By McGill Reporter Staff
McGill Chaplaincy is sponsoring a student filmmaking competition on the theme of faith and spirituality. The “Faith in Film” competition is designed to help McGill students find new ways to express their beliefs. It is slated to take place early in the winter semester.
More than ever, interfaith dialogue is becoming a pressing issue, and the film competition seeks to encourage students to address this issue creatively through the medium of film, says its principal organizer.
“The main purpose of this project is to foster awareness of the diverse religious presences in the McGill population and to promote harmony between these religions on the campus,” said James Farr, the McGill Chaplaincy student coordinator organizing the event. “A secondary goal is to promote creativity, social awareness and a general culture of tolerance among students.”
Genre and style will be left up to the participants’ discretion, and can include fiction, documentary, or animation styles. The freedom from restriction in terms of style is intended to provide students with a variety of methods for self-expression. Entries should be between 10 and 30 minutes in length.
IT services has agreed to provide the necessary equipment to participants. Editing stations will be provided by TVMcGill.
A judging panel comprised of teachers, students, chaplains and a representative of the National Film Board of Canada will evaluate the films entered in the competition. Films will be evaluated on their artistic merit, originality and adherence to the main purpose of the project. A screening of all films submitted will take place on March 4, 2011.
The first prize is a $500 gift certificate to the McGill Bookstore or Future Shop. Other prizes will be awarded to second-place and “People’s Choice” selections.
All McGill students are eligible to participate. For competition guidelines or more information, please email James Farr at: james.farr@mail.mcgill.ca. For more information on McGill Chaplaincy, go to: www.mcgill.ca/students/chaplaincy.