For the third year in a row, Cañada College students have been invited
to the Cannes Film Festival! The film festival is an annual event held in
Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries
from all around the world.
Cañada College hosts an annual event called Campus Movie Fest, which
provides the students with the tools to create a film and then submit their
films to the Cannes Film Festival. This is
the third consecutive year that Cañada College has
had the privilege to send remarkable students to Cannes, via exclusive
invitations. Overall, this is Cañada’s fourth
time sending students to the festival. In addition, Cañada College is the only community college in the United States to
participate in Campus Movie Fest, a national event which has the ability to
offer this incredible opportunity to hard-working students.
This success is a testament to the value of community college. It's also
worth noting that, as in the last two years, many of the students invited are
women. In animation, women are historically underrepresented, so this is yet
another well-deserved victory for this year’s invited animator’s/filmmakers: Adrian
Affif, Elizabeth Birdwell, Tabitha Liu, Heather Theroff and Ivy Wooldridge. In
addition, this is Ivy’s and Elizabeth's second Cannes invitation.
Adrian’s film, "I Do Not Fear You," depicts an emotive story of a father and son who
must learn to overcome challenges, such as threats and bullies, after moving to
America.
Tabitha’s film, “Gacha,” tells the moving story of a young girl, growing into adulthood, who
finds something she loves, loses it and recaptures it once more.
Heather’s film, “Don’t Blink,” follows the mysterious story of a detective, his
coworker and his boss working towards
solving what they know to be a series of the largest known theft cases their
city has ever experienced.
Ivy Wooldridge’s and Elizabeth Birdwell’s film, “Hidden,” is about two brothers coping with the loss of their father, a
government secret agent, in a small town in Oregon. When the boys work up their
courage to enter his forbidden workshop, they find a gift from their father.
While it is not required to participate in Campus Movie Fest or the Cannes
Film Festival, many of the students invited to the festival are products of the
Cañada College Digital Art & Animation Department. This skilled department
provides courses taught by faculty with extensive academic, professional and
industry experience. Students are guided through the department's project-based
courses to develop the knowledge and skills needed to incorporate the
principles of visual communication in their work.
The 73rd Annual Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to take place from May 12-23 and, as you can imagine, the
trip to France to attend the Cannes Film Festival can be costly. With this, a donation fund has been established through the San
Mateo Community Colleges Foundation for those who would like to contribute
toward the students’ journies.
