Nicole Danser ’15 answers questions about her short film Good Art after screening it in Schaefer Theatre during the Emerge Film Festival. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Last week’s brought hundreds of New England cinephiles to Lewiston and Auburn to see 40 films made by local and national independent filmmakers.

Among the directors chosen from more than 2,300 applicants was Nicole Danser ’15, now a student at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, who screened her short film, , in Schaefer Theatre.

During her visit, Danser also spoke to �ֲ���ý students taking the Short Term class “Film Festivals and Digital and Video Production” taught by Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero.

We caught up with her last week and asked her about movies, the liberal arts, and her desire to make films.

You were an environmental studies and English major. So how did you end up wanting to make movies?

What prompted me to apply to graduate school for filmmaking actually was environmental studies. I wanted to have a creative career and travel but I also wanted to “make a difference” — specifically a positive one, and I think environmental documentaries encompass those specifics well.

Both majors have helped me in pursuing my career, just maybe not in the way I originally anticipated.

My senior thesis was an environmental documentary about the legal battle between the Penobscot Nation and the state of Maine over claims to the Penobscot River. It let me tell a story, see a new part of Maine — and a new perspective on it — and hopefully bring to light an issue others might not have known about.

I’ve always enjoyed writing stories of some sort, so majoring in English has played its part in my interest in filmmaking as well. Narrative and documentary films often deal with the same building blocks: character, tone, story, etc., so I think movement between the two forms is rather natural. And because one of my favorite parts of filmmaking is writing the script, I try to take that opportunity to “make a difference,” just more culturally than environmentally.

So I would say that both majors have helped me in pursuing my career, just maybe not in the way I originally anticipated.

I’ve always been interested in telling stories, I just didn’t know it was a realistic career path until I realized that — well, even if it’s not, it makes me happiest so I should to do it anyway.

What is your short film, Good Art, about? What inspired it?

Good Art is about people confronting a piece of artwork, which leads characters into conversations about what it means to have different interpretations and interactions with art.

A scene from Good Art:

The inspiration behind it was the , where my partner worked as a gallery attendant. I would visit the museum weekly and listen to the conversations people would have, and I would start conversations with the attendants.

Everyone would interact with the pieces in very specific ways depending on who they seemed to be and who they were with. And I wanted to talk about the subject, so I made the film!

Has your liberal arts education helped you in your pursuit of filmmaking?

Well, without my liberal arts education, I wouldn’t have thought to apply to film school (or gotten in, most likely).

Danser describes the creative process of cinema to students in Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero’s Short Term course. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

As for the actual creation of my films, my English major and the writing intensive courses I took at �ֲ���ý have definitely helped me with scriptwriting as well as my grant and scholarship requests. In general, the courses I took made me think in a different way.

I am not the person who came into �ֲ���ý as a first-year student, and I have a lot of brilliant professors and fellow students to thank for that. The conversations I have had inside and outside the classroom have helped me become a more complex and questioning person.

I am not content with making films that are most common in the status quo; not just because they are often rife with politically and socially toxic ideas, but because they are often confined rigidly to a system which doesn’t always reward originality in style and story.

You’re stuck on a desert island with only one movie loaded in your iPad. What’s the movie and why?

I tend not to watch any movies over and over again, even if I adore them, so this is a tough question.

But if you’re asking what my favorite movie is, I would say right now it’s , directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven.

It’s a beautifully shot film that captures the relationship between sisters as well as how they cope with the culture of their small hometown in Turkey.

What really struck me emotionally was the fantastic performance and directing of the young girls in the movie, which made me think that the behavior of young girls is universal despite the culturally different places they may inhabit.

The story is both intense and meandering, with beautifully slow moments and moments of great boldness and desperation. Maybe I should watch it again…

Nicole Danser ’15, a student at the USC School of Cinematic Arts who screened a film at the Emerge Film Festival, talks Thursday with students in “Film Festivals and Digital Video Production,” a Short Term course taught by Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero (right). The class is part of a formidable �ֲ���ý volunteer posse supporting the festival. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

The here in Lewiston-Auburn kicked off Thursday and runs through Sunday, and this year �ֲ���ý is one of the principal sponsors.

So what’s that mean?

Well, like much of �ֲ���ý’ engagement with our community, the college’s sponsorship of this fast-growing festival is a two-way street lined with people and partnerships.

“Our film students will learn the business by seeing it in action.”

For example, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero sits on the Emerge board of directors, and he’s integrated his Short Term course, “Film Festivals and Digital Video Production,” into this year’s event.

Cavallero’s 17 students join 15 other �ֲ���ý students to form a formidable volunteer posse for Emerge.

“Our film students will learn the business by seeing it in action. That’s invaluable,” he says. Festival experience will also “help to remove barriers to their entry into the business” while letting them see “the variety that exists” in the film world.

Wiebke von Carolsfeld, the lead instructor of a Short Term filmmaking course, screens her film Stay, starring Aidan Quinn and Taylor Schilling, on Saturday at the festival.

The students have gotten to see work by one of their own, too.

Emerging filmmaker Nicole Danser ’15, now a student the USC School of Cinematic Arts, spoke to Cavallero’s class on Thursday and screened her short film Good Art on Friday in Schaeffer Theatre.

