Tulane University’s digital media practices and strategy, leadership and analytics departments hosted their biggest event of the year on April 15: the Tulane Student Film Festival. McAlister Auditorium opened its doors for two respective rounds of film screenings at 5 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., showcasing brilliant student short films to an avid crowd of cinema enthusiasts.

This year, the festival received a total of 32 short film submissions from student filmmakers, 17 of which were selected to be shown at the festival, with three outstanding filmmakers taking home awards and prizes. 

Ava Hickey and Beatrix Hammam took home the Best Cinematography award for “Knock Knock,” a film exploring family dynamics and sisterhood. The screenwriting award went to Andrew Hirshberg for “Sunrise,” a Richard Linklater-esque story of two people who meet at a party and fall in love, staying up till sunrise together.

The Overall Jury award was given to DMP senior Cameron Brown for “Batter Up, Queen!” — a deserved win. 

“Batter Up, Queen!” was a captivating story about drag queen Frannie P. Bodied, who forms an unlikely connection with Marcus, a bubbly child baseball player she babysits. Not only did the film delve into ideas of toxic masculinity and radical self-acceptance, but it also looked incredibly professional stylistically.

Hickey, Sofia Sabitsana and Dani Radosh’s “Petit Rouge,” Edward Means’ “Ping Pong (& Everything Else” and Spencer Linn’s “End of the Line” all earned honorable mentions. 

The festival is entirely organized by the SLAM film festivals course, taught by professors Jolene Pinder and Ellen Sovkoplas. 

Dennis McCully, director of one of the films featured, “2Man from Hell,” and a junior studying DMP and communications, is in the SLAM class now on the industry engagement committee. McCully’s group worked to secure the jury panel for the festival, network with student filmmakers and organize the pitch competition before the festival.

Thirty students in total worked across various committees, including curation, marketing and operations, to plan the festival. 

Brown said that he hopes people will eventually start “thinking of the film fest at the same level as Bookfest or Crawfest.” Brown was in the SLAM class last year and emphasized how important marketing the event is.

Senior Veronica Kaplan, director of “Unlucky,” said since film is “such a small community here and in New Orleans itself,” it’s “nice to celebrate.” 

She also said it may be more important now than ever to spotlight creativity, given that film is a “dying art.”

Apart from the phenomenal “Batter Up, Queen!,” several other films also stood out. 

McCully’s comedy “2Man from Hell” provided excellent comedic relief and Cami Kaye’s “Waiting Room,” a psychological thriller, successfully solicited the opposite emotions. 

“The Golem,” a story set in 17th-century Prague and filmed there, was another fantastic film — the cinematography was outstanding.

At a university like Tulane, where the STEM and business fields often overshadow liberal arts disciplines, it is crucial to showcase student creativity and talent. This year’s student film festival featured some incredible artwork, and I’m sure there will be more of where it came from in the future.

Editor’s note: In a previous version of this article, the names Hirshberg and Kaye were incorrectly spelled.