For the past two years, the Brandeis-sponsored SunDeis Film Festival has offered budding student moviemakers the chance to have their labors of love screened in front of peers and professionals alike; a kind of Aber-indie alternative for those not quite trendy enough for Robert Redford's substantially higher-profile Sundance. But for this year's festival, which runs all day Saturday, Apr. 1 and Sunday, Apr. 2 in the Shapiro Campus Center and the Wasserman Cinematheque in Sachar, SunDeis will come several steps and a jump closer to reaching the level of excellence set by its Utah-based namesake. The festival has been no stranger in the past to major cinematic figures-Marshall Herskovitz '73 (producer of The Last Samurai and Traffic) and Sam Weisman '73 (director of the remake of The Out-of-Towners and D2: The Mighty Ducks) paid visits to their alma mater as keynote speakers in 2004 and 2005, respectively. But while Brandeis is intellectually and creatively strong enough to have produced a number of successful media personalities, the 2006 organizers have decided it's time to branch out beyond successful alumni alone.

As such, the Sunday night red carpet awards ceremony will not only honor the efforts of the best student directors, writers, actors and techies, but will also bestow Lifetime Achievement Awards upon Academy Award-winning actresses Celeste Holm (Gentlemen's Agreement) and Margaret O'Brien (Meet Me in St. Louis), and have arranged for Jesse L. Martin (Rent) to present the SunDeis Entertainer of the Year Award to his Law and Order co-star, S. Epatha Merkerson. A special award will also be given to Jeremy Leven, screenwriter of the romantic hit The Notebook.

"The real draw, I think," SunDeis Awards Coordinator Scott Feinberg '08 said, "is that we're doing something we've never done before, which is bringing in people who've reached the pinnacle of the profession." Feinberg, along with the Sundeis Planning Committee (including Vered Blonstein '06, Ian Sager '06, Julia Crantz '06, Lisa Debin '06, Deniz Cordell '07 and Aly Young '09), has been largely responsible for injecting a fresh dose of blood into the festival, which many thought would come to an end after founder Arnon Shorr '05 graduated last year.

Even though the star wattage is set to practically gleam over the entire weekend, SunDeis hasn't lost sight of its intended purpose: to give students the opportunity to get their start in filmmaking. "In the Boston area ... there aren't the showcases that there are on the West Coast [for young filmmakers]," said Feinberg. He stressed the importance of building up that same kind of network in the East: "Maybe you don't know that you're good until you get that response from peers."

Although the festival is obviously geared toward nurturing film at Brandeis in particular (and indeed, will bestow the "Best of Brandeis" Award upon one lucky director), SunDeis is determined to stretch its boundaries as far as they can go. "We want to emphasize that we don't just want Brandeis students-though that is our target audience," said Feinberg. "We've gotten [films from] as far as Iowa ... You could be 20 or 80 [and still be able to participate]."

As in earlier years, Brandeis will also play host to workshops with professors and critics and moderate discussions with industry veterans. Boston Globe film critic Prof. Mark Feeney (JOUR) and Boston Phoenix critic Peter Keough (a brutally funny speaker whom this writer cannot recommend enough) will be on hand to represent a more analytical side of the business, as will Brandeis' own finest, Profs. Thomas Doherty (AMST) and Marc Weinberg (FILM). "[It's] essentially like being in a film class," Feinberg said.

Currently, the SunDeis committee is busy wading through what Feinberg estimates as a good "nine or 10 hours of film." The preliminary judging sessions, which are conducted by independent student judges, are to be held over the next week. "Based on the number of submissions, and the quality of them, and the excitement," Feinberg said, "we really think that we're filling an important void."

For more information and a complete schedule, visit www.sundeis.com.