The 6th Annual Lamorinda Acalanes Union Film Festival (LAUFF6) offered 90 minutes of student generated short films and videos in the Campolindo Performing Arts Center. Dramas, comedies, music videos, and documentaries were all created by video production students within the district.

Justin Seligman, Video Production teacher, said the objective of LAUFF “is to showcase the work of the students to the community, to get it out of the classroom and onto the big screen and to provide a setting which commemorates the hard work.”

“The importance of LAUFF to me is to be able to showcase some of the work of video students to more people than students in their class,” said Junior Laura Gustafson. “It’s to let others see what video students create. Art and Photo and Woodshop sometimes have their work displayed in either the office or the hallway. This is our way of showcasing our work,” she explained.

Senior Colter Harris, the writer behind The Tutor, received the LAUFF award for Best Comedy. The Tutor tells the story of a geometry tutor who blends geometry with philosophy. “I think it turned out pretty good.  I came up with the idea about a year before I did the video. When I came up with it, it kind of came all at once. It was just a matter of making it sound good,” said Harris.

Harris hopes to be involved with video production in the future and included his film in an application to Chapman University. “I’d like to become a film maker, make movies and entertain people,” he said.

Eleven awards were given out, including best drama, best comedy, best director, and best motion effects. Awards ranged from cash prizes to scholarships to summer film classes. Students Taylor Hunt, Sam Crosley and Jeff Sawdon won special admission to 32Ten Studios, an organization that provides filmmakers with production facilities to create videos and movies. 32Ten has been the home to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and Die Hard.

During Tolerance Week, Leadership featured Aja Adair and Jeff Sawdon’s It Gets Better, a film featuring personal testimonials from Campo students.

LAUFF is restricted to students inside the Acalanes school district, and traditionally only video production students have entered films, though students not enrolled in video production occasionally do appear on screen. Though Las Lomas does not offer a video program, students in the Las Lomas “Film Club” entered their work. In addition, this year is the first year that LAUFF has accepted entries created by students during summer programs.

In previous years, LAUFF has featured a showcase of live musicians, however the band that was scheduled cancelled on short notice before another music option could be arranged.

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Best Comedy: The Tutor by Colter Harris
Best Director: Laura Gustafson, Julia Anderson, Cameron Bagley, Keith Geiger in “Sports Safety”
Best Actor: Connor MacKinnon in “Mystery Product”
Best Special Effects: “Pokeworld” by Cameron Bagley, Julia Anderson, Laura Gustafson, Keith Geiger
Best Screenplay: “Man’s Best Friend” by Heidi Roodvoets
Best Lighting: Jeff Sawdon in “It Gets Better”
Best Cinematography: Tucker O’Neil in “Hazard”
Best Use of Audio: Chessa Mehlman in “Palos Verdes Blue”
Best Editor: Leigh Scanlon in “Intro To Campo”