Visions Film Festival and Conference provides a platform for undergraduate filmmakers and film scholars to discover their voices and expand their artistic perspectives. Located in Wilmington, North Carolina, a region with a strong film presence, Visions is an international event, fostering a growing global community of artists. Visions creates an environment that promotes learning and networking between filmmakers and scholars, and our unique perspective stems from one simple fact, we are a festival and conference created for undergraduate film students by undergraduate film students. Ultimately, we are creating an adventure, a professional outlet on an amateur stage, where undergraduate minds create an enriched hands-on experience for everyone involved while applying the knowledge they have cultivated while studying and practicing scholarly film work and production. Visions strives to encourage undergraduates to present their work without the pressure of feeling unexperienced when compared to seasoned festival screeners.
Visions awards almost $15,000 in prizes to undergraduates every year, including travel grants. We award traveling grants to filmmakers and scholars internationally, allowing almost 75% of our presenters to come to Visions. Previous awards have included film packages from Pro8mm Film, Cinelab and Kodak, as well as Animation Software from Toon Boom, and Film Festival Badges from the winners home cities (ie - Austin Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, Virginia Festival and more).