Last night marked the beginning of a two-night annual film festival presented by the SMU Student Filmmakers Association. The Magnolia Theater in the West Village is hosting the event. It is showing three students 2006 short film projects.

Last night Michael Cain, an accomplished Dallas filmmaker, premiered his award-winning movie “TV Junkies” for the first time in his hometown. Cain’s film previously premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where he won a Special Jury Prize.

“We are very excited to have him,” said Erin Littlestar, an SMU senior and the director of this year’s film festival.

Both nights feature several student films, as well as collaborative films made by the Student Filmmakers Association and the Advanced Film classes. Littlestar hopes that the SMU community will make an effort to come out and support students films.

“This film festival is our equivalent to Brown Bag. We show everything we’ve done all year long, and we’ve worked really hard on this,” she said. “It’s really fun to come out and see everything we’ve accomplished.”

The student short films being showcased, include senior Kirby Stuart’s “Four Walls,” and first-year Christopher Cantu’s “Fourteen Forty.”

Littlestar, who hopes to move to New York after she graduates in May to pursue a career in film, has been involved in the Student Film Association since her sophomore year.

“I love working with SFA and making films,” she said. “This year we have a lot of freshmen filmmakers at the festival, and it’s so great to be able to pass on knowledge to them and watch them discover film.”

Tomorrow’s showcase will be followed by a Hollywood-style “Apres Soiree Dessert and Cocktail Party” in the Magnolia Bar from 10 p.m. to midnight.

“We encourage everyone to come out to our little reception afterwards. It’ll be a lot of fun,” Littlestar said. “And even if you can only come for just a couple of shows, it’ll definitely be worth it to show up. We always have a great turnout from the CTV department and friends, but we would really love to get more of the SMU and Meadows community involved.”

The film festival will continue tonight at the Magnolia Theater, beginning at 6 p.m. Admission is free.