DeSales University will hold its version of the Academy Awards on Saturday and a Pleasant Valley High School graduate will have a major role in the event.

Jordyn Harris, a Saylorsburg resident and a senior at the college in Center Valley, is the head of marketing for the DeSales University Film Festival, which will showcase world premiere short films that range from 30 seconds to 20 minutes.

“Our festival will provide opportunity for emerging voices of the film industry,” Harris said. “We will also be featuring the artistic work of photographers of the TV/Film Department and the entire university.”

Her interest in film production began about 13 years ago for the 2019 Pleasant Valley graduate who lives with her father, David; mother, Gwen; and sisters, Caia and Zeruiah.

“My dad would video some of the events at our church,” she said. “My sister and I would set up his camera at home and make little films and do other things like pretending to be TV weathermen.”

At the event, screenwriters, producers, directors, cinematographers, designers, editors, animators and actors from the DeSales TV/Film Department will compete for the DUFF awards (DeSales University Film Festival). Category winners will be selected for Best Performance, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing/Sound Design, Best Overall Film and the award for Audience Choice.

New to the festival is a high school competition where student filmmakers from the area submit entries that will be judged by the University TV/Film Department. The top three finalists will be invited to the festival where the winner will be announced.

Judges for the 23rd annual event will be Jared Polin, Maxwell Thorpe, Kent Lamm, and special judge, Tim Heidecker who is an actor/comedian who is most known for his role in the movie “Us,” a psychological horror film produced in 2019.

Harris has spearheaded a marketing plan to attract audiences to the festival. “We’ve placed invitations on several social media sites. On campus, we have our ‘Popcorn Day’ where we offer free popcorn to students and faculty. We have also made advertisement signs and displayed them at local movie theaters,” Harris said.

Harris has set her sights on becoming a director and DeSales has a strong reputation for sending TV/Film Department graduates into successful careers in the entertainment industry. More than two dozen Emmy Award winners are DeSales alumni with many of those getting their beginning at the festival.

In addition to school work at DeSales, Harris has participated in the university’s Summer Video Institute.

“I realize that to go where the entertainment industry is mostly located, I’ll have to go to New York or maybe California after I graduate this year. I’m ready to go wherever I might get a chance,” she said.

The road to Hollywood for Harris began when she stood in front of a camera when she was 6 years old. Now, she intends to stand behind one with hopes of becoming a successful director.

Tickets for the DeSales University Film Festival cost $18 and $15 for seniors and students. The event is at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at 8 p.m. Streaming is also available at $15. Contact DeSales for further information.