This Davidson Is a Filmmaker

Columbia University Film School student Adam Davidson had only meant his short film, “The Lunch Date,” to be a practice run for his upcoming thesis project.

So the 25-year-old was still reeling with surprise Thursday from learning that “The Lunch Date” had won the first-place Palme d’Or for short films at the Cannes Film Festival this week.

Davidson said he was not sure how to explain the success of the film, which won a Student Academy Award for short films this week in Los Angeles.

“There’s just something in this film that people seem to respond to, and I’m pleased to see that happen,” said Davidson.

“The Lunch Date,” which was the only American entry in the short-film category at Cannes, concerns a suburban housewife’s encounter with the homeless and others in New York’s Grand Central Station. “It’s a slice of life, but there’s also humor in it,” Davidson said. He shot the film over a three-day period.

The $7,000 black-and-white film is Davidson’s first attempt at filmmaking, but he is no stranger to show business. He is the son of Mark Taper Forum artistic director Gordon Davidson and entertainment publicist Judi Davidson.

But he insisted that the film’s success was not based on his “connections. It has nothing to do with it. My parents were very supportive, and saw me through the thick and thin of it. But the judges at Cannes didn’t care who my parents were.”

The film has also made the rounds at the American Film Institute Festival and other festivals in San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston and Cleveland.

As for the future, Davidson said he was still fiddling around with ideas on what to do for his thesis. But he does not feel “The Lunch Date” will give him added leverage in school.

“I’ve still got to do the work,” he said.