For the first time in the history of the UNLV Short Film Showcase, the university’s president, provost and dean were all in attendance. You would think the students would be on their best behavior but this was not the case. The raucous row behind me began their night by throwing popcorn at their friends and proceeded to answer a cell phone during the screening and capped if off by kicking me not once, but twice, in the head as their feet slipped off the headrest of the seat next to me. Luckily these students were the exception to the rule and most of the capacity crowd politely clapped and cheered on their friends presenting their short films at CineVegas.
Several of these films had been award winners in the 48 Hour Film Project and the UNLV Spring Flicks. One of the standouts from the 48 Hour Film Project was Andy Carney’s short titled Don’t Spill the Beans, which made the most of the noir genre and the required prop element, a can of beans. While keeping true to the serious tone of a noir murder mystery, it added elements of humor by having the actors “accidentally” read aloud the punctuation marks on the cue cards.
West McDowell’s Simon played on the standard high school stereotypes and followed the story of a nerdy boy who was torn between joining the cool kids and defending his equally nerdy brother’s honor. The actors played their roles to a T. The wardrobe and styling on this film were dead on.
The Shorts program did not live up to its name and was rather lengthy. According to Francisco Menendez, professor and chairman of the UNLV Showcase, “The biggest problem is length.” This year he was able to keep it to under two hours and actually asked several filmmakers to go back and trim the fat before he agreed to air their shorts. With over 700 students in the film department at UNLV, he had many projects to consider. Menendez says the UNLV film program was the starting point for many filmmakers who have gone on to the American Film Institute and the Nevada Film Showcase. One of these directors destined for a future film career is Jeremy Cloe, whose film Thin Walls outshone the other shorts.
Thin Walls follows two different plot lines that overlap at the end with a surprising twist. It has the feel of a feature length movie despite being under twenty minutes long. It depicts the trials and tribulations of two families and a climax that blends their anguish. One is a married couple are undergoing relationship stress when the husband thinks his wife is cheating on him. The other is a family where the abusive stepfather has pushed his young stepson over the edge to the point of retaliation. The film builds on the emotions of the characters and artfully misdirects the audience before a startling ending.
Adam Kilbourn, who portrays the husband in the married couple, is a student in one of Professor Menendez’s film classes at UNLV, and when asked if he wished to participate in Cloe’s film, he willing agreed admitting, “this is really good” after reading the script. He suggested that his actual wife, Shana Dahan, a local actress, play the role of his wife. Their emotional connection helped bring Cloe’s poignant story to life.
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