Before working with his father on a film set, Mark Columbus did not realize that what started as a normal documentary would evoke difficult memories of their relationship, transforming it into an unconventional representation of their conflict-filled past.
“I have always taken a lot of alternate paths with films but that’s what makes good work,” Columbus said. “Doing things others won’t gives you a different experience on how to approach stories.”
Columbus, a graduate student in directing in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, is a finalist in the Student Academy Awards, a national university film school competition, for his short documentary “The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist.”
The film stars Columbus’ father, a famous musician from the Fiji Islands, who lost his fame after immigrating to the United States. “Jazz Guitarist” recreates a home video of Columbus’ father playing the guitar, with subtitles narrating the impacts of his failed dreams on their father-son relationship.
Before going to film school, Columbus said he dropped out of high school at a young age and worked a variety of unconventional jobs, molding his approach toward stories.
In order to make some extra money, Columbus worked as a lookout for a gang and later as an independent drug dealer, one of many life experiences that he said changed his perspective.
“It really gave me a different experience on how to approach stories because what seemed like such a danger at the time was actually silly, as I lived in fear of benign 16-year-olds,” Columbus said.
Columbus eventually decided to go to college and pursue filmmaking because he said the best times he had in high school were spent making movies.
During his third year at the UCLA film school as a graduate student, Columbus was able to make “Jazz Guitarist” when he won an Adobe grant that gave several UCLA film students $1,000 to create a film involving a green screen.
Columbus said he decided to use the money to create a tribute to his father, placing the green screen in the back of the shot, unused, to satisfy Adobe’s assignment criteria.
However, Columbus said working with his father on set reminded him of how difficult his father was, prompting Columbus to change the focus of his film from just a re-creation of the home video to an examination of their relationship.
“The film reflects my ideas on set that day: a son who has an idealistic motive to celebrate his father but it becomes a study of our conflicts,” Columbus said.
It was this organic development of the film that the cinematographer Alejandro Salinas-Albrecht said made the “Jazz Guitarist” a success in the Student Academy Awards.
“Columbus works in the moment and lets things grow from there,” Salinas-Albrecht said. “He doesn’t have strong preconceived notions, but provides broad strokes and hopes a conversation starts.”
Narrated by subtitles, Columbus said this artistic choice in the film emphasizes the impact of the unspoken problems in their relationship that he has been scared to vocalize. It creates the impression of a secret story being told to the audience that Columbus does not want his father to hear.
A camera assistant to Columbus, Sarah Jean Kruchowski, also in the UCLA graduate film program, said “Jazz Guitarist” is powerful because it is imbued with Columbus’ voice so it is more an essay on his personal experience than a researched documentary.
“Columbus doesn’t just create straightforward films; he always adds a twist,” Kruchowski said. “His storytelling is his vision and how he perceives things so he never just presents the facts.”
Columbus said audiences at film festivals also responded emotionally to the film, coming up to him after the show and saying it reminded them of their relationship with their father.
“It’s a remarkable feeling to be able to transfer my emotions to the audience and make a connection with people who feel the same way,” Columbus said.
Not willing to dwell too long on one success, Columbus recently finished a short film executively produced by James Franco with celebrities such as Matthew Modine. The short will be strung together with several other short pieces made by UCLA film students as a feature.
“Working with celebrities like Franco has given me confidence, so now I know with the right tools I can make anything work during filming,” Columbus said.
Although he has accomplished much as a film student, Columbus said he is still financially insecure but that does not stop him from pursuing his dream.
“I’ve had so many different jobs, but film is the only one I don’t consider work,” Columbus said. “It’s the only thing I’m capable of doing, so I can’t help but do it. It just seeps out of me.”