KCET’s ‘Fine Cut’ Screenings Show Forces of Film’s Future

With its artful direction and sophisticated camera work, “Now and Again” has the sheen of a movie that would look perfectly in place at the neighborhood multiplex.

In actuality, the 22-minute film about an elderly man’s bittersweet memories of his youth was Jeffrey Reyna’s master’s thesis while he was a student last year at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

“Now and Again,” which Reyna spent $72,000 producing, is one of 16 local student films culled from seven Southern California colleges that will be featured in KCET’s “Fine Cut: A Festival of Student Film.” Hosted by actor Eric Stoltz, the festival debuts tonight with Reyna’s film and continues every Thursday night through the month.

KCET hopes the series, now in its third year, will alter any dismissive notions that viewers may have about the quality of student films.

“People are going to be surprised,” said the series’ co-producer, writer and director Isaac Mizrahi (not the fashion designer). “There’s some really good storytelling going on. Some are also extremely professional productions with the latest in film and digital technologies.”

Exposing the diversity of film work being done at the college level is another intent of “Fine Cut.” “Now and Again” is one of four films in tonight’s one-hour segment. Also included is a clever, high-tech computer-animation fantasy and a more traditional cell animation work. The hour concludes with a wonderfully told story about ethnic tensions in an East L.A. barrio called “There Goes the Neighborhood,” with the film’s gritty textures offering a striking counterbalance to the more polished “Now and Again.”

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A number of filmmakers in the festival also managed to successfully break cinematic convention, according to Mizrahi, who singled out Mollie Jones’ USC film “Debutante” as a particularly daring work. The 11-minute film is about a young girl who is torn between her dysfunctional family and her hard partying friends. The short film will be one of three featured during the April 29 segment.

“ ‘Debutante’ is so visually stunning; every frame looks like a beautifully composed photograph,” Mizrahi said. “But what’s more interesting about it is that the filmmaker told the story almost entirely with music and natural sound because she thought that dialogue wasn’t necessarily the best way to get the inner thoughts of a young girl suffering angst.”

For the filmmakers involved, “Fine Cut” represents a unique opportunity to get their work viewed by a large audience. The fact that the series will be seen in the world’s film capital is more than just an added bonus to some of the participants.

A 1998 USC film school graduate, Jones says she will be sending out postcards to various film industry “bigwigs” announcing the airing of “Debutante” in hopes that her film will attract the interest of producers who might be willing to back one of her future projects.

Although it’s a student film, “Debutante” features a familiar face. Selma Blair, who plays Zoe--the central character in the WB comedy series “Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane”--portrays the troubled young girl in Jones’ film. The 29-year-old filmmaker says she’s had discussions with the actress about starring in one of the feature films she’s currently writing.

While the budgets are modest by industry standards, Reyna’s “Now and Again” is an example of how critical a role these films can play in an emerging filmmaker’s future. Reyna invested as much as he could to enhance his film’s production values--a decision based largely in his desire to make studio movies. The 35-year-old Los Angeles native used sophisticated equipment like cranes and dollies and enlisted the volunteer help of professional actors and crew members.

“I had done four student films prior to ‘Now and Again,’ “Reyna said. “I wanted to push my limits as a director. But I also wanted to show that I could handle the added elements and responsibility of a professional crew and professional actors. Anybody who sees the film from that standpoint will see that I can handle a larger-scale project and may trust me in the future with something along those lines.”

Not every filmmaker involved in “Fine Cut” is necessarily interested in breaking into mainstream Hollywood. Akira Boch, a third-year film graduate student at UCLA, believes his artistic sensibilities are incompatible with the studio system. Boch’s 16-minute film, “Paletero’s Blues,” is about a Latino push-cart ice cream man who journeys through the various neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The drama deals with an ethnically and economically diverse city’s ability to unite. The film was made for only $5,000 and has a documentary feel. “Paletero’s Blues” will be the lead film in next Thursday night’s “Fine Cut” episode.

“It’s important for me to show this piece because I made it for the city of Los Angeles,” said Boch, the 27-year-old son of a Japanese American mother and a Hungarian American father. “I wanted it to be a positive piece. In L.A. we often consider ourselves isolated individuals. We really aren’t members of a larger community, but in actuality we have the potential to achieve that.”

Still, most of the student filmmakers know what kind of impact the “Fine Cut” showcase can have. A year ago, a young filmmaker named Tony Bui had his student film “Yellow Lotus” picked for inclusion in the series. This past January, the Loyola Marymount University graduate won the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival for his feature film “Three Seasons.”

Series co-producer Clair Aguilar expects Bui’s story to be repeated since the intent is to identify filmmakers with the potential to become significant creative forces in the future.

“With such talent,” she said, “it’s bound to happen.”

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* “Fine Cut: A Festival of Student Film” debuts tonight at 10 on KCET. The series will continue every Thursday night this month at 10 p.m.