This weekend SIU's Big Muddy Film Festival returns for a 47th time.
Running Thursday through Saturday at The Varsity Center in Carbondale, the festival is one of the nation's oldest that is affiliated with a university.
Dajonea Robinson is a first-year doctoral student in mass communications and media arts, she's heading the event this year.
This year's festival features 85 films, 13 of which being student creations. Robinson said this is an important part of the festival.
"Students are here, they're at SIU, they have a home with the film festival. We need to cherish students' work because they are us, we are them." Robinson said.
Robinson also hopes to return the festival to, quote, "it's glory days with a twist".
"There's no reason why we shouldn't have cross-collaboration. The Big Muddy Play Festival just happened days ago, so why can't we also host that or have elements of that at the film festival," Robinson said. "We could partner up with the creative writing MFA students in the English department and have them write something, really make it multi-media."
The theme of this years festival is "freedom of expression", with stories both local and international, Robinson hopes viewers are able to see a part of themselves on the big screen.
WSIU's Brad Palmer spoke with Robinson about the event.
