The F&MAD Film Fest is a juried screening of human-made films and media arts projects created by advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Film & Media Arts at the University of Utah. The festival showcases projects developed within the department’s curriculum, including narrative, documentary, hybrid, and experimental forms of lens-based media and animation. At its core, the event celebrates artist-driven work grounded in authorship, collaboration, and filmmaking practice, highlighting projects created by emerging filmmakers as they develop their creative voices.
The festival also serves as a celebration of the creativity and dedication of students working in film and media arts at the University of Utah. Presented in a professional screening environment, the program gives filmmakers the opportunity to share their work with an audience and experience their films as part of a curated public event.
Equally important, the F&MAD Film Fest brings students into conversation with the broader film community. By welcoming filmmakers, producers, screenwriters, and media artists from the professional world, the festival encourages exchanges that extend beyond the classroom and into the realities of creative practice.
A juried selection process recognizes outstanding work while offering thoughtful feedback from industry professionals who review the selected projects. For many students, this marks the first time their work is seen and discussed by practitioners outside the academic setting, an important milestone as they begin engaging with the wider filmmaking community.
Awards are determined by the jury based on the pool of films and media arts projects selected for the festival screening.
In past years, awards have included:
• Best of Show
• Distribution Awards: Cash prizes attached to distribution awards, intended to support films with strong potential for the festival circuit
• Best Script
• Best Cinematography
• Additional awards as determined by the jury.
The 2026 F&MAD Film Fest jury is composed of filmmakers and industry professionals with experience in directing, screenwriting, and production:
Bella Thornton – Screenwriter, Author, and Director
Los Angeles–based writer and filmmaker whose pilot FOOL placed third in the LA International Screenplay Competition and whose work has ranked in the top 4% of Coverfly projects. She is a fellow of the Nyx Horror Collective and participated in the 2025 Stowe Story Labs. Thornton also works as a 1st Assistant Director and 2nd Unit Director on streamed micro-drama productions while developing genre-driven stories centered on female protagonists and monsters.
Cameron Goold – Director
A University of Utah Film graduate and DGA member, Cameron Goold is a commercial director represented by Farm League in Los Angeles. His work includes campaigns for brands such as Ford, Land Rover, Audi, and Triumph Motorcycles, and he began his career directing surf and motorcycle documentaries with Deus Ex Machina, earning a Vimeo Staff Pick and recognition at the Motor Film Awards.
Christian Moldes – Screenwriter, Director, and Producer
Recipient of the Sundance Institute Lynn Auerbach Screenwriting Fellowship, Moldes is a Sundance Screenwriters Lab Fellow (2024) and Film Independent Episodic Lab Fellow (2024). His work has been developed with companies including Lionsgate, Blumhouse Productions, Wonder Project, and Grupo Televisa, and his feature screenplay Quince Kings was featured on the Black List Latine List. His storytelling often explores the Latin American experience through bold genre narratives and emotionally grounded storytelling.
