Analy High School students took home gold at the 17th annual Sonoma County Student Film Festival with their humorous piece “Detention,” about a boy trying to escape detention to make the first day at his new job, presented at the Carole L. Ellis Auditorium April 4.
The room was full of student filmmakers, family and friends, as well as local film enthusiasts to see what these spirited amateurs brought to the silver screen. The 11 films ranged from 5 -15 minutes, and showcased the scriptwriting, acting, camera work, directing and editing of students from Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa High School, Sonoma State and Analy High School.
“The Sonoma County Student Film Festival is better than most film fests I’ve been to, and I’ve been to a lot,” said Petaluma filmmaker Miles Lavine, who has participated in the festival several times himself.
All the entrants who made it into the film festival won invitations to Film Fest Petaluma, Sonoma County’s premier short film festival. The festival had four “Best of Show” awards, with two winners from SRJC, one from Sonoma State University and one from Analy High School.
Analy High School student Gus Jordan wrote and directed the first place “Detention,” which follows a high school student who has to fight through obstacles to get to his new job. With a run-time of just under eight minutes, this film captured a montage of film and genre references. “Early on in production, I did think it would be fun to switch genres as much as possible,” Jordan said.This short film garnered laughs from the audience throughout.
Sonoma State University students Anna Eisert and Ernest Magallon wrote and directed the second place film, “Spiral Descent.” The story follows a girl struggling with an oppressive relationship with her mother and accepting her sexual identity. This short film employs an original score and sound design that sets the tone. With a nod to surrealism, it speaks to the struggles of queerness. “[It] came from the idea that queer advocacy and advocacy for marginalized people in general is very important,” Magallon said, “especially coming from the queer community itself and also being of color, it’s really hard to just be you.”
The third awarded film was “Delirium,” written and directed by SRJC students Josiah Danger Anderson, Brant Ferguson and Sam Wright. The film, which was one of two in the horror genre, is a five-minute film that follows two friends who take a psychedelic trip, but an unexpected guest arrives and things take a chilling turn. “We wanted to practice lighting for this project,” Ferguson said, “and try to do some more surreal lighting.” The dark and moody lighting of the film aided in the fright, along with well-crafted sound design.
SRJC student Xander Corl wrote and directed the fourth place film, “Think Back.” The longest film of the night with a run-time of 15 minutes, it explored themes of love, memory and the hardships that come with relationships. This film used creative visual techniques such as color-grading and cinematic framing, and included an original score by SRJC student Zach Jones.
Competition was stiff. “LSD” a comedy, told the tale of a man injected with a dubious truth serum which opens his eyes to the truth that he is in a film. Fantasy adventure movie “Quest for the Eternal Apple” incorporated stop-motion animation. “Overthink” was a film about a teenager being crushed under a sea of her own thought bubbles while waiting for a reply to a text message. “Unfinished Business” was a horror film with a romantic twist about two teens who investigate an empty home and find more than they bargained for.
This marked the first film festival that Mandy Miller, an alumni of SRJC’s film program, organized. A reception at 5 p.m. allowed guests to mingle and talk to the filmmakers; while a 45-minute-long Q&A followed the films’ conclusion.
Attendees and event organizers asked questions about production, the creative process and the intention behind scenes, and the filmmakers shared what inspired certain decisions, alongside the difficulties they faced trying to bring their ideas to life.
Festivals like these give young filmmakers a foothold to launch careers. For some this festival could be a way to display a hobby, but for other attendees this is an early step on a road to success.
