Award-winning films showcased in new season of KQED’s Film School Shorts

Apr 24, 2015

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Third season premieres Friday, May 8, 2015 on KQED 9.

April 24, 2015 – KQED announces the third season of its national production Film School Shorts, a half-hour weekly series that showcases short student films from across the country. The 10-episode season premieres in the Bay Area on Friday, May 8 at 11pm on KQED 9 and features some of the best short films coming out of schools including NYU, Columbia University, California Institute of the Arts, University of Michigan, UCLA, USC, American Film Institute, Florida State University and the School of Visual Arts. The short films represent a wide range of styles and content and introduce vibrant young filmmakers that are soon to make an impact in the industry. The upcoming season includes three Student Academy Award winners (Above the Sea, Un Mundo para Raúl and Nani), and many others have been recognized by major film festivals, including SXSW, Tribeca, Palm Springs, Aspen ShortsFest and the San Francisco International Film Festival.

The season kicks off with the BIFA winner and BAFTA-nominated film, The Kármán Line, a can’t-miss drama starring Olivia Colman (Broadchurch, Peep Show, Hot Fuzz) and Shaun Dooley (The Awakening, Broadchurch, Misfits), about a mother who contracts an unusual illness and begins to rise gradually into the air. Above the Sea, winner of the Gold Medal at the 2014 Student Academy Awards and the Golden Reel Award for Best Short in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, follows a young woman who must decide how far she is willing to go to exact revenge on a murderous policeman.

Upcoming episodes include Student Academy Award winner, Nani, about a young street artist who befriends an elderly woman and introduces her to the exhilarating rush of graffiti art; the Student Academy Award-winner, Un Mundo para Raúl, in which a game of power, pride and class wages between two teenage boys ; and 11-Minute Mile, which brings us into the harrowingly claustrophobic moments during the 2013 Marathon bombings in Boston.

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SEASON 3 EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS

Friday, May 8, 2015, at 11:00pm
FINAL ASCENT
THE KÁRMÁN LINE Olivia Coleman (Broadchurch, The Iron Lady, Hot Fuzz) stars as a mother who is hit by an unusual condition that her to lift off the ground at a slow but ever increasing rate. Directed by Oscar Sharp, New York University.

Friday, May 15, 2014, at 11:00pm
SEPARATION ANXIETY
OWL AND MOUSE In this wry tale that celebrates the art of stop-motion animation, a curmudgeonly owl must fight his nature when he has to watch over a young mouse for a night. Directed by Emma J. Noble, New York University. SO YOU'VE GROWN ATTACHED: An imaginary friend is forced to consider retirement when his creator – and best friend – starts to grow up. Directed by Kate Tsang, New York University. STEADFAST STANLEY: A faithful dog must journey through the zombie apocalypse to save his best friend. Directed by John Kim, California Institute of the Arts. FLUFFY THE FLYING FISH: When they move from Los Angeles to Denver, a family has to decide how to transport their pet goldfish, Fluffy. Directed by Ryan Charmatz, School of Visual Arts.

Friday, May 22, 11:00pm
ON THE PROWL
APP: Desperate to get funding for his groundbreaking new dating app, shy software developer Paul agrees to use the app to seduce a beautiful stranger, but his calculations backfire when he starts to feel a genuine connection. Directed by Alex Berman, American Film Institute. BANANA TRIP: Three South Korean college boys head to Florida for spring break, hoping to hook up with white girls. Directed by Hyungjik Lee, Florida State University.

Friday, June 12, 11:00pm
CHOICES
LATE SPRING: During the Libyan Revolution of 2011, a petty clerk at a police station must choose sides when a tortured prisoner asks him for help. Directed by Zachary Kerschberg, New York University. PAGPAG (The Refuse): A hard-drinking, rough-edged woman from an impoverished community in the Philippines tries to sell her orphaned granddaughter to an American couple. Directed by John Paul Su, New York University, Tisch Asia.

Friday, June 19, 11:00pm
LIVES IN LIMBO
BURN TO SEND: Amidst Saigon’s underground motorcycle racing scene, a young man and woman struggle to define their ambiguous romance. Directed by Andinh Ha, New York University

Friday, June 26, 11:00pm
PLAYING WITH POWER
ABOVE THE SEA: In the dangerous underworld of 1930s Shanghai, Fei, a young lady of the evening, must decide how far she is willing to go to exact vengeance. Directed by Keola Racela, Columbia University. UN MUNDO PARA RAUL: When thirteen-year-old Raúl is asked to entertain the local landowner's son, a treacherous game of power and pride unfolds between the boys. Directed by Mauro Mueller, Columbia University.

Coming in July – Fridays at 11pm:
REASONABLE PARTIES
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: A hurricane pulls a couple out of their comfort zone and drops them at the crossroads of commitment, disaster and the art of being prepared. Directed by Melissa Finell, University of California, Los Angeles. HUMPTY: In time to a classic Harry Nilsson soundtrack, slacker Dean decides to revisit an old high school experiment in his quest to prove his parenting abilities to his pregnant girlfriend. Directed by Clare Sackler, New York University.

Coming in July – Fridays at 11pm:
IT'S IN THE BLOOD
LAMBING SEASON: Determined to meet the father who left her before she was born, a woman travels to Ireland, hoping it will help her understand his decision. Directed by Jeannie Donohoe, Columbia University. A SERIES OF KINETIC SETS TELLS A STORY: Beautifully rendered cardboard sets and characters and a seemingly weightless camera capture an astonishing voyage of immigration, love, and World War II in a single take. Directed by Shannon Kohlitz, University of Michigan.

Coming in July – Fridays at 11pm:
EXPRESS YOURSELF
NANI: While doing community service, a young graffiti artist befriends an elderly woman and introduces her to the exhilarating rush of tagging. Directed by Justin Tipping, American Film Institute. LITTLE FAVOUR: Like poetry in motion, a single leaf morphs from clay to pencil to paper as it blows through a series of imaginative worlds. Directed by Yawen Zheng, University of Southern California.