Since 2001, the UAF Film Club has put on spectacular film festivals. The films aren't usually produced by professionals or students with future film careers in mind, but instead come from average Joes and Jills at UAF. Some are good, some are bad. Some are funny, and others are funny in how bad they are. But for the price of admission, which is usually nothing, it's well worth the watch.

As a fan of the festival, though, it's sad now to hear that a film at this month's film showcase, "Morbid Buried Secret," has caused so much pain to one of its actresses. In a scene in the film, a 22-year-old UAF female student is shown taking a shower. She has a towel around her to cover her breasts, but it slips. The packed Schaible Auditorium audience could see her bare breasts and nipples.

Film festival attendees no doubt remember this film as amateurishly edited, even under UAF Film Festival standards. The audio in the first half was too low, the plot was unclear, and some names in the credits were misspelled. At one point, a scene that the actors screw up is reshot, and the director can be heard yelling "Action."

But the error in showing the woman's breasts without her permission is inexcusable. The woman, who the Sun Star is not naming to avoid causing further grief, says the film crew, led by director Jonathan Williams, reshot the scene at least three times, only to place that shot in the film.

The UAF Film Club is also to blame for putting the film in the festival in the first place. Nudity is not necessarily against the club's rules, we're told, but just from viewing that movie it should have been obvious the woman didn't give permission. After all, why else would she wear a towel in the shower? The scene at least deserved a few questions to be asked prior to screening.

College is a time to have fun, but it's also a time to learn responsibility. KSUA is requiring the film be re-edited before it's shown on TV, and the woman has taken the matter to the Theatre Department, both first steps in correcting this wrong.

But that's not enough. The UAF Film Club and the director owe the woman a sincere apology and should own up to their mistakes. The club also needs to strengthen its oversight role. Films should not be accepted less than a week before the festival, and someone needs to watch through each one in its entirety to make sure questionable nudity does not appear in the film.

The UAF Film Festival is a great, fun tradition and should continue. Just, please, next time, be more careful.

- Nate Raymond/Managing Editor