Florida Film Festival: Student Immersion
- Apr 30, 2025
- 3 min read
FMS 93 Research Practicum: Immersion in the 2025 Florida Film Festival
Central Florida, April 18-20, 2025
Professor Denise Cummings
Florida Film Festival Student Journal Excerpts
Students participating in the weekend-long Florida Film Festival immersion were tasked with reflective journaling and sharing their favorite images from the immersion experience. Here’s a glimpse!
Jewel Kyaw, Class of 2025
Alongside a small group of fellow film students and…Professor Cummings, we spent a packed weekend watching films, meeting filmmakers, and reflecting deeply on the art and ethics of cinema. It was intense, informative, and, for a Florida resident like me, a meaningful return home….
What made the weekend so memorable was the conversations and reflections we had and shared with other festival attendees….
It was a joy to experience the Florida Film Festival not just as a viewer, but as a participant in a broader dialogue about film. Returning to my home state to engage with filmmakers felt full circle. And being able to do that with a passionate group of fellow Tufts students made it more meaningful.”
Marco Steel, Class of 2027
Learning about festivals was one thing and I had a general idea of how things would go, but truly being there was a completely different experience. As my professor introduced me to more and more people, I started to realize two things. The first thing I realized was the large number of people it took to run a festival. I was introduced to everyone, from volunteers to projectionists to theater owners; everybody seemed as though the festival could not happen without them there. It was a true team effort. The second thing that I realized was how much more important the social aspect of the festival was than I had imagined. This realization came to me after meeting a director whose work I very much enjoyed….
After talking to him for a while and mentioning that much of my work is like some of what he has done, he pulled out a business card and told me to send him the next thing I made. I was over the moon.
Cecilia Wang, Class of 2025
Over the course of three days, we attended screenings, joined filmmaker forums, and took part in conversations that made us think more critically about our connections to cinema. Our first step was the Enzian Theater, a one-screen cinema café in Maitland and the heart of the festival. With classic Hollywood film art on the walls, traditional seats up front, and more casual seating in the back, the venue was both untraditional and intimate. The variety of seating options gave audiences comfort and flexibility, and you could even order food and drinks right to your table. That blend of intimacy and cinephile culture perfectly encapsulated how I felt about the Florida Film Festival as a whole–a space that doesn’t just focus on movies, but on the connection between film and community….
By the end of the weekend, I had gained a much deeper understanding of what a film festival is. It’s more than just a place to watch movies–it’s where art, social impact, and community come together in meaningful ways. I saw firsthand cinema’s power to raise important questions, spark conversations, and build tight-night relationships.
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