Established in 2010, The West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival celebrates exceptional, compelling, original and innovative works in film, video, and animation. We invite works that are truly authentic and unique, that try to push beyond convention in all genres of the moving image. The primary mission of the festival is to mission is to foster creative and artistic approaches to the cinematic arts, and to expose West Virginia University students and the surrounding Morgantown community to the world of independent filmmaking, video and animation. The festival also strives to focus attention on topical issues in contemporary culture and to draw attention to the rich and unique heritage of West Virginia and the surrounding Appalachian region. The WVMSFF is a creation of the Electronic Media program of the WVU School of Art and Design.
For 2019, the The West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival returns for a two-day event on April 26 & 27. We invite short works (20 minutes and under) in narrative (film & video), experimental art, documentary and animation. We also seek bold and novel works by students at both the college level.
In addition to these general categories, we also invite works to a special category that explore the theme of “meme culture” however broadly interpreted. The manner in which we interact through the internet has had profound social impact, extending far beyond the boundaries of our computers and smart phones and bleeding into everyday interactions and face-to-face encounters. The proliferation of meme culture - accelerated by technology - has had particular social influence. Largely through mimesis, gesture and mutation, memes spread ideas, behaviors and attitudes like viruses while shaping the social interactions of those who carry them. While many recognize the effects of memes in the entertainment realm, their impact is no doubt felt much wider, politically, socially and economically. We invite works that take as their subject the notion of “meme culture” however widely interpreted or that reflect on the impact of memes on the way we increasingly think, act and interact with one another.
Modest awards have been established by the festival organizers to recognize work of exceptional accomplishment. They include a $300.00 Best of Festival award, and a $100 award in each of the festival categories: Best Documentary Short, Best Narrative Short, Best Animation, Best Experimental, Best Student Film, Best Young Filmmaker and Best "Memes Culture" Theme.