BUFF: Gaiters Behind the Camera

We love to highlight ways in which students can get involved on our campus. One such opportunity is The Bishop’s University Film Festival (BUFF). Students can work as actors, directors, writers, and we love to showcase their talent! BUFF is one of the most looked-forward to events of the school year. We reached out to Dr. Steven Woodward, professor of the English Department and Head of the Festival, to ask him to tell us more about BUFF.

“The Bishop’s University Film Festival (BUFF) celebrates and publicizes the creativity and skill of Bishop’s students, no matter what program they are in, through an annual competition in digital filmmaking. Students submit short films, which are screened publicly at our gala in late March and presented with a variety of awards, as chosen by our panel of four judges (including SRC representatives, senior university administration, and the film industry). A selection of BUFF films is presented at the Festival Cinéma du Monde de Sherbrooke held annually in April, and one BUFF film (selected by the BUFF executive) competes in the student competition at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal in October.”

Still need convincing to participate? We reached out to three students who have given a testimonial on their experience with BUFF:

Charlie Bernard, Film Studies and English Literature Major
“BUFF was my first opportunity to show one of my film in front of a large audience. The feedback from follow students, teachers and other people present was very helpful for my future projects.”

Janan Chan, English Literature Major, Creative Writing and Journalism Minor
“Working for BUFF was a great experience. It’s always surprising how talented people are, from editors, script-writers, to camera crew. It’s shown on a big screen at the Gala, which is equally nerve-racking and gives you incentive to put out your best work. What’s nice too is that we’re all figuring things out along the way. Everyone brings their own unique talents and skill-sets and together they help realize the Director’s dream. There’s a spot for everyone; the ones who like to be center stage in front of the camera, the quieter people who like to assist by holding lights or microphones, or the special spots for the creative wordy types who like writing stories and scripts. Lots to learn, lots of fun.”

Kyanu Soulet, International Relations Major
“BUFF is an awesome experience for film enthusiasts, actors, creative writers, photographers and even musicians since it encapsulates all of these disciplines. It is the opportunity to produce a collaborative artwork that engages people from very different creative backgrounds. Everyone that works on the project gets to bring a little bit of themselves to it and I think that this is very representative of the culture of inclusivity that is encouraged at Bishop’s.”

To watch films from previous years, visit the Bishop’s University Film Festival YouTube page.
To register for BUFF’s next edition: https://www.ubishops.ca/academic-programs/faculty-of-arts-and-science/humanities/english/events-in-the-english-department/buff/