More than 50 short films made by SF State cinema majors were screened at the 35th Annual Film Finals and Previews Festival on campus this past week.
The films featured a lineup of documentary, animation, narrative, computerized cinema and experimental films and videos.
The Film Finals screening tomorrow will be a compilation of the best films from the Previews Festival selected by audience votes and a selection committee. The screening will be at 7:30 p.m. in McKenna Theatre.
Jan Millsapps, cinema department chair, said the festival is a great way for students to learn what it means to be an independent film maker.
"As far as being independent film makers, our students are passionate about fulfilling their own ideas and visions," she said.
All SF State cinema graduates or undergraduates who completed their films within the last year were eligible to screen their films.
This year's films range in length from less than a minute to over 30 minutes and can cost thousands of dollars to produce, Millsapps said.
Students had to find ways to fund their own filmmaking rather than have a film produced by a major studio.
Caitlin Manning, who is graduating this semester, showed her 33-minute film, "Prelude," at the Previews Festival.
Manning, who has been working on her film for two years, received a $5,000 cinematography grant from Kodak that helped her considerably with the $15,000 price tag of the film. But even with the grant, Manning had to make many financial sacrifices.
"I borrowed money and I worked. There are a lot of things that I don't spend money on so that I can do film work," she said.
According to Manning, her film is about a young mother struggling to reclaim her creative life.
"[The protagonist] is a guilt-ridden young women whose conjugal, maternal and working obligations keep her from realizing her dreams of becoming an artist -- a musician," Manning said. "Carla is a kind of martyr, who sacrifices her creative powers for the well-being of her family."
Aliya Gerstman, who began making her 12-minute film, "Girlfriend(s)," just over a year ago, spent almost $3000 to film it.
"Girlfriend(s)" is about four close friends who meet regularly to play cards and gossip. The all learn a little more about each other and themselves when one of the women discloses a new friendship.
Even though the school provided the cameras and the lights, Gerstman said the dollars still added up.
"The filmmaking process is quite expensive and my film is rather long for a student film," said Gerstman, a recent graduate. "I'm looking for a job, finishing up my film and trying to pay off my credit card bills from this last film."
The high costs of producing a film are not the only challenges student film makers face.
"It's a lot more time-consuming than we all thought. Not everyone finishes," Manning said. "In the class that I went through this year, maybe less than half of the people finished their films."
One of the difficulties she faced included organizing the shoots.
"You have to get the people as well as all of the equipment together. Because you act as producer, director, assistant director, and production manager, you're doing everything," Manning said.
Films which were previewed during Film Finals in past years have gone on to great success.
Michael LaHaie's film, "Critizen," first seen in last May's Film Finals, is now being exhibited internationally and has recently been invited to the Sundance Festival. Films from last year's Film Finals were invited to the Independent Feature Market in New York, and the Film Finals trailer was picked up by the Networks Events Theater, and has been screened around the country.
Since only the best films chosen by the audience and a committee of instructors go on to the final round on May 19, it can be a tense experience for the aspiring film makers.
"I've got to keep my fingers crossed that my film will make it into Film Finals," Gerstman said.
Also scheduled during the festival are panels and symposia made up of members of the cinema faculty, students and representatives from media-related organizations such as the Film Arts Foundation, the Sundance Institute, and Video Free America.
The Film Previews and Finals Festival will be shown Tuesday through Thursday, 1:30-6:30 p.m., in McKenna Theatre in the Creative Arts Building. Admission is free for the three days of film previews.
Admission for the Film Finals is $4 for students, seniors, SF State faculty, staff, and alumni. There is a $6 charge for general admission. To purchase tickets in advance, call the Creative Arts Box Office at 338-2467.