The themes of embracing individual autonomy through turmoil and finding community were fitting for the nature of this celebration. As a freshman in the CaMS program, each film and every filmmaker inspired me in different ways; it is just as important for our department to create art as it is to analyze and uplift it.

Based in Austin, Texas with the motto “Keep Austin Weird,” SXSW is one of the premier film festivals for those looking to show off their films that are a bit off the beaten path.

All Alone Together raises the stakes continuously through poignant scenes, such as when the protagonist reaches his breaking point and shaves his head or when he jumps to his death at the end of the film. This progression never felt rushed or forced in this film and instead kept audiences at the edge of their seats.

The sense of curiosity and wonder is perfectly conveyed through the camera as it draws you into the world of jute mills. Despite this seemingly “dull” topic, the documentary envelops you fully through the breathtaking visuals and clever use of sound. The cacophony of the machinery as they work, as well as the general clamor of the mills, become part of the story that Nishtha Jain weaves in the documentary. Instead of music or words, the machinery tells us the story of the jute mills being one of the most successful industries in India to its unfortunate decay now.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that filmmakers rely on something pretty to look at, something stylistically similar to an old famous director, genre conventions, or even adapted material to keep audiences engaged. Yet that doesn’t mean that plots need to be insanely dramatic. In fact, my favorite films at AFI were stories rooted in the mundanities of life.

Dominic Sangma’s Rapture proves the diversity, strength, and power of Indian cinema outside of the commercial machine of Bollywood, and creates space for real, underrepresented stories to be put on screen, in a way that is just as organic, authentic, and meaningful as the film itself—even if as a global audience we are unable to find the right spaces for it to be expressed

Though this festival was my first introduction to 4085’s work, the company’s reputation set my expectations quite high. Overall, I was not disappointed. After a night filled with unforgettable filmmakers and stories, I sincerely congratulate everyone who participated in the creation of these films and festival.

In exactly a year’s time since their first festival, 4085 has matured. Though the group would benefit from crewing more directors and producers outside of the board, the complexity and excitement in the festival’s content this year displayed an obvious and consistent growth in production quality.

The originality of [the creators'] work certainly embodies a wonderful feature of filmmaking, which is that stories told can be drawn from anything – a deeply personal experience, a fascination with a certain subject, something fun or strange, just for the sake of it.

CaMS fest honors the filmmaking of its students, presenting their student’s films on the big screen in the home to many CaMS classes, Norris theater. I’m grateful to be Spotlight’s first review on CaMS Fest and am excited to see all the future shorts at CaMS Fest.

Archives like ours here at USC are repositories of history, culture and prescience that exist nowhere else on Earth, and they must be acknowledged as such. It’s nothing less than a crime that these films have gone unseen for so long, and a joy that we are yet capable of resurrecting them for new audiences.

The first film to screen at 4085 Production’s first in-person festival on December 3rd served as an attention catching opener with a story reminiscent of the wave of YA dystopian media of the early 2010’s.

I’m honored to have attended 4085 Productions’ first film festival. The newly founded production company has the potential to bring even more amazing films to life in the near future. If nothing else, I hope its success has inspired many more student filmmakers out there to start creating — now!