The NIU department of communication, along with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will give the NIU community a dose of reality.

They will host the first annual Reality Bytes Film Festival.

The festival was created by communication professor Laura Vazquez as a way for students to display their talent.

“Festivals are extremely good for students because it gives them a chance to receive recognition outside of their classmates and friends,” communication professor David Gunkel said.

The festival starts today and continues through Friday. It will feature short documentaries produced by students.

“It is open to any student films produced anywhere. In December, we set up a Web site and sent posters out to over 150 different institutions. There are entries from NIU students, as well as students from schools on the East Coast,” Vazquez said.

All entries will be judged by three media scholars, and the winners will receive cash prizes. One-hundred dollars will be awarded to the Best of Genre winner, and $150 will be given to the Best of Festival.

Two NIU graduate students, Paul Butler and James Macon, will compete in the festival. Macon’s film will focus on the Underground Railroad – a system once used by slaves to escape into the free states. After the film sessions, attendees can hear guest speakers Will Hernandez, Robert Katz and Bill Weinman; all of whom have credits in the major film industry. On Friday, Judith Mayne, a professor of French and Women’s Studies at Ohio State University, will deliver her lecture, “Marlene Dietrich and Hollywood’s Representation of the Aging Female Star.”

Planning and implementing the festival has been hectic for Vazquez, but the communication department has been very supportive of her and her graduate student assistants. But, she would like to see more faculty help out next year.

“[We] are nervous and excited and want NIU to come out and support … this is the future.”

For more information log onto http://www3.niu.edu/comm/realitybytes/