Marshall University was home to a Student Short Film Festival Thursday night in Smith Hall, room 154. The Student Short Film Festival was the first of its kind and 25 student short films were shown.

The festival was organized by Walter Squire, director of the Film Studies program at Marshall University, and Ian Nolte, an instructor in the English department.

The 25 student short films shown at the festival ranged from video experiments of less than a minute to narrative shorts lasting 15 minutes. There were also video essays, stop motion projects, documentaries, television commercials, sketches and a promo for the Little Victories no-kill animal shelter.

“One of my classmates has a film in the festival, and I wanted to see what she had to offer and what other Marshall students had to offer, too,” Mary-Kate Bostick, a junior political science major, said.

Bostick said all the student short films she saw were really good.

“I only got to see a couple of them, but what I’ve seen so far I’ve really liked and enjoyed,” Bostick said.

Bostick said she would be interested in the Student Short Film Festival becoming an annual event, and attending more film screenings and events like it on Marshall’s campus in the future.

Imani Beard, a sophomore psychology major, said she found out about the Student Short Film Festival through signs posted around campus.

“I’m really interested in film, and I tend to look around a lot and saw a poster for the festival on the wall. I thought it looked fun and I wanted to go to it,” Beard said.

“The films were pretty awesome, I liked them,” Beard said. “They’re funny, they’re comical, they’re interesting to look at, too.”

Beard also said she would be interested in more events like this on Marshall’s campus in the future, and the Student Short Film Festival being an annual event held every year at Marshall.

“I would enjoy coming to them every single time they do it,” Beard said. “I would love to see the new videos that they make and I hope that there will be a next time.”

Alexia Lilly can be contacted at [email protected].