Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore (GA)

Mangalore, Nov 4: Department of Journalism of St Aloysius College has announced the second edition of its prestigious "Shootings Stars" - students' short film making competition cum film festival to be between December 2006 and February 2007.

Shooting Stars, a brainchild of Fr Richard Rego SJ, department of journalism was started last year and it met with immense success. Initially it was intended to be a platform for the media students of the college to explore their creativity in various areas of film making. In its first edition, students of journalism, SAC, made 10 short films ranging of about 10 minutes each, using low-end single CCD cameras and non-linear editing machines provided by the department of journalism.

The theme of the last edition was Youth. The films briefly explored themes like drug abuse, youth friendships and spirit of perseverance. Following the competition, the department of journalism held a press conference exclusively for the young filmmakers (a group of about 40 students), who interacted with the media, sharing their experiences of tryst with this glamorous media.

This year, the general theme of Shooting Stars is "Youth and Shaping a Better Society." Students are permitted to use the infrastructure provided by the department and make their films in groups. In an attempt to encourage youngsters to make films in Kannada and Konkani the competition promises to support the Kannada and Konkani student film makers, with attractive incentives. 'Shooting Stars' also provides a forum for the budding and aspiring filmmakers of the college to explore their creativity and show them to well known film makers and film experts, besides being the cynosures of public attention.