Masters of ceremony Brad Milne and Geraldine Ortega entertain the audience between films. Vincent Reyna
The Short Shorts Film Festival Feb. 9 at Josephine Theater Vincent Reyna
Film professionals and dreamers meet, greet and mingle.
By Paula Christine Schuler
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
A film titled “Tyler’s Gift” won the favor of 13 San Antonio area judges including filmmakers and actors.
The film told the story of a woman’s loss of her husband to war and son to an accident, and it left audience members in tears.
Producer Rogelio Salinas said he cried during edits, too.
He said the film cost $100 to create.
The prize for Critic’s Choice was $300 at the Short Shorts Film Festival.
The audience members voted “El Mentiroso” to receive a belt awarded to boxing champions with the title of “Undisputed Heavyweight Film Champion of the Universe.”
Cash prize for audience favorite was $300.
“El Mentiroso,” meaning “The Liar” in English, is a Spanish language film telling the story of a bullied boy with a bad reputation.
Getting a late start because of the high numbers of tickets selling at the door, 21 short films were screened Feb. 9 for an audience of filmmakers and enthusiasts.
Funny and serious films included dramas, comedies, musicals, a documentary and local-area music videos.
The evening featured a photography exhibit in the lounge area of the Josephine Theater, which focused on breast cancer.
Proceeds from the sale of any photographs went to the Patient Family Services at the Cancer Treatment Center in addition to proceeds of ticket sales from the event.
The stage event kicked off with Noise Revival Music Orchestra, a local band featuring diverse musical instrumentation, including an acoustic harp, flute, violin, drums, electric bass and electric guitar.
Live lounge DJs Gilbert Carrizales and Joshua Newell provided music and their own show before and after the screenings.
The sixth Short Shorts Film Festival aimed for a more bilingual approach to welcome Spanish-language artists and their work more completely.
Co-hosts Brad Milne speaking English and Geraldine Ortega speaking Spanish introduced each film.
They did not interpret for each other.
Instead, the cohosting was more conversational between them with a few character monologues by Brad Milne talking about filmmaking struggles and tips.
Ticket sales were strong enough to push the event back 30 minutes.
John Lambert, event organizer, filmmaker, producer and actor, said proceeds totaled $710 for the Patient Family Services at the Cancer Treatment Center.
The festival had not donated proceeds from previous installments of the event. Lambert decided this year to donate the proceeds from the film festival.
For more information, call Lambert at 210-621-8634.
