Thirty-three original films, ranging in length from 10 to 20 minutes, will be shown on three consecutive nights in Cubberley Auditorium starting tomorrow as part of the Stanford Student Film Festival. This annual event highlights the work of student filmmakers and has traditionally drawn substantial interest from students.

The festival has been a regular event for the past four years and has grown in size each year. Stanford Film Society members had been hosting screenings of original films independently since 1995, although not under the auspices of a festival.

“It [the festival] has changed and grown in many ways over just the past few years,” said Kirk Shimano, a senior and co-president of SFS. “It really is a great event and I’m hoping that we can match last year’s unprecedented success.”

This success can be measured by the festival’s attendance. Last year, Cubberley was filled on each of the three nights of screening. Another gauge of the festival’s popularity is the large number of Stanford students who are involved with the festival.

“I haven’t calculated the actual probability [because] I’m a fuzzy, but I bet that almost every Stanford student — whether they realize it or not — knows someone who was involved in the production of a film,” said senior and SFS Co-President Ben Dudek.

The featured films come from three sources: the Student Filmmakers Workshop, the SFS Film Grant program and open submissions.

“A third of the films come from SFW, a yearlong program in which the more experienced members of the SFS mentor new filmmakers, teaching them how to use the filming equipment and apply the basic ideas of film theory,” said Shimano, who assisted in organizing the workshop.

“The next third of the films come from the SFS Film Grant program. Film Grant recipients use the same equipment as SFW members and are encouraged to participate in some community-building events, but they tend to be more experienced and produce the majority of the film on their own.”

The final portion of the festival comes from open submissions. These films were made without any assistance from the SFS and were submitted to a jury early last month.

Mike Pappas, a senior, was awarded one of the SFS grants along with his film partners early this year by submitting a script idea and then going through an interview process. The grant covered filming costs and guaranteed a spot in the festival. Pappas said the filmmaking process was grueling but well worth it.

“It took us probably about 15 hours to write most of the movie,” he said. “The bulk of the filming was done over five days during spring break, and editing and post-production has taken a long time — about a month of sessions twice a week from three to six hours each. But we are very happy with how it turned out.”

Students sometimes hope to use the festival as a springboard for entry into other festivals or for adaptation into a feature-length film. Some Stanford graduates whose work was entered in the festival have gone on to pursue film school or a career in the industry.

The festival itself, however, is not competitive.

“We’re not out to find the ‘best’ film or to single out one film above everything else,” Shimano said.

Rather, the goal of the festival is to provide both the means to create and an outlet to showcase student film.

Junior Meredith Narrowe, this year’s festival coordinator, pointed to the variety of films offered and the rare opportunity to see the work of student filmmakers as compelling reasons to attend the event.

“The festival is a unique opportunity to see student film on the Stanford campus,” she said. “This year’s directors have put a lot of time into their films, and the results . . . include documentaries, dramatic pieces, animated works, comedic farces, music videos and experimental films.”

The event begins at 7:30 tomorrow and continues on Friday and Saturday night. Admission is free.