The 2nd annual Concord High School Film Festival, run by the CHS Film Society, will be held Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. We caught up with film society President Pedro Pimentel by email to get the lowdown.
How did the idea of the festival first come about? How has it evolved?
The Film Festival already existed when I joined the CHS Film Society in 2011. They used to do two festivals each year, a winter and spring one. In late 2012, when I became the president of the club, I thought: New Year, New President, New Festival. We started doing only one festival a year, with a theme now, (this year’s is drama) so the submissions should only be about one certain genre, and anybody from anywhere could submit their work. It was almost like a way to get stuff to show, and not freak out because not a lot of people from high school submitted a film.
What is the most exciting/interesting aspect of working with your classmates on a project of this magnitude?
We have fun. I mean, it’s fun mixed with stress, some nervous attacks and tension, but it’s fun. We are probably the most insane club in the school, and I am proud to say that hahaha It was fun to know what each other liked to do, and get the person to do what they loved. To go outside and make a film with the members of the Film Society, and laugh as if there’s no tomorrow all the time. It’s truly amazing and gratifying to see everybody happy and feeling accomplished after the event.
What are you hoping attendees take away from the film festival?
Our focus isn’t to create a competition, and turn filmmakers into enemies. We want them to show their work, and go home saying “I had fun tonight.”
You said the festival “has the main purpose of making the audience experience a specific and unique style of filmmaking.” Can you describe that style a little bit?
We want to make people experience a certain movie genre, and feel it. Just feel it. Have fun. Freaking out when there’s a scary scene in a movie, or, as this year is drama, crying when the main character dies unexpectedly. We explore many aspects of the genre, such as colors, music, quotes, classic movies/scenes and of course, independent shorts.
You have two of your own films playing. Give us the one or two sentence trailers that will make us have to come watch.
One of them, The Beauty of the World, is about a bunch of teenagers, vampires, who are in the woods trying to survive. Trying to escape from this crazy man and his nephew who are trying to kill all of them and get rewarded for the work. Don’t worry, even though some of them will fall in love with each other, they won’t sparkle in the sun or take their shirts off. I’d say it’s a different thing that makes it PG-13.
The other one is called Daniel, a more complex film, about teenagers and their emotions, and how they can make you do insane things. This movie might be a bit confusing, but that was the purpose. It’s a confusing subject. (WARNING: SPOILER ALERT) Everything was switched in the movie. Even the characters.
When did your love of filmmaking begin? What got you interested in the field?
It began about five or six years ago, when my friends and I decided to make a short horror film, with blood and pretty scary, and it ended up being terribly funny. We basically decided to make it to upload it to my YouTube channel. People loved it, and that was something that made me love this hobby very much. Nowadays, I get pretty stressed with it. It’s like a 20-year marriage. We fight, but we love each other. Same exact thing with filmmaking and I.
If you could wind up with your dream job in the business in five years, what would it be?
I wanna be a film director. I wanna make a feature film, get people from the whole world to see my work. Honestly, if everything goes wrong, I will still be stuck to the same goal.
How do you plan to handle the fame that will come when this film festival inevitably unseats Cannes as the world’s premier event of its type?
Oh man, I’ve been thinking about this quite a lot. Not exactly sure if I am emotionally ready to handle it, but I think that it will be fine. I’ve been trying to come up with this new type of duck face, which will probably be required to all of those who will walk on the red carpet. It’s just a marketing strategy.
If you could cast one movie star in your film, who would it be and why?
Kevin Spacey. After his work in American Beauty, I wouldn’t think twice before casting him in one of my films. Now pass the asparagus.
What actor would play you in a biography of your life?
Jack Nicholson.
Robocop is the latest in a long line of remakes of movies that are barely 25 years old. If you were going to remake one semi-recent movie, what would it be?
Since when I saw the 3rd movie of this series, I have always to make or be in a Harry Potter film. Soooooo many things I would love to do that I actually have most of them written down hahaha If that’s a too recent one, I would truly love to remake The Exorcist from 1973.
What is your hidden talent? (Non-film category, of course)
Some type of performer. I would say a singer, but I don’t have a good voice. Anything that would be related to entertaining people and making them happy. Maybe a musical dancer.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Dancing to old songs with whatever I find in front of me. Believe me, this is more secret that Batman’s real identity.
