Bruce Willis, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino may not be attending this year’s Big Muddy Film Festival, but festival judge Avery Crounse thinks this SIUC student run festival better captures the essence of the silver screen without star support.

The film festival begins Friday at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium with In the company of men, and runs through March 1. Seventy films will be showcased this year.

[Big Muddy] is the best type of film festival. The more famous film festivals are really political with stars and controlled by distributors, Crounse said. I would much rather come to a festival like this, which is open to an eclectic assortment of films and truly personal expressions.

Advertisement

I’m very excited to just see what is going on in the independent film world.

Some of the things going on in this year’s festival include film types and film styles that are usually only found in large cities where there is typically a larger independent film appetite to fill.

The Big Muddy received 191 entries for this year’s festival. The selected films will be shown at various screenings in locations around Carbondale. The films are situated in four categories depending on the content:narrative, experimental, documentary and animation.

Along with the screenings, there will be presentations from guest artists, an international film and video competition and five full-length independent feature films.

Big Muddy co-director Robert Pickering sees the festival as a good chance for all types of filmmakers to show what they can do from behind the camera even if the festival is not as large as the Sundance or Cannes film festivals.

The important thing is that we’re providing an outlet for artists to show their work that they normally wouldn’t have, Pickering said. It might be like having your paintings hung in a gallery in Champaign versus hanging in the Metropolitan Museum.

Even if the majority of the films are from small-time filmmakers as compared to the Hollywood giants, the Big Muddy will still offer its share of familiar filmmakers and award-winning films.

Advertisement*

Former festival judge Jim Jarmusch, who has received critical acclaim for his films Mystery Train and Night On Earth, will have his latest film Year of the Horse screened tonight at 9:30 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium.

The film is a documentary about legendary rock n’ roller Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse. Jarmusch follows the band on its 1996 tour and lets the music take center stage instead of rumors or anecdotes surrounding the band members’ personal lives.

In the Company of Men, which will also be shown at 9 p.m. Saturday in the Student Center Auditorium, is also one of the five feature-length films being show this year, and it, too, is being preceded by some positive publicity. The black comedy about two down-on-their-luck men out to seek revenge on vulnerable, young women for being dumped by their girlfriends won the Filmmakers Trophy for Drama at Sundance.

It’s an amazing film, and it was shot for a measly budget, festival judge Jennifer Reeder said. It’s the perfect example of an independent film, and it’s a really good movie that did get recognized.

Pickering said recognition is great for filmmakers whether independent or studio but that people have to understand Big Muddy filmmakers may be operating in a way that may not be as familiar to the normal Hollywood-type moviegoer.