Another �ֲ���ý connection at the festival is Wiebke von Carolsfeld, the lead instructor of “Filmmaking, The Creative Process,” one of the innovative, practitioner-taught courses offered during Short Term.

She’s showing her film Stay, starring Aidan Quinn and Taylor Schilling, at 3:45 p.m. Saturday in Schaeffer.

Besides working the festival, Cavallero’s students will break into four groups tasked with creating a documentary film that could help Emerge learn more about its identity and rapid growth.

One �ֲ���ý group will explore the college’s growing connection to Emerge, “what it is, what it could be, what that could mean for students,” Cavallero says.

The three other groups will do educational outreach in local high schools; examine the interests and needs of Maine filmmakers ������-à-������ Emerge; and look at how the festival audiences react to and embrace the festival and its films.

Now in its third year, Emerge will screen 40 films selected from some 2,300 submissions from 42 U.S. states and more than 100 countries.

The festival’s other film venues are the college’s Olin Arts Center, the Community Little Theatre in Auburn, and the Franco Center’s Performance Hall and Heritage Hall in Lewiston.

A scene from “12 O’Clock Boys,” featured at the Emerge Film Festival.

As the Emerge Film Festival returns to Lewiston-Auburn this Thursday, members of �ֲ���ý College will have important parts to play in the event’s second year.

“�ֲ���ý’ involvement with Emerge has become very diverse and extensive,” says festival adviser Jonathan Cavallero, a film expert and assistant professor of rhetoric at �ֲ���ý.

“This year, �ֲ���ý students, alumni, faculty and staff are playing essential roles. They will serve on the Student Film Festival jury; moderate post-screening Q&As; design, manage and organize the festival’s technology needs; and sit on panels for post-film discussions.” Cavallero helped organize some of the faculty-led discussions that will follow screenings at the festival.

The festival runs from Thursday, April 9, to Sunday, April 12. Venues include the Franco Center, The Public Theatre, Community Little Theatre, Guthrie’s Independent Theater and Free Grace Presbyterian Church. VIP passes are $75, while regular film passes to all events are $35. At the door, tickets are $5 for matinee, $10 for evening — dependent on available seating.

Students with valid student IDs attend for free. For a complete festival schedule and additional information, please visit .

“I’m delighted to see the involvement of �ֲ���ý people in Emerge,” Cavallero said. “Partnerships and collaborations like these strengthen the bonds between our campus community and the larger Lewiston-Auburn community.

“By bringing a diverse set of films to L/A, Emerge enriches classroom experiences and creates a space where students with an interest in film can interact with working filmmakers.”

At 1 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at The Public Theatre, Emerge will present two thought-provoking Maine premieres, American Cheerleader and 12 O’Clock Boys, followed by a panel of filmmakers, professors and coaches for a deeper discussion of youth and American culture.

American Cheerleader follows the journey of two high school teams vying for the coveted National High School Cheerleading Championship. Overcoming challenges through discipline, dedication and teamwork, 12 girls from New Jersey and 12 from Kentucky redefine what it means to be an American cheerleader.

Set in Maine, “Bluebird” features John Slattery from “Mad Men.”

To Baltimore locals, the 12 O’Clock Boys are hooligans — a group of urban dirt-bikers that perform death-defying stunts at excessive speeds through traffic and impressively evade the hamstrung police, who must adhere to a no-chase policy to maintain public safety. Yet they are heroes to Pug, a bright, young adolescent living in the city’s dangerous Westside neighborhood with his charismatic mother Coco.

Stephanie Kelley-Romano, associate professor of rhetoric at �ֲ���ý, will moderate the discussion of the two films with panelists Rebecca Fraser-Thill, lecturer in psychology; Aimée Bessire, visiting associate professor of art and visual culture; and Jennifer Roy, Lewiston High School cheering coach, as well as the co-directors of American Cheerleader, James Pellerito and David Barba.

“The partnership with �ֲ���ý faculty adds a dimension to the festival that we know will enrich the audience’s viewing experience,” said Laura Davis, president of the film festival’s board.

She adds, “For anyone who loves to watch a great movie and then discuss it, imagine having that insightful conversation with the actual filmmaker, crew and cast members. We are hosting more than 50 filmmakers at the festival, representing 90 percent of the films we are screening.”

Emerge’s Student Film Festival, which presents the work of high school filmmakers, will be juried by �ֲ���ý students and faculty. The judges are Cavallero; Kelley-Romano; two members of the class of 2015, Taylor Blackburn and Julian Hackney; and Rosy DePaul of the class of 2017.

Accepted student films will be screened at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Franco Center’s Heritage Hall.

The Emerge Film Festival is a nonprofit organization, established in Maine in 2014, that works with local and international filmmakers. Documentaries and short to feature-length films are presented during four days of screenings, panel discussions, and receptions.

“In addition to strengthening the bonds of community between those who live, work, and study here, Emerge makes Lewiston-Auburn a destination for visiting filmmakers and movie fans,” Cavallero says.

“By sparking a love of film and an understanding of its social, cultural and political power, the value of the festival extends well beyond this weekend and well beyond L-A.”

The Harward Center will be providing a free shuttle for �ֲ���ý students. The shuttle will make runs to festival venues departing from Chase Hall 3-6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday.