised by students from LJMU as part of their studies and showcases student films from around the world in four different strands: Fiction, Animation, Documentary and Experimental.
Visitors to the Festival website will be able to vote
Emily White, international MA student and festival co-organiser said: “As a Canadian, I am proud to be a part of the LJMU MA Short Film Festival, which reflects the diverse cultural make-up of the city of Liverpool through its commitment to showcasing the talents of student filmmakers globally.”
Martin Jones, Festival Coordinator and tutor, added: “This is my second year as festival coordinator, and over the past 12 months, it has been my ambition for the festival to grow in terms of presence and visibility. The live events we have introduced for the 4th edition are sure to excite and stimulate audiences.”
The 2024 programme have narrowed down 2746 submissions to 38 films originating from 21 different countries. The filmmakers will compete for one of four coveted paper bird awards which will be decided by a knowledgeable panel of judges. This will be compromised of industry experts, academics, previous winners and LJMU students.
Visitors to the Festival website will also be able to vote for their favourite film to decide who will be awarded the Audience Paper Bird Award.
For the first time ever, the event would be fully hybrid where the audience may choose to watch in-person at one of the screenings or online at ljmumashortfilmfestival.org.
Live screenings will take place at LJMU’s Redmonds Building, Brownlow Hill, with each film showing being followed by a live Q&A with some of the year’s filmmakers, giving the audience an opportunity to ask any questions and discover more about the films.
The Liverpool Screen School, based at Liverpool John Moores Mount Pleasant Campus, is a renowned centre for research in Journalism, Media and Communication. Built upon a plethora of courses, both undergraduate and postgraduate, the school takes a combined approach to teaching focused around research-based and industry-led learning.
The closing awards event will take place at Scale in Liverpool on Friday March 22 and will also be streamed across all social media channels.
A huge selling point for audiences is that all events are completely free to attend whether that is in person or streaming!
For more information-
- Get in touch with Lauren and Emily at [email protected]
- Visit the LJMU MA Short Film Festival social media channels: Instagram, X, Facebook, Tik Tok, Threads, LinkedIn
- Or head to the LJMU MA Short Film Festival’s website here
