As he started his final year at UCLA, Adonnis Asencio’s focus was not on the papers, midterms and projects of fall quarter. It was on a movie.
On Oct. 22, the Film and Photography Society at UCLA submitted three films to Campus MovieFest, a student film festival that began in 2001. The films, titled “Wander,” “Benched” and “09456” feature a cast and crew of UCLA students who serve as the films’ directors, editors, actors and set designers.
Asencio, a fourth-year linguistics and Spanish student, co-directed “Wander” along with third-year political science student Margaux Moores-Tanvier, the president of the Film and Photography Society. “Wander,” Asencio said, is about a germaphobic homeless man who collects bottles and cans for a living and his interactions with a beggar he meets.
“I got the inspiration for the film from my hometown, San Bernardino, where I saw people doing this,” Asencio said. “I had this idea in my mind and I knew that (Campus MovieFest) was coming up, so I wrote it down, revamped it and submitted it.”
The executive board of the Film and Photography Society selected three scripts, including Asencio’s, out of 34 member submissions to pursue as films. Creative director Daichi Hirabayashi, a second-year undeclared humanities student, said that the board takes several things into consideration such as the quality and feasibility of each script – especially since the films must be produced within a week following Campus MovieFest regulations – and its potential to win awards.
“We hold screenwriting workshops and a general overview of film production to get people thinking about what they want to do,” Hirabayashi said. “Most people aren’t film majors – the club is for anyone remotely interested in film or photography – so we teach them about the roles and responsibilities on a set in the professional industry.”
The Film and Photography Society works on at least two creative projects each quarter, Hirabayashi said, and each one has opportunities for students regardless of prior film experience. Weekly meetings, regular group photoshoots and events such as photo contests provide a hands-on approach in the club, and under the guidance of the executive board and other senior members, even those who have never participated in film have the chance to develop their filmmaking and photography skills.
“We generally get a lot of new members in the fall quarter who are really interested in learning,” said Tiajha Nakahara, third-year Design | Media Arts student and director of internal affairs for the Film and Photography Society. “And as long as they’re interested, it’s easy to teach them, which makes everything run smoothly on set.”
For Campus MovieFest, new members were encouraged to get involved in the first major project of the year by joining the crew of one of the three films, whether in producing, directing, development, location, casting or art. For many, it was their first time working on films. For Asencio, it was his first time directing.
“It was nerve-wracking to direct everyone on the set, but all the actors were really great to work with,” Asencio said. “I let (Moores-Tanvier) go first, and after she left, I took over even though I felt kind of nervous about it.”
Hirabayashi met with Asencio and the other screenwriters in the beginning of the process to discuss their creative visions for each of the films. Campus MovieFest provided equipment and a one-week time frame to put together five-minute films; after that, each team was largely responsible for all aspects of their project, from the initial stages of storyboarding and casting to the final nights spent editing and putting together the films.
“It’s such a hectic competition since it’s such a short amount of time to do everything,” Hirabayashi said. “Everyone’s pretty much on their own.”
As the week of all-nighters came to a close, the Film and Photography Society premiered “Wander,” “Benched” and “09456” during its weekly meeting on Thursday. All the UCLA films submitted to the festival will be judged by a panel from Campus MovieFest and 16 of them will move on to Campus MovieFest Hollywood. There, those films will compete against productions from other colleges around the world next summer in the main categories of best picture, best drama and best comedy as well as vying for smaller awards.
“I saw all the films at the screening. Mine, in particular – I loved every second of it,” Asencio said. “I think it has what it takes to win best drama. It will do great things.”