Fine Cut Festival of Films Press Materials

Press Contact:
JP Shields
(747) 201 - 5886
jpshields@kcet.org

The festival is a tribute to FINE CUT founder Jack Larson who was an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer who may be best known for his portrayal of photographer/reporter Jimmy Olsen in the 1952-1958 television series “Adventures of Superman.” In the late 1990s Larson approached Southern California’s KCET with the idea of creating a student film series that would provide talented students with the much needed opportunity to have their short films selected for television broadcast. Larson understood how difficult it was for young filmmakers to get broad exposure for their work because, typically, student work is only seen at special screenings and film festivals. Larson thought that public television was an excellent platform for providing critical visibility to emerging filmmakers. KCET shared Larson’s enthusiasm and together they created FINE CUT, which continues to be a flagship program for KCET today.

FINE CUT Film Festival will be included in a series of one-hour broadcast episodes on KCET public television in Southern California and also on Link TV nationwide (DirecTV 375 and Dish Network 9410) that will air starting Weds., June 14 at 9 p.m. with films available for streaming at kcet.org/finecut and linktv.org/finecut.

Films were judged in two categories: Emerging Filmmakers Competition and Student Filmmakers Competition (one third of the entries were from student filmmakers). All films were also eligible for a third category, the Viewers Choice Competition, where filmmakers had a chance to have their peers vote online at KCET.org. Winners of the three categories were selected as part of The American Pavilion’s Emerging filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival, which will take place in late May. Each filmmaker will receive five-night accommodations through The American Pavilion plus $500 cash to go toward air travel. Winners were notified April 11, 2017.

Student filmmakers from Southern California film schools ranging from Santa Barbara to San Diego also had the chance to win The Jack Larson Southern California Student Filmmaker Award, where the winning filmmaker received a cash prize.

 

2017 winners were as follows:

STUDENT FILMMAKER AWARD
DOOR TO FREEDOM (TUR ZUR FREIHEIT)
2016, 20 min., Austria, Drama, Subtitles, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences 
Writer/Director: Jeremias Bayerl
Logline: What if the deepest issue of the refugee crisis is packed into the moral of a bedtime story? A drama, in which a boy has to escape from war and overcome several barriers in order to reach his goal, a wooden door, his only chance to freedom. A paradox world that is truly sad, finally revealing a bizarre surprise. 

VIEWERS CHOICE AWARD
THE OUTCAST

2015, 16:33 min., USA, Drama, Subtitles, Columbia College Chicago 
Director: Bucher Almzain
Writer: J. Scott Sibley, Bucher Almzain
Logline: After escaping a war torn country, a young woman is now torn herself when her husband is denied entry into the U.S. Alone and with little money, she struggles to get him in before he is deported. Surrounded by a foreign culture, she must learn to quickly adapt while feeling like a true outcast.     

EMERGING FILMMAKER AWARD
HIDE AND SEEK (GRAND HUIT) 
2015, 23:48 min., Drama, Subtitles, France 
Writer/Director: Camille Fleury
Logline: Alice is in the hospital. Here, she does not invite: she gets visitors.          

THE JACK LARSON SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STUDENT FILMMAKER AWARD
HUM
Writer/Director: Tom Teller
Logline: A solitary dish-washing robot living out his life in the back room of a restaurant is enlightened to the world that exists beyond his four walls when, with the help of a small friend, he breaks free of confinement to pursue his dream of exploration. 
 

Press Images