When she found out about the Shorttakes Student Film Festival online last November, first-year film student Daniela Arguello thought back to an idea for a class project she never had the chance to do.
Her idea was a short film called “Time,” a live-action science fiction romance about a boy who goes back in time to rekindle a lost love, that is now one of 11 finalists in the student-run and student-submitted short film festival.
Put on by the Undergraduate Students Association Council Campus Events Commissio, Shorttakes has been around since 1992. This year, there were 91 submissions from across the world.
“I wanted an audience to see my film,” Arguello said. “I wanted to network with other filmmakers and make a few connections.”
This year, fourth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student and festival director Pratik Patel said that there was a greater focus on staff collaboration in organizing Shorttakes. In previous years, the festival directors have assumed most of the responsibility in contacting judges and marketing.
Patel said he had his staff contact judges and market the event as not a solely UCLA event, which he believed increased submissions.
“We got more submissions this year than ever,” Patel said. “This year, we even had three international submissions from a student in Spain and two from Japan when we only had one last year.”
The process for picking finalists starts with Patel, who said he watches at least the first three minutes of each submission.
“We look at the quality of the acting and cinematography when we choose the films,” said former CEC commissioner Greg Kalfayan. “Since the submissions are short films, we also focus a lot on the tightness of shots.”
After Patel narrowed down the submissions, he sent the rest to Kalfayan and his staff to judge. They then picked 19 films to send to the celebrity judges, who pick the finalists and winners.
At the festival, “Mean Girls” actor Daniel Franzes, “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” director Mark Neveldine and cinematographer Rod Blackhurst will present awards and prizes for best drama, best comedy and best animation, as well as best of show. The top prize this year is audio and visual software from Sony, with other prizes including Amazon Fire TVs and gift cards from Westwood businesses such as 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria.
Fourth-year film student Ryan Elkins said the competition and prizes were a big factor for why he submitted to Shorttakes a second year in a row.
Last year, Elkins won best comedy for his short film “Small Talk” and he said he hopes to repeat his success this year with his film “Home Late,” a thriller shot in one take.
“I love the competing at Shorttakes,” Elkins said. “I also like seeing all of the other screenings. It’s a great environment.”
Patel said the diversity of submissions from students across the nation and world is what makes the environment different from other festivals. The gamut of genres of entries CEC receives range from comedies, thrillers, dramas, animations and romances.
“Most of the students aren’t even film majors,” Patel said. “We all come from different backgrounds and we’re all passionate about film.”
For Kalfayan, he said his favorite part about Shorttakes is that it’s entirely student-run, compared to other festivals, which are led by sponsors.
“There’s no college film festival like this anywhere else in the country,” Kalfayan said. “The other ones … are run by sponsors, while this one, from start to finish, is run by students for students.”