One week before seniors cross the stage and complete their KSC career, the Putnam Theater was filled with audiences who saw a variety of work from a group of those seniors. The 2026 Student Film Fest was held from April 25 to 26, showing two sets of senior capstone films.
There were two shows each day that filled the Putnam Theater with friends and family of the student filmmakers. The 14 films were split up into two programs of seven films. Over the course of the weekend, each film was shown twice within the shows at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Clinical Associate Professor of Film Studies Ted White gave a small speech before the program began.
“It’s wonderful to see movies with a bunch of people live in person, the way it’s meant to be. I think it really adds a lot to the experience and also see a lot of actors, parents, friends and great alumni,” said White. “Thank you all for being here.”
After each program, there was a Q&A session for audience members to ask the seniors questions about the films they had worked on. Senior Hayley Townsend, the director and co-writer for the film “Moon River,” spoke about the color choices in clothing made throughout the film.
“I really like color theory, and so in one of the scenes–the scene where they fight over the cup–Celeste is wearing this bright red sweater and you can’t really see what color Margot was wearing, but she’s wearing a dark green,” said Townsend.
Other aspects, such as behind-the-scenes information or even the inspiration for the film that made its way onto the big screen, were also discussed.
An audience member, Joshua Bullier, also spoke on the neat intricacies that were layered in the films from his perspective.
“It’s also really cool to see all the different niche things that they did, like in ‘Hit and Run,’” said Bullier. “Just the wall and recognizing where they took inspiration from that, that was awesome.”
Senior filmmakers also expanded on their ideas or themes for the films that they created. One of those seniors, Ben O’Connor, spoke on how he came up with the story for the senior film fest. The film “Alden & Elijah” is about two brothers who are growing up and splitting apart simultaneously, and O’Connor expanded on the origins of that idea.
“I am from Minnesota, so the last few years I’ve been away from my family for most of the year. And I noticed the more I’m away, the more that my brother and sister are growing up, and I learn new things about them,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor also talked about his family when he spoke of how important this film is to him.
“They’re my number one fans and supporters, so I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. It means that I get to make them and bring my love for them here,” said O’Connor.
Most of the students had been in the program for four years and had even worked on capstones for other senior classes. The Chair of Film Studies and a capstone professor, Jo Dery, said that the thing that separates this set of students from past seniors is the collaboration.
“The thing that’s really stuck out to me this time, the teamwork. And the joy that they found in becoming a team and finding friendships, new friendships [and] strengthening old friendships through collaboration. There are a few students who didn’t know anyone in the class at the start of the year,” said Kery.
Bullier attended the University of New Hampshire and said he appreciated the hard work put into creating the films that he was able to see. Bullier has had experience with film and capstone work before and said he relates to the senior filmmakers.
“I really enjoyed being able to see all of the work that people had put in and everything that they had done. I’ve been privileged to know of the process of how this stuff goes on here, because one of my good friends produced a film that was in capstone in 2025,” said Bullier.
The process of creating the capstone films and presenting them is a representation of what this world needs, according to Dery.
“There’s so much joy that comes from working together and making something that is greater than the sum of the individuals,” Dery said, “It’s a real lesson for all of us right now. It’s the power of collaboration and art making.”
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
