National Undergraduate Film Festival

Sundance and Tribeca watch out: Columbia's National Undergraduate Film Festival is getting some street cred. MTV VJ Gardner Loulan and Sundance Film Festival producer Leonard Cox will be the celebrity judges for the third annual festival, to be held in Lerner Cinema this Saturday, March 31, at 6 p.m.

Calvin Sun, CC '08, and Brian Foo, SEAS '08, first started the film festival in spring 2005 their freshman year. Both filmmakers felt Columbia was lacking a film presence compared to NYU or even Brown. "We hoped that by having a film festival around the country we might learn something to create films," said Sun. Short films are accepted from any high school and college across the country and this year marks a huge increase in submissions. Sun and Foo aren't alone in their endeavor-the festival is run by a board of volunteers and is officially recognized by the Activities Board at Columbia. Submissions went up from 73 the first year to 150 this year, and films are "high quality 60 mm, film school quality," Sun said.

This year's submissions include animations of the "Aqua Teen Hunger Force kind of brilliance" as well as a music video and a carwash robbery. The films are eligible to win awards in 10 categories, including Best Directed, Best Picture, Best Acting, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing.

"You're paying $3 for 14 movies. It's a really good deal, plus you get all the free food," said Sun. "We chose these films on their ability to touch us or affect us in some way, impact in our lives. It's not just pretty pictures."

Tickets are $3. For more info, visit www.CUfestival.com. May the best short win.