Description

Being lifelong West Virginians, we believe our state should be celebrated for its unique beauty, resilience, creativity, opportunity, and achievement.  We believe The West Virginia STEM and the Arts Film Festival creates the opportunity to showcase this unique beauty, resilience, creativity, opportunity, and achievement while celebrating the story of West Virginia that redefines us beyond the very real struggles experienced from the declining coal industry and opioid crisis.  We also believe that a film festival such as this, featuring and dedicated to STEM and the Arts held at Marshall University, is an excellent vehicle to share the wonderful programs available at Marshall, as well as provide a stimulating and creative atmosphere to showcase the many opportunities available locally in our Tri-State area and more broadly in our state. At the same time, it provides exposure to students both young and young at heart to many different visions of a future in the fields of STEM and the Arts.  The crossover skill sets between STEM and the Arts combine within an individual to engender a creative and effective problem solver vital to our future.  The event will weave STEM and the Arts in unique ways to challenge traditional lines of thinking regarding these seemingly separate silos of learning and progression. 

The West Virginia STEM & the Arts Film Festival is scheduled for Thursday, February 28th, Friday, March 1st, and Saturday, March 2nd, 2019, and will be taking place at the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse at Marshall University.  The festival plans to feature award-winning documentary films which tell inspiring stories related to STEM and the Arts fields, as well as host activities and information booths featuring local organizations and businesses that demonstrate excellence in STEM and the Arts fields, lectures, panel discussions/workshops, performances, and a “short” film contest. All events will be hosted on Marshall University’s campus thanks to the sponsorship of Marshall’s College of Education and Professional Development.

Along with Marshall University, WV AllSTAR has partnered with the Green Bank Observatory for this film festival. The Green Bank Observatory is a world-renowned research facility that is the first Radio Astronomy facility of its kind in the United States located in the National Radio Quiet Zone in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.  Not only is the Observatory globally recognized for its cutting edge research, including groundbreaking discoveries into topics such as the birth of stars, black holes, pulsars, dark matter, astrochemistry and astrobiology, fast radio bursts, and the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, it is also a nationally recognized STEM education facility for students of all ages, kindergarten through graduate school, and PK-16 educators.  WV AllSTAR and the Green Bank Observatory are excited to partner with Marshall University to bring this opportunity to the Marshall and Tri-State community. We are thrilled to have engaged the interest and participation from many filmmakers, who are also excited to share in this event with us.  All of the films share a common theme – one captured with the description of the festival above – and one that we believe captures the spirit of our community.

We would like to invite you to join with us and be a part of this event!    To get involved either as a sponsor, an organization with information and/or an activity to share, a school, a volunteer, etc. – please contact WV AllSTAR at contact@wvallstar.org.

We all share in an investment in the process of moving forward to a more peaceful and prosperous future in each of our own ways.  We are excited to collaborate with so many talented, accomplished people across many disciplines who have carried their life’s work as their mission.  To quote Carl Sagan, “The visions we offer our children shape the future.” Thank you for your continued work in accomplishing just that, and we hope to have an opportunity to work with you on this event!

Below is a handout for the event- Please feel free to share! Thank you!

For a downloadable PDF version of this file, please click here.