Emily Lau
Editorial Director
University of La Verne student filmmakers showcased their four self-produced short films to other community filmmakers at the sixth annual 909 Film Festival Friday in Benson Auditorium at Pitzer College.
Students created the films in their Advanced Video Production classes taught by Professor of Communications Don Pollock and Visiting Assistant Professor of Communications Jake Huberman.
Films must be created or shot in the 909 area, such as Pomona, La Verne, Claremont and San Dimas, and be less than nine minutes and nine seconds long to qualify.
Twenty-one films, ranging from documentaries to parodies, were created by community members and presented at this year’s film festival.
“I think more than anything, it’s a little bit of an inspiration knowing that other people out there are trying to do the same thing and are doing a good job at it,” senior broadcast television major Niki Alilovic said.
The films were separated into general and PG-13 categories depending on the content.
“La Maison de Fous,” by junior broadcast journalism major Sandra Velarde, Alilovic and senior broadcast journalism major Daniela Jaimes, is an experimental film inspired by the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas commercials and “American Horror Story.”
“We were very cohesive about what we imagined and I think that’s what made it a smooth process for Niki to write the actual script,” Jaimes said. “As weird as it is, (the video) came out very naturally, which I think speaks volumes as to how weird we are.”
“Logan’s Candies” by junior broadcast television major Scott Feuerhelm, senior broadcast television major Armando Tapia and alumnus Christian Reina, is a documentary about the candy shop of the same name in Ontario.
They also produced the documentary “Harrison McIntosh,” which examined the work of local ceramicist Harrison McIntosh.
“Harrison came up in conversation in class and it was just the one thing that stood out to us,” Tapia said. “It was weird to us that he was 100 years old and still working, so we were curious.”
“Lost,” by junior broadcast television major Nicolette Vanligten, senior broadcast television major Dylan Heflin and junior broadcast television major Sarah Tang, is an interpretive horror film and was the only ULV student film in the PG-13 category.
After the showing of the films, host Eddie Gonzalez and Kevin Foxe, executive producer for “The Blair Witch Project,” announced the winners of the three awards.
The I Heart Claremont award was given to the video that best highlighted the city of Claremont, the Audience Choice was awarded to the video that received the loudest applause from the audience and the Best 909 Film went to the best video overall.
“Claremont Village Walk with the Shenkmans,” by April Hava Shenkman, followed the daily routine of her parents as they walked around Claremont Village. It won the I Heart Claremont award.
“Spirit of Iris” by Corinne Jayaweera documented the life of a 94-year-old aeronautical teacher and flight instructor named Iris and won the Audience Choice award.
“John Svenson – For The Love of Wood” by Phillip Jimenez explored the work of sculptor John Svenson and won the Best 909 Film award.
Filmmakers were then invited onstage and individually introduced themselves.
Though the University did not win any awards, the students were impressed by the other film submissions.
“I really liked (John Svenson); they did a really good job with it,” Feuerhelm said. “Everything looked so well-produced and crafted.”
Emily Lau can be reached at emily.lau@laverne.edu.
