UW-River Falls hosts student film and screen scoring documentary premiere
Sept. 10, 2025 – The University of Wisconsin–River Falls will host a free film premiere Sunday, Sept. 21, featuring the short film “Vigil,” with direction and a musical score by Landon Zientara, a junior double major in music and stage and screen arts from Lakeville, Minn., and the documentary, “Screen Scoring at UWRF,” directed by Casey Palbicki, a senior lecturer in the department. The two films will be shown in the Blanche Davis Theatre in Kleinpell Fine Arts, 420 E. Cascade Ave., River Falls, beginning at 7 p.m.
“Vigil,” directed by Zientara, is a dark and surreal narrative that highlights the magnitude of mental suffering through intense personification of setting and the horrors that despair can impose on the mind. Zientara also composed the music for the film and conducted the orchestra during a screen scoring recording session held April 26 in UWRF’s Abbot Concert Hall.
Zientara said creating the project was an amazing and beautiful experience, though the intense subject matter was not easy to bring to life.
“‘Vigil’ was a really challenging story to tell, but I’m really thankful for some special friends who helped me develop the project in its earlier stages, more than they will ever know,” Zientara said. “Even though it was an incredible burden to create, this project means so much to me, because I think it is a really important story.”
The musical score was performed by the UWRF Cinema Symphony, composed of UWRF students, faculty, alumni and local teachers. It was one of several works recorded during the session for film and video game scoring projects. The recording session was captured on video and is the subject of Palbicki’s documentary.
“Screen Scoring at UWRF,” directed by Palbicki, explores the magic of the first Hollywood-style recording session at UWRF, featuring talented students, community musicians and original music for film and video games.
“This is my first documentary, and it examines the process of planning and producing a Hollywood style film/game scoring session in a small community with a small budget,” Palbicki said. “It offers testimonies from the composers, performers, producers and others who were involved with the project.”
The premiere is an opportunity for audiences to see the finished work of a film and scoring project as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the screen score recording process.
“The screen scoring program at UWRF offers students a cutting-edge education in composing music and creating sound design elements for visual media,” Palbicki said. “Students in this exciting program develop screen scoring projects leading to a portfolio for prospective employers within the Hollywood film and video game industries.”
To learn more about screen scoring at UWRF, visit uwrf.edu/MUS/Screen-Scoring.cfm.