Short film creators take home big awards

Photo courtesy of PBS SoCal.

Not every filmmaker needs two hours and a specialty popcorn bucket to tell the stories most important to them. For many student filmmakers, short films are a perfect way to do this and they even have the opportunity to be recognized for their work at various film festivals.

PBS SoCal’s Fine Cut Festival of Films took place at The Eagle Theater at Vidiots on Sept. 22. The festival is open for college students across California to submit short films to be screened for Fine Cut’s 27th season on Southern Californian PBS affiliates. 

Each year, judges select a number of short films across the three categories — documentary, animated and narrative — which are ultimately aired on the channel, as well as one film in each category up for a major prize.  

For the 27th season, festival hosts Michael Schneider and Angelique Jackson shared that over 400 short films were submitted, with over 50% of the films being narratives. In the end, the judges selected 12 animated films, 11 narrative films and just eight documentaries. 

Last year, Chapman alumni Nidhi Kumar, Vivienne Ayres, Zola Franchi and Ximena Escobar took home the prize for Best Documentary. Although there were no Chapman students represented at the festival this year, the short-film finalists came from many neighboring universities. 

This year, the Best Documentary prize was awarded to University of Southern California (USC) graduate Mia Hagerty for her film, “A Good Death.”

“It feels amazing to get recognition because we finished it in 2024, and then now it's being (shown) to a wider festival audience,” said Hagerty. 

Hagerty drew inspiration for “A Good Death” through some of her own hardships, driving her to tell a unique story. 

“My mom had passed away a few years ago, and so I was really interested to think about death in a different way, and I was trying to find people that work with death every day,” said Hagerty. “Through that process, I was finding death doulas, and other people like that, and then I found this nurse who specializes in Medical Aid In Dying.”

Other crew members from the documentary’s production joined Hagerty at the event, including producer and fellow USC graduate, Shubhra Dubey.  

“We had pretty awesome professors who were working professionals so it was just really great to learn how to craft a narrative while you’re shooting,” said Dubey. “As a producer, I was working a lot, doing planning for shoot days and stuff, and so our professors were really, really awesome in teaching us how to think of a beginning, middle and end even when you don’t have all of those three things already.”

The lessons Dubey and Hagerty learned in USC’s film program supported the filmmakers throughout the tenuous production of their documentary, through thick and thin.

“Even the biggest setbacks can become part of your movie and help your movie,” said Hagerty.  “So I think that just having more experienced people on your side when we encountered those times and we were freaking out and thinking that everything was over, being reminded that it’s not over and here are all these tools that other filmmakers use to keep going and finish their movie.”

Another winner from the festival was Angelo Serrano, a recent graduate from California College of the Arts, for his animated short “Bigger Picture.” 

Serrano said the story for his film was inspired by a phenomenon that’s stuck with him for a while, known as sonder. A term coined on the internet, sonder is the realization that every person has complex, individual lives. 

“Every stranger that you pass by has a story,” said Serrano. 

His story focuses on not just this idea, but also his own journey as an artist, as Serrano said “it’s more about the artist and the natural world.” 

“Bigger Picture” features a character who spends a day thinking about art and animation, and observing other people's lives.

The story of his film was very close to Serrano, as he thought about his relationship with art after receiving news in January that his alma mater would close after the 2026-27 school year. 

As access to art education looks unclear for many students, Serrano spoke in his speech accepting the Best Animation award that he hopes students “keep creating” despite these challenges.

Fine Cut continues to create meaningful opportunities for student filmmakers, as the finalists’ short films can be found on their website or airing on PBS SoCal. Chapman students can stay tuned for submission dates for the 28th season.