IAFT-LA Student Wins a Spot in the Dances With Films Festival with Her First Ever Student Film
Burbank, CA (PRWEB) July 23, 2013 -- The International Academy of Film and Television/Los Angeles is proud to announce that student Sarah Kitchen recently won a place in the 2013 Dances With Films Festival with her very first student film.
"Nothing can beat seeing your film, especially your first film ever, screened at the Chinese theatre!" says Kitchen. "It´s such an iconic place. Sitting in the theatre, having your film shown on the big screen in front of a whole audience, instead of the family living rooml was both terrifying and incredibly exciting at the same time, a huge rush!"
First-term film school student Sarah Kitchen's 7-min. project, AIR, is a science-fiction drama set in the not-so-distant future, when the air has become so toxic, it is sold much like bottles of water are today.
Kitchen says the idea came to her when she started thinking about how so many people in California buy bottled water.
“I started thinking, what if there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the tap water?” recalls Kitchen. “And people are buying all these bottles every day. So I took the idea a step further. What would be the most basic human need that someone could bottle up and sell? The air we breathe! Plain oxygen!”
As Kitchen’s first film in the IAFT filmmaking program, she needed to conform to a strict set of rules. The film had to be a non-dialogue story (to emphasize visual storytelling) and she could use only the school and its immediate surrounding areas as locations.
“The [no-dialogue] rule was challenging at first,” says Kitchen. “But it actually made the film stronger, forcing us to show the character’s thoughts and feelings through their actions.”
In an effort to show how the toxic future further divided the world into distinct social-economic classes, she created several distinct air masks.
“We wanted two different looks,” says Kitchen. “The wealthier people would wear a half-mask. At least you would see half your face and can see each other’s eyes to help communicate. The cheaper one, which covers someone’s entire face, would be the poorer people’s option.”
AIR features Louiza Zouzias as the strong female lead. She is supported by Brian Barth as an out of air homeless man and Marci Richmond-Herrera as a perky actress in a TV commercial for air canisters.
Kitchen, 29, wrote, produced, and directed her film, also serving as director of photography and editor. Her co-producers were Federico Jimenez and Joseph Sanchez.
"Steven Boe, my IAFT mentor, suggested I enter the film after seeing a rough cut. I thought the idea was crazy, but I worked like a madman to get the best possible cut to screen! I entered it just for fun, but when it started getting through the selective rounds, I realized it could actually get in - and it did!"
Boe, who helped out with the AIR visual graphics and effects has had his own films shown at Dances With Films. His feature-length documentary, MYTHIC JOURNEYS, featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, and Lance Henriksen, won the Audience Spotlight Award at DWF. It also won Best Documentary at both the Rome International Film Festival and the Santa Fe Film Festival.
Other IAFT mentors who lent a hand include Russ Marleau, Fred Bailey, Joe Romersa, and Rich Hyatt.
AIR was shot on the school’s Panasonic AG-AF100, primarily hand-held.
“The shaky-cam look gets a lot of bad-mouthing,” says Kitchen. “ But in Air, it works really well and just gives it that nervy feel.”
Air was one of 7 films in the lineup for a program labeled Fusion Shorts Group 2, screening on June 4. This was the 16th annual Dances With Films Festival, tagged as Sweet 16.
About IAFT:
The International Academy of Film and Television (IAFT) was founded in 2004 and currently has four campuses worldwide: Los Angeles, Miami, Hong Kong and Cebu, Philippines.
IAFT's mission is to nurture the creativity and individual talents of their students, to cultivate today's independent global filmmakers, and to build upon the entertainment traditions of Hollywood and other film capitals of the world. IAFT places a strong emphasis on professional standards - using the latest filmmaking & acting techniques and equipment - taught by experienced, working industry professionals.
IAFT is located at 635 S. San Fernando Blvd. in Burbank.
Please visit http://www.iaft.net for more info.
Amy Tsang, IAFT, http://www.iaft.net, 8189252754, [email protected]
Share this article