When the lights go down before the screening of the documentary “The HOPE Bus” during tonight’s BALD Shorts Film Festival, filmmaker Joe Windish said he’ll be looking forward to reciprocating the excitement of viewing his film on the big screen for the first time with others who are experiencing the same feeling for themselves.

Windish, the lead technical specialist for instructional support at Georgia College & State University’s Library and Instructional Technology Center, said he’s helped many students with short films that have wound up on the big screen during the festival’s four-year history, but this is the first time he’ll be present to view one of his own.

“I’ve watched a lot of student films as a student at New York University’s film school, but what I’ve seen here [at GCSU] is as good and creative as anything I’ve seen anywhere else,” he said. “And I’m looking forward to the thrill of viewing my own film for the first time on the big screen as much as the thrill the students’ feel viewing their own films on the big screen.”

Now in its fifth year, the BALD Shorts Film Festival will present eight short films produced by student, amateur and even the occasional professional filmmaker from the Baldwin County and Georgia College communities and colleges from across the state, said Alpha Lambda Delta Faculty Adviser Julia Metzker.

Georgia College’s Freshman Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta, puts on the yearly short film festival that features all types of films, as long as they’re under 10 minutes in length. Alpha Lambda Delta members judge the films and provide awards for categories such as best comedy, best animation and best GCSU film, Metzker said.

“This year we’ve noticed a large increase in documentary films,” Metzker said. “A lot of people are making films about things they’re active in.”

And Windish’s film “The HOPE Bus” is indicative of that trend.

HOPE stands for Helping Our Parents Educate, and the film is about the first trip of Baldwin High School’s Parent University bus. Windish said he premiered the short documentary at Parent University’s March meeting, and the feedback was so positive that he decided to enter it into this year’s BALD Shorts Festival.

And although he’s proud of the film, which is a collaboration between him and videographer Julie Gustafson, he said that the biggest thrill will be sharing in the creativity of the students who submit their films to the festival each year.

“Having a professional background that stretches back to the time when videotape was a new technology, I know creative communities,” Windish said about the creative capacity of the student filmmakers he works with on the Georgia College campus. “And I’m very proud of the creativity that the students here bring to this festival, and I’m thrilled to share the screen with them for the first time.”