For the first time since 2019, the University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television will screen its student films at downtownβs Fox Tucson Theatre.
The homecoming on Saturday, May 7, at 7 p.m. will feature a dozen student films that cover the gamut of comedy, drama, horror and documentary. Each film runs around 10 minutes.
βI am so impressed with this yearβs crop of films. Thereβs an incredible diversity of subject matter, yet all the films cut right to the emotional core of the story,β UA faculty member Jacob Bricca said in a written release. βWhether they come at it with a comedic, dramatic or absurdist sensibility, they all find a way to bring genuine humanity and pathos to the screen.β
Bricca also commended the theatre program actors for bringing βtheir βAβ game; they were willing to go to some very vulnerable places and achieved moments of genuine grace and subtlety.β
This is the 17th edition of I Dream in Widescreen, the annual showcase of senior thesis films that students created throughout the 2021-22 school year. The shorts explore subjects ranging from social media rivalry to drag queen discrimination to public access television gone hilariously wrong.
The films will compete for juried prizes from a panel of industry pros including Claudette Godfrey, the senior film programmer for Austinβs big music and arts festival SXSW; Paul Pennolino, a UA alum and Peabody Award-winning director of βLast Week Tonight with John Oliverβ; and Jeff Yanc, another UA alum and program director at The Loft Cinema, Southern Arizonaβs leading independent art house cinema.
Over the past couple showcases, UA student films have achieved nearly 50 official selections in national and international film festivals including Alexandra Cernaβs 2021 film βTreasures Beneath My Tree,β which has been screened at the Los Angeles, Seattle, Brooklyn and Chicago Childrenβs film festivals and is part of a six-month exhibition at the Center for Creative Photography. Roxanna Denise Stevens Ibarraβs film βTesoroβ has screened at more than a dozen film festivals including the Academy Award-qualifying Urbanworld Film Festival. She recently landed a fellowship at Edutopia, the educational foundation established by George Lucas.
In a UA School of Theatre, Film & Television first, Faye Ruizβs film βThe Lights Are On, No Oneβs Homeβ was acquired by Dedza Films and Kino Lorber for national distribution, UA school officials said.
Among this yearβs films is Linda Paola Varelaβs βIβm Just Trying to Help,β a sci-fi drama with hints of soap opera/telenovela undertones.
βIt was important to me to make a film about a subject that a lot of us (but specifically Latine folk) deal with, which is the pressure to hide our true emotions and pretend that everything is OK for the sake of other peopleβs comfort,β Varela said in a written statement. ββ¦ This film was inspired by the question: what would happen if there was a way to be happy all the time?β
Andy Zhao also took on sci-fi in his thriller βEyes on Me,β the story of an Asian-American nurse whose patient isnβt who he says he is. The patient apparently would like to steal the nurseβs face. (Not quite spoiler alert: Itβs inspired by the white British influencer Oli London, who underwent plastic surgery 18 times to look like a member of the Korean boy band BTS.)
Zhao, who was born in Tucson and grew up in Sierra Vista, said he spent two years writing the film, which he admits was far out of his wheel well.
βI absolutely hate horror movies so this was a really strange area I had to explore,β he said during a phone call last week. βI managed to bear it.β
This is Zhaoβs longest film project. As a teen, the 21-year-old made short videos after becoming enamored with filmmaking through the early Lego Stop Motion videos that were popular on YouTube when he was in grade school.
Zhao said he hopes to launch his career as a freelance camera assistant in Tucson with plans to move to Los Angeles later this year.
Tucson native Zoe Lambert took a second stab at documentary filmmaking with βChanging of the Guard,β a film about the rise of the UA womenβs basketball team. In 2020, Lambert did a documentary on UA womenβs head coach Adia Barnes.
βIβve been kind of watching UA sports since I was a little kid so itβs so cool to come full circle,β said Lambert, 29, who took a few years off after high school before enrolling in the UA in 2018.
Lambert followed the team through most of the season, but her deadline for her thesis project came before the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats lost in the second round to North Carolina.
βThey deserve so much credit for what theyβve done,β Lambert said of the team, which granted her liberal access to players and practices throughout her filming. βItβs such an incredible story.β
Lambert said she would like to continue making sports documentaries that shine a brighter light on women athletes.
βIβm super passionate about womenβs sports and telling their stories,β she said.
Tickets are $5 at idiw.tftv.arizona.edu or at the door at the Fox, 17 W. Congress St.