Let's not fool ourselves; UAF is a school for "hard science."  The very fact that it humors certain Liberal Arts institutions like, say, the Theatre Department, is beyond many members of the governing populace.  Such a statement may seem brazen, but I promise you that any theatre major would gladly tell you dramatic vanilla like "Singing in the Rain" is far from desired.  But desires are irrelevant when your budget has been repeatedly butchered.  UAF is drifting away from what makes college great; a category that trade skills simply do not fall in.  It's the need to make people "uncomfortable" and challenge the next fifty years of scripted meandering.  Unfortunately, UAF, for all of its amazing qualities, is falling out of this pattern.  But some organizations on campus still work to buck the trend, making UAF a little more receptive to the underappreciated aspects of college life.  The UAF Film Club is one such group.

Long ago, in a time of plenty, there was a group that sought to give this university a gift of creative diversity.  A handful of students skilled in activities ranging from music to literature to filmmaking joined forces in an anomalous alliance of talents known as the Alaska Renaissance Festival, or ARP.  The ARP included six members who promised the school a number of projects including an educational video game, a book of creative writing, and an amateur feature film to be presented at Regal Cinemas.  But such a thing could never last, and the ARP slowly faded after the graduation of its component members despite random moments of near-resurrection.

But all was not lost.  The student-produced film ended up becoming the most popular element of the ARP.  Giving students both the opportunity to express themselves through the modern medium of cinema and the campus a chance to share said films proved a winning formula.  And so, with its death rattle, the ARP's Pat Race passed the filmic torch to newer recruits led by Matt Dusenberry and Lou Logan.  What was forged became the UAF Film Club; assembling a massive forum for the absurd and relevant

Time passed, leaders changed, interest waxed and waned, and the UAF Film Festival worked to firmly plant its tentacles as a campus institution.  And, for the most part, they have done just that.  Unfortunately, due to the inherent nature of the event, fresh blood must constantly flow through the lumbering beast in order for it to survive.  Unlike some detached conglomerate of specialists who yield most UAF organizations, the Film Club offers next to no restrictions on material given; just entertaining shorts from passionate people.  The opportunity to voice oneself on such a large stage is one that seldom presents itself; an inevitable truth that makes the Festival immensely relevant and fiercely potent.

This Friday, Fairbanksans can witness a new breed of student shorts constructed over the past semester.  The sheer number of techniques utilized to bring just a few minutes of film to screen is mind numbing; an irrefutable testament to the skills of UAF students.  Hopefully, these skills can also work to feed interest back into the more "fanciful" aspects of college life.  After all, what would these fleeting years be without a few bouts of videotaped vomit?

  **Note:  The UAF Film Festival will be held in the Salisbury Theatre, located in the Fine Arts Complex, on Friday, April 16^th, at 7:00PM.  And then on Friday, April 23^rd at the Blue Loon at 8:00PM (must be 21).  Admissions are free.  Win door prizes.  For more info., go to www.uaf.edu/filmclub or call 455-3833.          

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