Signature annual event to premiere new crop of short films following record film festival selections of 2020 films
Tucson, AZ (Tuesday, April 13, 2021) – The University of Arizona’s School of Theatre, Film & Television presents the 16th edition of I DREAM IN WIDESCREEN (IDIWS), the annual showcase of undergraduate thesis films celebrating a wide range of new filmmaking voices graduating from the School’s nationally ranked Film & Television program. The hybrid event will premiere concurrently in person and online: the in-person event will take place on Saturday, May 8, and IDIWS will stream online for a global audience from May 8-22.
The in-person edition of the School of Theatre, Film & Television’s marquee annual event will take place at the Cactus Drive-In Cinema on Saturday, May 8. Tucson’s Loft Cinema Program Director Jeff Yanc will host. From May 8-22, the films will also be available to stream online at loftcinema.org via a partnership between the School and the renowned arthouse cinema. Films will compete for prizes awarded by this year’s Jury: Mike Plante (’94), Senior Programmer for Short Film at the Sundance Film Festival, Nicholas Snell (’14), screenwriter and A/V coordinator for Lucasfilm, and film critic and journalist Katie Walsh (Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, Vanity Fair).
I Dream in Widescreen films regularly attract international recognition that sets the emerging filmmakers on a path to industry success. In a banner year, films from the 2020 edition of IDIWS have been officially selected to screen at multiple festivals nationally and internationally.
Hailed by LatinHeat as “a powerful start to her career,” Roxanna Stevens Ibarra’s film Tesoro has been selected to screen at the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival, the San Diego Latino Film Festival, the Latino & Native American Film Festival, and the Phoenix Film Festival. Two films – Emma Sinex’s Barren and Adrian Meyer and Martin Somoza’s Houses in Motion were selected by the Las Cruces International Film Festival. Adam Meilech’s The Leak has been selected by the Austin Comedy Film Festival and the Portland Comedy Film Festival. Faye Ruiz’s first film, The Lights Are On, No One’s Home, will screen next week at Outfest Fusion in Los Angeles, and featured last month at London’s BFI Flare, the largest LGBTIQ+ film festival in Europe.
“This year’s class of filmmakers is an exciting follow-up to our 2020 filmmakers and represents what filmmaking at the University of Arizona is all about: determined, creative, flexible, totally original and emotionally honest,” said Lisanne Skyler, filmmaker and Film & Television faculty at the University of Arizona’s School of Theatre, Film & Television. “That they were able to achieve such evocative storytelling when all of their pre-thesis training was turned on its head by the pandemic is a testament to the spirit of our student and filmmaking community.”
The IDIWS2021 line-up, including fourteen films and one series pitch, is as follows:
Saturday, August 8, starting at 7:30pm MST
- ACCEPTANCE – Filmmaker: Elsa Ryder
- CRUSHING DANDELIONS – Filmmaker: Hannah Lee
- DROPOUTS: AN OVERCAST DOCUMENTARY – Filmmakers: Tyler McEvilly + Hasan Taleb
- EN LA CUNA DE MI MADRE – Filmmaker: Pablo Perez
- FALLACY – Filmmaker: Atlas Woods-Smith
- GHOSTS(?) – Filmmaker: Antonia Maher
- IN LOVING MEMORY – Filmmaker: Kirstyn Kubicki
- LUCID DREAMERS – Filmmaker: Matthew Potwardowski
- MIDNIGHT SNACK – Filmmaker: Marin Stewart
- ONE-WAY MIRROR – Filmmaker: Mackenzie Giguere
- SCRIPTURE AND SCHOLARSHIP – Filmmaker: Stephen Morand
- TEBANASU – Filmmaker: Atreyu Hasenstab
- THE LAST AXIOM (SERIES PITCH) – Writer: Zelio Pereira
- TREASURES BENEATH MY TREE – Filmmaker: Alexandra Cerna
- WHERE THE ROTTING LEMONS FALL – Filmmaker: Brandi Burleson
Awards Ceremony
Hosted by: Jeff Yanc
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Notes to the Editors:
Link to the IDIWS 2021 trailer can be found here:
IDIWS 2021 Trailer
Link to IDIWS 2021 images can be found here:
https://arizona.box.com/s/qlsijtmhafzv0v3ijgtoc6ff3v3tgdhy
For Immediate Release
Press Contact: Kerryn Negus
knegus@email.arizona.edu
About I Dream in Widescreen
I DREAM IN WIDESCREEN is an annual year-end celebration of The University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television student thesis films. Now in its 16th year, films from the graduating class compete for prizes awarded by a panel of noted jurists from a cross-section of the entertainment industry. Films making their premiere at I DREAM IN WIDESCREEN regularly go on to be selected by festivals around the world including the Berlinale and Sundance.
I DREAM IN WIDESCREEN 2021 is sponsored by Craig Huston, Film Tucson, Monsoon Production Services, Adobe, Pollution Studios, Hanson FilmTV Institute, and The Loft Cinema. IDIWS2021 is free to attend and to watch online.
https://idiw.tftv.arizona.edu/
About the School of Theatre, Film & Television
The University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television (TFTV) aims to nurture and develop outstanding artists and scholars by providing rigorous training and mentoring by internationally recognized faculty, excellent internship opportunities, industry-standard resources, and hands-on production experience. TFTV offers comprehensive training programs that aim to prepare students to succeed in a wide range of careers – in the industry, the arts, and higher education. Each year through Arizona Repertory Theatre productions, the Studio Series, and Film & Television screenings, students of TFTV are able to showcase their talents, tell compelling stories, and provide clear results of what happens in their classrooms and studios. TFTV’s Film & Television program regularly ranks in The Wrap’s “Top 50 Film Schools,” and the School’s Theatre programs regularly rank in Onstage’s “Top 30 College Musical Theatre Programs” and “Top 30 College Theatre Design & Tech Programs” making UA one of the country’s top institutions to study theatre, film and television.