OCC Shorts Will Screen at Newport Beach Film Festival in a New Location

Orange Coast College student filmmakers will see their work displayed on the big screen as part of the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 24 at 12:30 p.m. in the South Coast Village Theatre (1561 Sunflower Ave, Costa Mesa).

This is the 13th year that Coast has submitted short film entries — titled OCC Shorts — to the Newport Beach Film Festival. The College is one of the few schools invited to screen films at the Village Theatre, which is known for showing mainly independent films. Seven short films created by 10 student filmmakers have been selected to be part of OCC Shorts, and the entries were chosen by a committee of OCC film instructors and alumni of the program who narrowed down the finalists among dozens of hopefuls looking to snag the highly coveted spots.

The topics covered by the selected films run the gamut, from “13 Angels Stand Guard Around Your Bed,” a period drama about the tragic tale of prostitutes and patrons at a brothel in Baltimore during 1865, to “Right to Row: OCC Women’s Crew,” a documentary about OCC’s women rowers and their fight to leave a legacy one boat at a time.

“We found that the women’s crew team was lacking a voice among the many other sports [at

OCC] so we decided to do a promotional video. But when we found out what women had to do back in 1993, such as protesting and fighting the school, we decided to turn the promotional video into a documentary,” said Constance Brannick, a producer for “Right to Row.” “Not only are we in OCC Shorts, but we were also chosen to be an official selection for the Newport Beach Film Festival, which is a huge honor.”

Other films that will be featured are “Memory,” a film that examines how memories affect who we are, and “The Most Handsome Man,” a comedy film in which a magazine convinces its readers to kill a fashion model. “Out of Touch” is a drama that explores double standards and misogyny in relationships, “Cruce” is a drama about starting over, and “Stroke” is a drama in which a girl must decide whether or not to remove her father from life support.

“For me, making this film was all about making sure I had a strong female character. The writing process was an emotional time, but I had fun,” says “Stroke” director and writer Liliana Maldonado.

Being selected for OCC Shorts has boosted Maldonado’s confidence in her abilities, and she plans to submit “Stroke” into other film festivals in the coming months. “OCC Shorts is a good start,” she said. “I remember starting out in the film department — I never thought something of mine would be accepted. So it’s pretty cool that it was.”

Other student directors see this opportunity as a first step in making a name for themselves in the industry. “Being a part of the Newport Beach Film Festival gives me an air of legitimacy,” says “The Most Handsome Man” director Sean Golden. “I can have a page on IMDb as a director now — I could potentially find investors for my next project. When I got the email saying I was in NBFF, I immediately called my star and co-star and said ‘Pack your bags: we’re going straight to the top!’”

Tickets for OCC Shorts are $5 and can be purchased at the door or on the festival’s website at www.newportbeachfilmfest.com.

The student directors are Jake Hilger (Memory), Adam VonCarr (13 Angels Stand Guard Around Your Bed), Sean Golden (The Most Handsome Man), Samantha Smout and Lauren Millar (Out of Touch), Rodrigo Reyes (Cruce), Abby Wowchuk, Constance Brannick and Jakov Velasco (Right to Row), and Liliana A. Maldonado (Stroke). For more information, please email Scott Broberg at sbroberg@occ.cccd.edu