Arizona Film Festival has record attendance

The media arts department at the UA has had record participation from student, faculty and alumni in the annual Arizona International Film Festival going on now through Sunday according to a press release from the department. There are 21 UA students exhibiting their work or organizing the festival, along with 12 alumni.

This year's AIFF drew entries from more than 20 foreign countries and includes several films produced by Hispanics. The festival was originally designed to bring independent films that would not be seen in most Arizona theaters, and showcase the work of independent artists. This year, more than 60 filmmakers will attend, and some 120 films will be shown. UA media artists are strongly represented.

"The festival traditionally showcases faculty works and gives upwards of 50 students exposure to the various aspects of mounting a major festival," said Caren Deming, a media arts professor at the UA. "It also brings international filmmakers to campus to speak in classes and workshops, offering great opportunities to our students."

UA students showing work are media arts seniors Bill Kersey ("Permian Flow") and Tyler Gillet ("An Animal Automaton"). Faculty members represented are Nicole Koschman, a visiting assistant professor ("Burkha Dreams"); Yuri Makino, assistant professor ("Tokyo Equinox"); David Michael Mulcahy, assistant professor ("Correction"); Daniel Peltz, visiting artist ("Serious Play"); and Beverly Seckinger, associate professor ("Laramie Inside Out").

Festival passes are available for purchase at The Screening Room, Crossroads 6 Grand Cinemas and The Loft Cinema.

Children's reading festival starts today in Tucson

Tucson begins weeklong celebrations of El D’a de los Ni–os/El D’a de los Libros, a festival of children, reading and multiculturalism, today.

Events supporters include the Tucson-Pima Public Library, City of Tucson, Pima County, Friends of the Tucson-Pima Public Library, Knowledge River at the School of Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS), the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the REFORMA-Tucson Chapter and Make Way for Books.

Graduate students from a D’a-centered SIRLS class work as a team with school and public librarians to organize educational activities for children, including book fair and book-making workshops.

The Tucson library community is a pioneer in commemorating El D’a de los Ni–os/El D’a de los Libros, officially designated as April 30, a day set aside to encourage children of all backgrounds to read about and share their cultural heritage in English or their native language. Tucson has participated in D’a celebrations since its 1997 inception through the encouragement of children's author Pat Mora.

Now in the seventh year of citywide celebrations, D’a events provide families with opportunities to engage in exploring culture and literature through activities such as story times, arts, crafts, puppet shows and more.

Each student at the participating schools will receive a book provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as part of their support for D’a. Student projects will be on display at the Valencia branch of TPPL through the first week of May.