Inaugural Film Festival at SHU Community Theatre Features Student Work

Students work together to create cinematic art

Sacred Heart University recently showcased the works of 10 students and alumni filmmakers at its first film festival, which took place at the SHU Community Theatre in Fairfield.

As the first show of its kind for SHU, priority went to those who are studying at or graduated from the University, though almost 2,000 submissions came in from around the globe. “Sadly, none of those entries appeared because we got enough Sacred Heart pieces,” said Tomas Koeck ’22, a recent graduate of the School of Communication, Media & the Arts, who was the director and judge of the festival. “The festival served as a nice end-of-the-year bookend to the academic year.”

The festival featured the works of Marco Cadavieco M.F.A. ’22, Danielle Calabrese ’22, Brian Hogan M.F.A. ’19, Elise Jolie ’22, Tommy Kourebanas ’21, M.A. ’22, Allie O’Brien ’20, Maddie Robbins M.F.A. ’23, Jake Stanisci M.F.A. ’22, Tyler Stirling ’19 and Eric Torrens ’19. One notable aspect about the festival is that a number of the filmmakers helped create some of the others’ films. Those who attended the event were left with a taste of these young filmmakers’ talent.

“The unofficial way the film & television master’s program works regarding productions is that, if you help on someone’s film, it’s expected that, in turn, that person works on your film,” said Robbins. “That’s why viewers at the Community Film Festival saw so many of the same names in the credits. The other reason we work so many sets is that we just genuinely enjoy it and want to be supportive of our fellow filmmakers in the most useful way possible. And if that means hanging out in someone’s basement for 12 hours to film a movie about a man forcing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich down someone's throat, then so be it!”

SHU alum Torrens, who majored in media arts, had two films in the festival. Newton’s Law, an autobiographical piece about remembering his grandfather through their mutual love of photography, and Behind the Scenes of Keepers of the Blue, a biographical/autobiographical film about Torrens and Koeck’s experience filming great white sharks for Koeck’s documentary, Keepers of the Blue.

“It was an honor to be able to share a personal story and a professional story at the film festival,” said Torrens. “Having both films selected made me feel seen as a filmmaker.”

Kourebanas told the story of the Basti family. SHU lacrosse coach Jon Basti and his wife, Megan, adopted one of her students and his brother after learning they were in foster care. “The best part about telling the Bastis’ story was the fact that the piece is a time capsule. It’s their journey to becoming a family that they can look back on and cherish forever,” said Kourebanas, a student in the Sport Communication & Media (SCM) graduate program.

Thrillers were challenging

Cadavieco, an FTMA student, created the thriller, PB & J. “Probably the biggest challenge was keeping time with what we wanted to shoot. A rule of filmmaking is usually five pages of dialogue could be up to a 12-hour day. The script we shot from was a little over 11 pages, and we had only one day to shoot it. I was worried we could have to add a day to the schedule or do over 12 hours all together, which is taxing for cast and crew,” said Cadavieco. “I was lucky enough to have such a hardworking and dedicated cast and crew to make this all happen.”

Stanisci’s Loop was another psychological thriller, and he credited Cadavieco with the initial idea. “We were doing a spitfire of ideas, and that one caught my attention. We started writing out what it would look like if someone was just stuck in an endless hallway and went from there,” Stanisci said. “Fortunately, we were able to utilize Sacred Heart’s resources to make this film. I was so excited to share it.”

In Tom, Death & Harry, Hogan depicted death from a different perspective than most. “My inspiration for the piece came from the writer Julian Tizian, who wrote a wonderfully philosophical film about death that appealed to me,” said Hogan. “Making death human and non-threatening, caring even, feels closer to the truth of what the nature of the birth and death cycle really is, so I fell in love the script and wanted to bring the humanity of death to life.” 

Comedy film relatable

Robbins desired “to create a comedy because I like to make people laugh at relatable situations,” she said of her Seasonal Scaries. Her film turned a trip home for Thanksgiving with the family into a game show about who can please mother the longest. “I also have a love of Saturday Night Live, and I wanted to incorporate a TV element into it,” Robbins said of the game-show aspect.

Several films highlight social justice

O’Brien’s Cashew opened with a definition: “Cashew: a person who is half Catholic, half Jewish.” She said she was facing a deadline and was talking to one of her Sacred Heart professors about a term that her parents coined for her and her siblings―“Cashew.” He laughed and told her that was a movie. Though the pandemic disrupted O’Brien’s work, she was able to pick up and finish the film in time for festival submission.

Calabrese’s Looking Glass took on the challenges of peer pressure and the inner struggle of staying true to yourself while feeling coerced into becoming who you believe other people would like to you to be. “My vision for Looking Glass started from the idea that I wanted to showcase a strong female character without blatantly telling the viewer that she’s strong in the film,” said Calabrese. “I wanted the viewer to see Alex’s journey and come to their own conclusion about her. I wanted to showcase a character who was strong because of their growth. Alex learns to balance approval with others along with her own wants, needs and perception of herself. Overall, I think that mission was accomplished and I’m very proud of the work that we all put into this project.”

Jolie’s “Invisible Disability” raised awareness about psychiatric service dogs and how they help people suffering from PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other invisible diagnoses. “The topic of psychiatric service dogs is one that I care deeply about,” said Jolie. “Not many people know that this kind of service dog exists, and it's a common occurrence for those who do have these dogs to face judgment for not being visibly disabled.” The film was made in conjunction with her senior honors capstone project. “While my research paper focused on the difficulties of obtaining one of these dogs, I wanted my film to show how important they can be.”

Jumbled Up Jane by Stirling showcased some of the mind’s inner workings in a person with attention deficit disorder. The film comically portrayed how thoughts and feelings can come at a person from all different angles, with actors cast as different types of thought.

Photos by Sophie Camizzi