When Lee Vaughter first heard about the Central Wisconsin Film Festival, he couldn't wait to enter his films.

A 2008 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Vaughter submitted two films for this year's event -- "Everyday Hero" and "Hidden Past." Both were accepted.

"It's my first film festival, and I'm really excited," he said. "I'm just excited to see my films on the big screen and show them to the public."

The fourth annual Central Wisconsin Film Festival will be Nov. 6 to 8 at three locations in Portage County -- the Lettie W. Jensen Community Center in Amherst, and Rogers Campus Cinema and The Garage at Emy J's., both in Stevens Point. There will be five showings during the festival, with different films at most sessions. The Nov. 8 program at The Garage at Emy J's will be a reprise of the Nov. 6 session, which will feature nearly 10 short films.

"This festival gives us an opportunity to shine a light on the art of cinema and filmmaking," said Otis McLennon, executive director of the Arts Alliance of Portage County, which sponsors the event. "We hope this event gives encouragement to filmmakers. It's like an artists having an exhibit at an art gallery, this is like a film gallery for filmmakers."

The film festival is a fundraiser for the Arts Alliance.

More than 22 hours of film were submitted for the festival and organizers had to narrow the submissions to about seven hours, said Jim McKnight, festival director.

The event will feature nearly 20 films, including a full-length narrative, "Pachamama," directed by Toshifumi Matsushita. McKnight invited Matsushita to submit the film after viewing it at a film festival in Madison earlier this year.

"We bring in a variety of films," McKnight said. "We try to expose people to films they otherwise wouldn't see."

Because of the strong group of submissions, organizers also expanded this year's festival. It had previously run for two days, with the same films being shown both days.

"It now includes four times as many hours of film," McKnight said.

An interactive aspect of the festival is the Talkbacks that are offered after the evening sessions Nov. 6 and 7. The question-and-answer periods allow those who attend to talk with directors and cast members about the technical aspects of filmmaking as well as anything else related to creating a film.

For Vaughter, the excitement surrounding the local festival has encouraged him to pursue other film festivals in the future and to continue to pursue his filmmaking ambitions.

"I want to have a job where I can make films," he said, "even if it's just on the side."