Ground Zero’s film festival showcases student talent

The New York Times didn’t call it better than Sundance, Cannes and SXSW combined, but that doesn’t mean Ground Zero’s first official film festival wasn’t.

This past Sunday, the Ground Zero Performance Café planned a screening of several 10-minute short films produced and directed by USC students.

“This is our first film festival, so we’re learning as we go,” said Jack Runburg, public relations and promotions manager at Ground Zero. “We asked some of our friends at [the School of Cinematic Arts] to publicize our event and were overwhelmed by the response.”

While the event is new, the Ground Zero staff hopes it will become a yearly endeavor. Runburg said the festival will be very similar to the open mic nights and comedy shows thrown by Ground Zero, but the staff encourages people to come with blankets and popcorn to watch the films.

Runburg said the films were chosen by film buffs on the Ground Zero staff.

“We had a panel of barista film aficionados screen the films and then choose based on both quality and how we felt they accurately reflected our goal to showcase our peers’ talent in all ways,” Runburg said. “We want to help everyone appreciate the work that our peers are doing and have a greater understanding of the issues and the art they are passionate about.”

Adrian Hernandez, a sophomore majoring film and television production major, was one of the directors chosen to showcase his work on Sunday. Other filmmakers include Susan Lin, Elaine Yee Wong, Caroline Frined, Sikander Sidhu and Jacqueline Walukas.

A filmmaker since age 10, Hernandez has enjoyed cultivating his skills at SCA.

“Back [when I was 10], my family only had access to our old VHS camera,” Hernandez said. “Therefore, the first films I ever created had to be edited linearly using VHS — universally considered the worst way to edit a film.”

In high school, Hernandez became the president and director of his school’s drama club and directed several plays, while also honing his photography skills. He was excited to share what he’s now learned at SCA with the USC community, with the screening of his short film Sidney.

“Sidney is the story of how an elderly Jewish cantor met his wife-to-be at a young Israeli dance when he was 19,” Hernandez said. “I produced this [film] in collaboration with the USC Davis School of Gerontology’s Zekenim program, which takes the stories of elderly Jewish citizens and produces works of art around them. I wanted to take a unique approach to this documentary by telling Sidney’s story largely through cinematic recreations.”

For that layer of documentary realism, Hernandez said he limited all speech in the film to Sidney’s voice exclusively — no one spoke unless he spoke for them.

“[So], on set, I had actors emote based on the speed and delivery of [Sidney’s] narration,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez hopes the story he shares is relatable and nostalgic.

“I’ve heard many of my Jewish friends say this story remind them of their grandparents,” Hernandez said. “I hope people can find a similar relatability in [Sidney’s] tale of the night of the festival.”

At the end of the night, Ground Zero handed out various awards to the filmmakers and there was a brief Q&A session with the filmmakers for those curious about Ground Zero’s history. The cafe has also hosted a band night and open mic night.

Other upcoming events at Ground Zero are Commedus Interruptus Improv on Tuesday, and Rhapsody in Blue on Friday.