SOU’s 21st annual Student Film Festival
The SOU Digital Cinema program will stage its 21st annual Student Film Festival, screening 14 films by student filmmakers at 6:30 p.m. on June 1 at the Varsity Theater (66 E Main St, Ashland, OR 97520) in downtown Ashland, with a reprise screening at 7 p.m. on June 11. General admission tickets are $5 (free to SOU students).
The festival is produced by the Digital Cinema program’s course “Film Distribution and Festival Promotion.”
This year’s festival class accepted films written and directed by students from any major who are currently enrolled at SOU, and alumni who graduated in spring 2025 or later. Films could be any genre, but must be 15 minutes or shorter. A total of 28 films were submitted this year.
The Festival awards prizes in 12 categories, judged by a jury of more than 20 local filmmakers and media professionals. Local business Coming Attractions Theatres, owner of The Varsity, donates the use of one of its theaters for the festival.
The festival is also presenting a short screenplay contest, with a live reading of the top three scripts at SOU’s Meese Auditorium on at 5 p.m. on May 29. Fourteen scripts were submitted this year, representing a wide range of genres.
The SOU Student Film Festival allows SOU students to share their work and make professional connections beyond their college careers.
“We have a strong lineup that features an array of student films across lower- and upper-classmen,” said student festival director Sophia Guerrero, a Digital Cinema senior. “There’s a pretty even spread across different genres and I think the audience will be impressed with the level at which students are creating.”
Christopher Lucas (lucasr@sou.edu), professor of Digital Cinema at SOU, is the faculty supervisor for the festival and instructor of the course.
Tickets will be sold at SOU’s Digital Media Center. Information about ticketing prices and film festival updates can be found on the film festival’s Instagram (@soustudentff).
