As students walk across the footbridge on campus, faces steadily becoming numb, thoughts run wild as mouths lose function and voices are cut by the wind.

This year’s Festival Eau Cinema murder mystery theme pairs well with the winter chill.

The University Activities Commission (UAC) will be screening murder mysteries in Davies Center’s Woodland Theater, a theme that the Film Committee came to an agreement on a semester ago when planning the event. Other ideas ranged from leap year to the concept of luck.

On Friday, the 31-day filmmaking event will officially launch with releases of the required line of dialogue, character name, and prop for the filmmakers to include in their videos. These exist not only to help stimulate creativity, but to ensure all participants are creating within that 31-day time frame.

Registration starts on Friday and ends Sunday Feb. 28 at midnight, when videos have to be uploaded onto YouTube.

Film Committee chair Melissa Wysocki said participants are allowed to submit their films after the due date, but they won’t be eligible to receive awards.

After the screening at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 8 in the Woodland Theater, a panel of judges of community members and professors decide on the nights’ award winners, including a crowd favorite chosen by the audience.

Special Events chair Naomi Nyambati doesn’t think the festival is as popular as it should be, but Melissa notes that the festival has been steadily gaining attention over the years on campus, the quality of the videos increasing simultaneously.

“[The Festival Eau Cinema is] important because it’s a good way of reaching out into the community and getting them involved. We get a lot of submissions from high school groups that are really into it and members of the community just really love it,” Melissa said. “Getting students to work with community members sometimes too is a great way of interacting and connecting people.”

Admission to the screening is free with a student ID or a Campus Films Pass.

“It’s a really fun event that allows for people to get recognized for the work that they do,” Melissa stated.

For the chance to see your work on the big screen, contact the University Activities Commission to register for this year’s Murder Mysteries themed Festival Eau Cinema.