Have you ever watched a film that was developed in a toilet?

The world of art has numerous mediums in which individuals are allowed to express creativity and passions. Cosmic Rays, a film festival in the Chapel Hill area, is highlighting the niche of non-commercial short films and attempting to let others embrace the idea of this “alternative” method of cinematography as art.

Bill Brown and Sabine Gruffat are the programmers and directors of this film festival, and see it as a unique way to bring artists inside and outside of the Chapel Hill community together through a passion they both share – film.

They both stress that these are not typical movies an audience would see in the theaters. The films in the event are produced in a “mad scientist lab." Artists are using unique methods such as developing film in a toilet or filming through a small hole to reach new and exciting artistic heights.

“A lot of these artists are using kind of alternative processes to make the film," Brown said. "People who come to the festival will see images and hear sounds that are probably very very different from what they are familiar with because the processes in which the artists are making these films are very very different and kind of experimental.”  

The festival is based on individual submissions through a website called Film Freeway. Artists submitted their pieces via an online portal before a panel including Brown and Gruffat decided which would be chosen to be displayed at the event.

“I think we got something like 400 submissions this year, and we have programmed about 40, so you know it’s as competitive to get into as a pretty good college,” Brown said. “The acceptance rate is about 10 percent so we’d like to think that it’s really high-quality work." 

This venue has a range of films, allowing individuals who have never been exposed to artistic and experimental film to dip their toes in to this different cinematic world.

Tom Whiteside, whose short film will be played during the festival, said Cosmic Rays gives everybody the opportunity to see a lot. 

"You are going to see a number of things that are going to broaden your horizons,” he said. 

Gruffat, a professor at UNC, spoke about how her advertising class is participating in the event. The class created the trailers for the films that will be on display, just another way the festival has created connections the community can relate to and be excited about.

"The main reason we are doing this is to kind of create a temporary, intentional community of people who are interested in this stuff right,” Gruffat said. “And so, it’s kind of fun to be a group and see each other’s work.”