The spotlight will shine on the Averitt Center for the Arts Thursday evening when the Third annual Statesboro Film Festival premieres a dozen locally-produced short films.

A reception for filmmakers and the public attending the event begins at 6:15 p.m., with the festival getting underway at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the Statesboro Herald and the Averitt Center box office or by calling (912) 212-2787.

Complimentary light refreshments and beverages will be served at the reception and Millhouse Steakhouse is catering the intermission for all festival goers to enjoy.

The film that will take the Grand Prize at the 2011 Statesboro Film Festival Grand Prize and with it a 42-inch LCD television from Farmers Furniture is still in the hands of voters.

Voting at statesborofilmfestival.com is now open through midnight on Wednesday. The film with the most votes will be the Grand Prize winner and the filmmaker will receive the big screen TV from Farmers. People can vote up to 10 times per day from a single URL address.

"If you want to be the Grand Prize winner, organize your family, friends and especially all your friends on Facebook and get them to vote," Matt Bankhead, lead producer for Studio Statesboro and director of the 2011 festival, said. "Like American Idol, we wanted to let the public pick the Grand Prize winner. As they say, vote early and vote often."

Vote totals will not be shown, so the winner can be revealed at the festival.

In addition to the Grand Prize, a panel of three judges is viewing all films will give awards for Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Director and Best Film. The awards will be announced after all films are screened, culminating with the Grand Prize winner.

The 2011 Statesboro Film Festival is sponsored by the Statesboro Herald, the Averitt Center for the Arts, Farmers Furniture, Millhouse Steakhouse, Gailey Trophy, The University Store, McCook's Pharmacy and Connect Statesboro.