San Diego is home to a variety of Film festivals, from the showcases focused specifically on a certain culture, to student-produced events, and up to the larger San Diego Film Festival. One of the festivals you can attend this spring season is the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase, held at the Don Powell Theatre (on the San Diego State University Main Campus) on May 11 at 7:30 p.m.

For only $10, you will be able to watch some of the best work created by students in the Television, Film, and New Media Production program. The festival runs around 90 minutes, with no individual film exceeding 11 minutes. This short film festival will give you access to a large variety of films made by students who could one day go on to be the next movers and shakers of Hollywood.

Don’t believe me? Destin Daniel Cretton, while working towards his Master’s Degree in Television, Film and New Media at SDSU, created a 20-minute short film for his thesis project. This short film ended up winning the Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, and was later made into a feature film. That film is called Short Term 12 (on Netflix), and stars the now Oscar-winning Best Actress Brie Larson. Cretton’s next project will also feature Brie Larson, as he takes on the film adaptation to the memoir “The Glass Castle.”

The Emerging Filmmakers Showcase is extremely competitive to enter, as San Diego State is one of the most productive film schools on the West coast with the student body typically creating over 40 films a semester. You can anticipate a diverse range of films, as past festivals have included animations, documentaries, comedies, thrillers, noir films, and dramas. Students who have submitted work into this showcase have also gone on to win many awards at various film festivals, such as the San Diego Women Film Festival and the Palm Springs Festival of Shorts. Overall, the quality of the films one might view at this festival is well worth the price of admission.

Tickets can be purchased online through San Diego State’s School of Theatre, Television, and Film website, or directly through the Box Office by calling 619-594-6884. Tickets sell out fast, so don’t miss out on your opportunity to see films made by San Diego’s talented young filmmakers!