The UK Media Depot Club Student Film Festival celebrates student filmmakers on UK’s campus.

“We showcase all types of genres of film. We are interested in celebrating students who submit projects and are really excited about it,” said Eric Sanders, the founder and former president of the Media Depot Club.

The Media Depot Club has held a film festival to showcase student work each semester since the spring of 2016.

Submissions are currently being accepted. The deadline is Nov. 28, and the festival will begin at 7 p.m. on Dec. 5.

The Media Depot Club celebrates the efforts of students who seek to find outlets for originality, expression and imagination through unique films that come directly from the students’ creative minds. The club is looking for films like this for its festival.

“You can’t make a film and not somehow, even accidentally, put a piece of yourself into it,” said Alexander Sabad, current president of the Media Depot Club.

“The festival, though, is really about glorifying the filmmakers and giving them an audience, from the person holding the boom mic to the person behind the camera,” Sabad said.

Past festivals have seen anywhere from five to ten submissions from students, who create the films entirely on their own. Sabad said one of the most special things is the work ethic of the members who produce content.

“We have people who have to really go out of their way to make a movie, so those movies always end up being special journeys,” he said.

Founded in the fall of 2015 by Sanders and Sabad, the club was established to help students with their media projects.

“We founded the club in order to help to create a media presence throughout campus. We wanted to help facilitate the creation and showcasing of student work and media,” Sanders said.

The club has done just that in the semesters since. Beginning by taking over Wildcat TV, and then moving to MDTV, a local channel that publishes student work, the club has gotten student work into the community.

The club has also produced its own short films and created live-to-tape video productions called “Live at the Hub.” In its first full year as an on-campus club, the Media Depot Club won the Student Organization of the Year Award at UK.

Sabad said the club is there to help students through the process of “actually pulling off a movie.”

The club gives students access to film equipment that was purchased with grants from the UK Student Government Association. The club creates a professional production environment where students can hone their production skills.

“We are creating a place for students to gain interest in film and media at the basic level, and preparing students to move on into the industry,” Sanders said.

“Limit your language/gore/sexuality – nothing grotesque,” says the club’s website when outlining rules for festival submissions.

Interested students should submit their films on the website, mediadepotclub.com, by the Nov. 28 deadline. Entries will be judged and those selected will be showcased. Sabad said having your film work showcased is the ultimate reward.