Consisting of the creepy and the comical, Film Fest Petaluma once again brought a fantastic showcase of multinational short films to McNear’s Mystic Theatre in downtown Petaluma May 2.
The different showings screened at 2:30, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m., including 25 separate short films from countries such as France, Australia, Singapore and Norway.
Santa Rosa Junior College students selected at the student film festival April 3 were also allowed to screen their shorts for separate showings. This includes SRJC directors Stefan Perez, Ian Powell, Kendra Goff and Miles Levin.
Perez, in reference to his satirical take on the neo-noir film titled “Tough Case” said, “I was kind of afraid because maybe people wouldn’t get that I was trying to be funny. And I thought, well maybe it would be obvious if I just played everybody.”
Michael Traina, director of the Petaluma Film Alliance and SRJC media professor, hosted the event, conducting interviews with many of the filmmakers on stage. Of the numerous directors, Guillaume Foresti and his cinematographer, Nicolaos Zafiriou, conducted a special shot the day before the festival that involved many SRJC students.
The resulting short film, “Allure,” was written by SRJC student Bex Randles. It depicts two women who meet on Tinder. One of the two goes missing after their first date, causing speculation that the other character is a murderer.
The film screened at Film Fest Petaluma during the 7:30 p.m. show along with Foresti’s short film “Vivid.” “Vivid” depicts the end of love between a couple. The two begin to drift apart and lose more than their love, including parts of their body and physical senses. By the end of the film they symbolically want to die.
“I wanted to deal with the end of love and how each person feels when we don’t love anyone anymore. I tried to make this story as universal as possible because all people live through break-ups,” Foresti said.
Altogether, the festival drew a large crowd to downtown Petaluma. For more information on the directors and shorts visit www.petalumafilmalliance.org.
