Washburn's Film and Video Department hosts first annual International Film Institute Festival

Washburn University's Film and Video Department have their sights set for the stars.

Thursday, the department held their 1st annual Washburn International Film Institute Festival (WIFI) at White Concert Hall.

The theme for the festival and the semester is "Free Speech."

In its first year, the festival has attracted over 1900 submissions from over 100 countries, but only 90 were accepted.

The keynote speaker at Thursday's event was Allan Holzman, who has written, directed and produced documentaries on the holocaust and the immigration crisis in the U.S.

Holzman told us his three M's to film making.

"My coin is the three M's! You need a message. Then you have to find a way to create movement. That movement is both with emotion and feeling, but literal movement to keep the eye occupied."

Best Student Film went to Blake Hopper, Bayli Milleson and Madeleine Switzer for their film "Seeing Scarlett." The trio also won top honors in Film Editing.

The President's Award went to Yasmin Mistry for her film "A Better Life."

Best in Music went to Matthew Nyquist and the Cinematography Award went to Darria Dennison and Avery Stratton.