The 16 Finalists from the FINE CUT Festival of Films will be part of a series of half hour broadcast episodes on KCET. The selected short films will start airing on Wednesday September 26th at 9pm with many of the movies available for streaming at www.kcet.org/finecut. In addition to being accessible for viewing, audiences can also take part in the Viewer’s Choice Competition by voting online. The winner of the Viewer’s Choice category will win a production package prize worth over $20,000. Viewers can vote online, once a day, during and up to one week after the broadcast date of the films.
Over 300 short films (under 25minutes long) were submitted by filmmakers enrolled in 54 Southern California schools and were entered in one of three categories which include Documentary, Narrative Short and Animation. The winners in each category will be awarded an opportunity to be part of the American Pavilion screening at the Cannes International Film Festival in May 2019. In addition, the winner of the Jack Larson Student Filmmaker Award film will also be part of the screening.
Nineteen years ago, FINE CUT founder Jack Larson approached KCET with the idea of creating a student film series that would provide as a platform for students to showcase their films on television.
The Finalists include:
*Al Imam (USC) Documentary, directed by Omar Al Dakheel
*Candy Crushed (California Institute of the Arts) Animation, directed by Chloe Hsu
*Deviant (San Diego State University) Narrative, directed by Benjamin Howard
*Dumpling (California Institute of the Arts) Animation, directed by Siti Lu
*General Dupont in General Dupont Doing Laundry (UCLA) Animation, directed by Kim Nguyen
*If You Want Out (San Digo State University) Documentary, directed by Mark Ledbetter
*Kip (Biola University) Documentary, directed by Nicholas Moyer & Nate Norell
*Labor (UCLA) Narrative, directed by Cecilla Albertnini
*On Time (USC) Narrative, directed by Xavier Neal-Burgin
*One Small Step (USC) Narrative, directed by Aqsa Altaf
*Raccoon and the Light (California Institute of the Arts) Animation, directed by Hanna Kim
*Serial Killer Superstar (USC) Narrative, directed by Joseph Picozzi
*Where I Was Born (California Institute of the Arts) Animation, directed by Jungmin Cha
American Pavilion Selections (AP)
*Guns Found Here (Emerging Filmmaker) won AP “Best Emerging Documentary 2018, Documentary, directed by David Freid
*My Mom and the Girl (Emerging Filmmaker) AP “Emerging Filmmaker LGBTQ Showcase - Honorable Mention 2017, Narrative, directed by Susie Singer Carter
*Night Call (Chapman University) won AP “Best Student Film 2018”, Narrative, directed by Amanda Renee Knox