Fourth-year psychological & brain sciences and film and media studies double major Carlo DiFiore’s “To the Ninth” took home multiple awards, including the Scott Wells Golden Reel Award. (Courtesy of @dka.ucsb on Instagram)

Filmmakers, guests and judges walked atop a red carpet straight through the doors of UC Santa Barbara’s Campbell Hall on April 14 as the 34th annual Reel Loud Film & Arts Festival lit up the stage and screen with nine silent student short films. Accompanied by various student musicians, the festival presented an arrangement of shorts covering everything from werewolves down in the dumps to tear-jerking odes to young love and Santa Barbara college life.

Following a short promotional video that had been previously posted on the festival’s Instagram, the event’s director and producer, fourth-year psychological & brain sciences and film and media studies double major Aria Mahmoud, took the stage to welcome the crowd and start off the exciting evening. 

She introduced this year’s chosen panel of eight judges — Timothy Eaton, Soraya Simi, Joe Palladino, Michael Grasley, Roger Durling, Wendy Eley Jackson, Diego Ratto and Jessica Kender. The identities of these notable members of the film industry stay under wraps until the evening of the festival, with pens at the ready to view the “full expression of artistic and creative celebration” that the festival promises in its program. 

The festival’s schedule was not only full of unique and experimental silent shorts, but also welcomed musical and dance breaks throughout. Before the initial screenings began, the eager film buffs were treated to a musical performance by student band Callisto. They sang a lo-fi version of Elton John’s “Bennie And The Jets,” earning a wave of applause from the audience. With a brief introduction and welcome from the evening’s masters of ceremonies, third-year film and media studies major Wells Hodder and third-year psychological & brain sciences and film and media studies double major Alex Yong, Reel Loud 34 began with the sounds of bright cello and piano of the first soundtrack by the student musicians. 

The first act of the show projected five films from the lineup, starting with fourth-year film and media studies major Annabelle Stedman’s tear-jerking queer drama “We’ll Do This Again,” which tells the story of two women at the beginning and end of their relationship. A film that holds a very close place to her heart, Stedman described the experience of seeing her work on the big screen as “insane.” 

“So many people were here, so many people were seeing it and I was scared and stressed, but it felt really good to see both my work and my crew’s [on the big screen],” Stedman said.

Next up were four shorts that brought the audience members to the edges of their seats and resulted in loud gasps and claps at each comedic or shocking turn: third-year film and media studies major Nicolai Oliva’s “Challengers”-inspired vampire short “Mean To the Teeth,” third-year geography major Mila Stoilova’s British assassin dark comedy “Special Violent Interests,” third-year communication major Sawyer Goldberg’s raunchy romcom “Werewolf in Love” and third-year film and media studies and theater double major Maggie Seifert’s chilling thriller “While You Sleep.” 

Stoilova and Goldberg spoke about their experiences bringing their shorts to life. For Stoilova, being an exchange student from the UK meant bringing her work with the Edinburgh University Film Society to the Campbell Hall screen. 

“I had an 18-minute dark comedy short film. And I really enjoyed it, so I thought to myself, ‘What if I just turn it into a silent film very last minute? See how it does. See what it looks like as a silent film,’” Stoilova said. “It definitely gives a different style and a different vibe to the film when the dialogue is completely cut out, but overall I think the visual storytelling was still there, so it’s still exciting to see.” 

Goldberg highlighted his previous experiences working on Reel Loud submissions that pushed him to submit his own work. 

“I had to do it. I produced a film [for Reel Loud] two years ago, and I starred in one last year. It was time to direct,” he said, describing his experience of seeing the finished project on the big screen as “ethereal.” 

Welcoming the audience back from intermission with a performance from the UCSB Taara Bollywood fusion dance group and another student band, Monkfish, anticipation for the next films and the results of the long-awaited awards ceremony grew. Fourth-year communication and film and media studies double major Rhea Mistry and fourth-year film and media studies major Liv Blair’s coming-of-age “Picking Petals” kicked things off, followed by third-year film and media studies major Landon Lozano’s fantasy “Silent Steel,” fourth-year film and media studies major Eva Solis Lindholm’s euphorically visual “Down The Line” and fourth-year psychological & brain sciences and film and media studies double major Carlo DiFiore’s ode to college life “To the Ninth.” The crowd erupted in applause as they were asked to vote for their favourite film of the night while the judges reconvened backstage to decide the award winners. 

Not only were filmmakers honored with awards that highlighted their cinematic skills, but also, a beautiful tribute award was presented by the family of UCSB alum Scott Wells. The award was given to the film that “uses the silent film and live music mediums in the most creative or impactful way,” honoring the memory of the former Gaucho who passed in 2012 following a two-year battle with colon cancer.

The 34th annual Reel Loud winners consisted of DiFiore’s “To the Ninth” sweeping the awards for Best Music, Best Editing, Best Actor (the award was given to leading man, second-year economics major Eddie Hill), Audience Choice and the coveted Scott Wells Golden Reel Award. The other winners were Stoilova’s “Special Violent Interests” for Best Cinematography, Best Writing and Best Filmmaker, Solis Lindholm’s “Down The Line” for Best Production Design and Blair’s “Picking Petals” for Best Actress, where she’s also the leading lady. 

Discussing the voting process, Palladino spoke of his experience behind the wall of choice. 

“I come back each year, and it always kind of surpasses my expectations in different weird ways,” Palladino said. “You just see what student mentality is going on, the different interests. It’s always wild to see, also the musical approach, from the sort of acoustic first half and then that very rocking second half, and so I always enjoy the eclectic range of music in that conversation.” 

A budding community, the UCSB film and media studies department came together with their friends and family to live out their own version of the Academy Awards for a night, supporting student films and spotlighting the University’s flourishing creative community.