CDCP Students Bound for Cannes Film Festival

Christian Nelson’s first plane trip will take him half way across the world. On May 15, the Cinema Du Cannes Project graduate student will board a flight bound for Cannes, France. Nelson is one of five CDCP students making the once-in-a-lifetime trip to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Two of those students, including Nelson, had films accepted to the Short Film Corner of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. 

“If you would have told me a few months ago that not only one, but two films I've made would be heading the the most prestigious film festival in the world, I would've said you’re crazy,” said Nelson, CDCP’s Director of Publicity and Social Media. “For a filmmaker, having your work appreciated is a great thing. All the months of hard work, stress and time ultimately culminated  into a final product that you can enjoy and share with the world.”

Both films (“Paradox of the Intellect” and “Phoebe and Jay”) that Nelson submitted to this year’s festival were accepted. “Ernesto,” a film directed by CDCP senior Cinematographer Ulyses Castellanos, was also accepted to the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival.

“It’s a very interesting sensation,” Castellanos said of having his film accepted. “You can see how your work is progressing and how you are evolving as an artist and also as a human being. But what I appreciate most is the hard work, the passion and the creativity of all the people who did it because it wasn’t just me; it was a collaboration between really talented people and great human beings.”

Other students making the trip to France include senior Web/Publicity Editor Rhonda Huynh, senior Co-Director Alexis Campanile and graduate student Mireydi Mendieta, the Director of Student Productions. All students have credentials for the entire film festival.

 

The Cinema Du Cannes Project’s mission is to educate, empower, develop and celebrate the next generation of emerging artists to be productive citizens, creative individuals and active participants in shaping our communities in the 21st Century. This year, students from all three high schools in Pflugerville Independent School District are collaborating to produce films to submit to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

The five CDCP teams— Short Narrative, Documentary, Behind the Scenes, Webisodes and Web/Publicity—consist of students from Pflugerville, Connally and Hendrickson high schools.  The students work as directors, writers, producers, actors, cinematographers, composers, publicists, fundraisers and many other roles on the project.