KINGSTON, R.I. — April 19, 2006 — The University of Rhode Island’s eighth annual student film festival, Visualizations, will be held April 26 and 27, and will feature special guest Cherry Arnold. Arnold is a 1987 URI graduate and the director of Buddy, a documentary about former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci. During the awards ceremony Thursday night, she will give a brief presentation and show a clip from the film. All screenings and award ceremonies are free and open to the public.

Screenings of the second place, third place and honorable mention films will be shown in the Chafee Social Science Center, Room 277, Wednesday, April 26 at 7 p.m.

Screenings of all first place films, followed by an awards ceremony, will be held Thursday, April 27 in the Chafee Social Science Center, Room 271 at 7 p.m.

Cash prizes of $300, $200, and $100 are awarded to students in each of the following categories: animation, experimental, commercials/public service announcements, narrative/open, documentary, news segment, critical essay, and film treatment. Winners of each category will also receive VIP passes to the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

The overall winner will receive the Fred Joyal “Best of the Festival Award,” an additional $100 and a pass to the ScriptBiz class at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Fred Joyal, ’79, sponsors the festival, and funds the prizes for all but two of the categories. The Richard Beaupre Hope and Heritage Fund sponsors the essay awards, and Scott Randall, ’76, of Brand Games in New York City, sponsors the treatment awards.

Judges for the award are Arnold, Steven Feinberg, director of the Rhode Island Film and Television Office, Jocelyn Donahue, visual arts director at the Courthouse Center for the Arts and George Marshall, ’76, executive director of Rhode Island International Film Festival.