The annual International Film Festival kicked off on Monday, Feb. 26 at the Avalon Cinema with the screening of the film “On the Way to School.” The festival, organized by assitant professor of English David Gillota, has been going on for a few years with cooperation from the Avalon Cinema located on 95 E Main St. in Platteville. The screenings are free of charge to everyonewho wishes to attend.

“The festival is something that we have been doing in Platteville off and on for years. Last year, Gohar Siddiqui organized it, and it was great. I wanted to keep it going, so I took it over for this year,” Gillota said.

The festival continues with the screening of the film “The White Ribbon” on Wednesday, Feb. 28 and follows with screenings of the films “Wadjda” on Thursday Mar. 1, “The Wound” on Tuesday Mar. 6, and “All of Me” on Thursday Mar. 8.

“We had a committee that helped choose the films. My main goal was to have a lot of different films from diverse places around the world,” Gillota said. The festival is screening movies from Europe, Saudi Arabia, Central America and Africa.

The festival is being held in order to give an open view of different cultural aspects within the film world outside of the U.S. With films from different countries around the world, students and community members have the opportunity to learn about more than the culture that surrounds them every day. The festival gives the university and the community an opportunity to experience something together through the screenings at the Avalon Cinema as opposed to on-campus screenings.

“I am always looking for ways that the university and the community can come together on things, and this is a great way to make that happen,”  Gillota said.

Both the community and UW-Platteville students have something to gain. The university’s mission is to, “empower each student to become broader in perspective, intellectually more astute, ethically more responsible, and to contribute wisely as an accomplished professional and knowledgeable citizen in a diverse global community.” The International Film Festival provides the opportunity to do that.