Eleven CSULB FEA Films Screened in The 2022 Newport Beach Film Festival

The annual Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) attracts 58,000 film and food fans to over 100 feature films, 30 short film programs. This year the program returned to in person screening after a hiatus due to the global pandemic.

Four Narrative films and Seven Documentary films from CSULB filmmakers screened in this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival at the Big Newport Theaters on Sunday, October 16 at 11:30 am. The screening of the films was followed by a Q&A with film directors and crew. 

 

NARRATIVE

The War in my Head  

  • Director: Cinderella Sunzeri   
  • 11:54  
  • As a college student becomes further consumed by her depression, she meets someone who convinces her to find the courage within herself to fight back. 

 

Twin Aces  

  • Dir. Jozeven June 
  • 12:59 
  • In desperate need to pay for their mother’s surgery, fraternal twins attempt to con an underground poker game run by a dangerous crime family. 

 

Pit of the Pitmaster  

  • Director: Blaine Turner 
  • 3:35 
  • Trailer for a lost 70s Italian exploitation horror movie. When four young, traveling friends stop for a bite to eat, they wind up fighting for their lives in an unending nightmare of cannibalistic and satanic terror! Based on true events. 

 

21  

  • Director: Leia Everett 
  •   8:08 
  • On Sasha’s 21st birthday, she goes out to buy alcohol because “that’s what you do when you turn 21,” but she runs into issues securing the bag, and comes to terms with the expectations she had for her 21-year-old self. 

 

 

DOCUMENTARY

My Grandma  

  • Director: Hyunsuh Paik 
  •  2:05 
  • My Grandma is a 2-minute stop-motion animation film that explores the filmmaker's relationship with his grandmother and her ongoing struggle with dementia. This film explores the fragility of memory and how the loss of it affects family relations. 

 

The Founding Wolf  

  • Director Christopher Leon 
  •  2:38 
  • Nissim Leon recounts his story of creating the Boyle Heights Wolfpack, the most inexpensive youth football program in southern California, when he was 19 years old. 

 

Fernandez  

  • Director: Makenzie Clor-Fernandez 
  • 3:38 
  • Fernandez is a self-reflexive, stop-motion animation documentary about the filmmaker's name, Makenzie Camela Clor-Fernandez. The film explores the different origins of her first name, middle name, and last name while revealing the deeper feelings attached to them. 

 

I Love You, Your Kamo  

  • Director: Isaac Kau 
  •  6:12 
  • A 93-year old Taiwanese widow recounts her love story with her late husband and the sacrifices they made for their children while 6,891 miles apart. 

 

Frank  

  • Director: Jesus Casillas & Hyunsuh Paik 
  • 5:30 
  • A veteran magician looks back to his beginnings as a street performer as he continues to amaze crowds at the Santa Monica Pier. 

 

My Own Skin  

  • Director: Christopher Leon & Brandon Vaughan 
  • 6:08 
  • My Own Skin follows Michael Rubio, a former addict, as he details his thoughts and decisions that lead him to becoming sober. His source of inspiration that continues his sobriety comes from his family and also his newly discovered self love. 

 

Rock-A-Hoola  

  • Director: Nick Neira & Jordan Mia  
  • 5:50 
  • A short documentary that highlights the day to night perspective of a once popular tourist attraction; comparing and contrasting what it is and what it was. Taking an observational stance and diving deeper into why a seemingly innocent place should close down not once, but twice.