Tonight, the department of Communications Studies will host the 12th annual Tarleton State University Film Festival in the O.A. Grant building. A select few finalists will be judged on their films that will be displayed during the two-hour event.

Dr. Robert Anderson, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, said that the panel of judges received all of the submissions by Wednesday in order to take part in a 2-4 hour process to whittle the competition down to a handful of films that will be shown on tonight.

The judges, volunteers from Anderson’s Art of Film class, narrow down the submissions based on criteria such as the film’s story, content or technique, but Anderson also adds that “It’s their emotional response to the film. It’s like a thumbs up, thumbs down.”

The past festivals have included at least ten short-film finalists, all averaging to around 3-5 minutes in length, and covering a wide variety of topics, from longhorns to the Black Lives Matter movement.

“The big thing is for the students; they make the film for themselves, but they realize that how they feel about the film is irrelevant because you’re making it for an audience. So when they see it in an audience of people that don’t know them, then it’s an entirely different thing. The film either works, or it doesn’t,” Anderson said.

Besides his own students, Anderson revealed that many submissions to the festival come from the agricultural department and the fine arts department.

The winner of the competition will receive a Lucite plaque to commemorate their efforts and skill.

The festival begins at 7:30 p.m. in room 116 of the Grant building. Admission is free. Anderson ensures that the event is guaranteed to go no longer than 9:00 p.m. that night. He said that out of the more than 52 qualifying submissions, because of the high quality of the films, he doesn’t know how many will be presented.

He stated that “always [at least] ten get in. There are very good films this year.”