Student videos play at SMart Fest

Over the next two weeks, videos by Grand Valley State University students will dominate the front windows of the Community Media Center’s annex building, on Wealthy Street in Grand Rapids. They will be projected during the evenings to draw attention to the upcoming SMart festival, which runs there March 23-24.

The festival was designed to encourage the sharing student work and provide an international exchange of New Media that incorporates film, video and animation in exciting and creative ways. Grand Valley is one of several sponsors for the festival.

One of the videos shown will be a montage of footage from Grand Valley film & video students, edited by Jared McMillan. Promotions for the festival will be interspersed. Jared has also edited "Best of Grand Valley State University," a 20-minute spot that is included in the SMart festival screening schedule.

The other window projection will be an installation piece by Sarah Pierantoni which includes footage of a Washington, DC, anti-war rally she attended. Her video will be projected on sheets of paper that list details about some of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians killed in the war. The audio centers on a speech given at the rally by a 12-year-old girl.

Several Grand Valley film and video production faculty will also be presenting workshops or serving on panel discussions at the festival. For the full schedule of events visit www.smart.grcmc.org .