advertisement

Big Muddy Film Festival has history of student, community involvement

Over the last four decades, the Big Muddy Film Festival has grown from an idea that was initially met with trepidation into one of Southern Illinois University Carbondale's signature events.

The festival will celebrate its 42nd anniversary later this month. For founder and now-retired Department of Cinema and Photography instructor Mike Covell, the same initiative that brought a vibrant three-day event to the region in 1979 remains true in 2020. The festival is one of the oldest film festivals affiliated with a university in the nation and is widely known for its strong documentaries that highlight social issues.

Covell sees three critical components for the festival's continued success, providing an outlet for quality independent films, community support, and passionate student involvement.

"The quality and the types of work that come to the festival are pretty amazing," said Covell, who retired in 2007 and lives outside Alto Pass. "Particularly these days. Some of you may notice that if you go to some of the theaters in the area, a lot of films are composed of big music, people being violent toward each other and explosions. The festival gets a lot of films that are not like that."

Dorothy Evans, a senior in art history from Pekin, is codirecting this year's event. She is excited about the lineup, including the "It Came from the Big Muddy" block; a collection of six films that will screen at 7 p.m., Feb. 28, at Hangar 9 in Carbondale.

"It has some particularly comedic films this year and is a classic trademark of the festival," she said.

The combination of supporting independent filmmakers and her father's love for film prompted Evans' to become involved.

"SIU has an amazing program for cinema and this festival is one of the many different facets that create this program," she said. "Personally, I am a big supporter of independent content creators and that is what the festival stands for. This festival also brings international and independent films and makes it accessible to the university as well as the community."

Dylan Gibson of Carbondale is pursuing a master's degree in geography and environmental resources. He has worked with the festival for seven years since his freshman year at SIU, and handed film submissions and scheduling.

He notes the film committee whittled the 66 selected films from 275 submissions after spending countless hours watching, categorizing and debating the merits of each film. The task wasn't easy "because we know that so much went into making each of the films that were submitted and we liked many more than the number that we could let in," he said.

Katya Saldana, a junior cinema and photography major from Chicago, has been with the festival for about five months. She has volunteered at the Chicago Film Festival box office. She wanted to learn more about planning and promoting a film festival.

"As a film student, I believe it's important to know the selection process of film festivals so when we submit our own films we know what it takes for our films to get selected," she said. "I have learned and will continue to learn about the planning and promotional aspects which can apply to any number of situations."

Elyse Hickey, a senior in zoology and philosophy from Peoria, is involved with the festival for a third year and a co-director of the festival's finances and marketing.

"The festival taught her a great deal about budgeting and filmmaking, according to Hickey, who said she has a "deep appreciation of independent cinema."

She hopes to find more events similar to the Big Muddy after graduating.

"I was stunned at the wide variety of film being shown during the festival the first year I attended and immediately wanted to be involved with Big Muddy," Hickey said.

The opening reception is from 5 to 7 p.m., Feb. 24 in Morris Library's John C. Guyon Auditorium. The John Michaels Award Showcase starts at 2 p.m., March 1 at the Carbondale Public Library. The "Best of the Fest Closing Reception" begins at 5 p.m., March 1, in Guyon Auditorium.

The 2020 schedule once again features competitive and noncompetitive films in four categories: animation, experimental and narrative, along with juror presentations. Admission is free for each event but donations are accepted.

Details about film dates, times and locations are available on the Big Muddy Film Festival website and Facebook page.

The 2020 Big Muddy Film Festival Board members are, from left, Elyse Hickey, Dorothy Evans, Avery Leveque, Dylan Gibson and Thomas Bickell. Photo by Russell Bailey