Honolulu Weekly

Mike Martinez has entered his fair share of film festivals. He’s written, shot, edited, finished and mailed out films. He’s forked over his money on submission fees. Now, he’s creating an oasis for young filmmakers in Hawaii: a submission fee-free student film fest, and a network for filmmakers.

Martinez and fellow Hawaii Pacific University Film Club President Harry Buerkle created Shorts on the Rocks to fill a void for a student short film fest. What could have potentially been a small blip on the film radar, has grown into an opportunity for filmmakers in Hawaii and abroad to submit films for the chance to see their work on the big screen, and to meet others with similar passions.

‘This is a film fest that is being created and facilitated by students and for students,’ Martinez says.

After Martinez started using the editing program Avid Xpress Pro, he contacted Avid about a donation of their professional version to give away to the winner of a student film festival. Before he knew it, he had a copy in his hands.

Initially, he thought about keeping the fest exclusive to HPU students. ‘But then I thought, ‘What are the possibilities? What can we do? Why not open it up and have it be a contest for all student films?’, Martinez says.

Martinez and Buerkle created a web page with the help of another HPU student, Chika Orito. For now, the web site provides information for the fest, but they hope to expand it in the future. They eventually want to show the winner’s films, and utilize the page as a networking tool for filmmakers.

The Film Club is teaming up with the Honolulu Academy of Arts for the festival. HPU has had a healthy relationship with the Academy since the advanced video class at HPU created a video featuring the Academy. ‘I think ever since then,’ Martinez says, ‘they’ve known we have a certain level of quality production here at HPU, and they feel comfortable with us.’

Because of this relationship, the Film Club is able to use the Doris Duke Theater as the screening venue for a discounted price.

Martinez and Buerkle have received more than 50 submissions.

Their main goal for the film festival is to award deserving student filmmakers. Besides the Avid Xpress Pro, they also have free headshots for the winner of the Best Acting Category, compliments of Dorys Foltin Photography. The prizes for Best Editing and Best Cinematography are yet to be announced.

The organizers’ broader goal for the fest is to create a network of support for student and independent filmmakers in Hawai’i. When a filmmaker needs actors, cameramen or some extra hands, they can turn to this network.

‘I’ve made student films where I’ve been the camera man, the writer, the director, the editor, the producer, and everything, and it’s so stressful,’ Martinez says. ‘That’s what we really want to do: to raise the bar by connecting people.’

The submitted shorts can be any genre. They can be no longer than 15 minutes in length, and must have been made while the filmmaker was a student.

The HPU Film Club has sifted through the submissions, and has picked 15 finalists. The final 15 will be judged by industry professionals, and presented at the film festival.

‘We’re giving young, talented filmmakers a chance to show it on the big screen,’ says co-president Harry Buerkle. ‘And there’s nothing better than that.’

Doris Duke Theater, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 900 S. Beretania St., Sat. 4/29, $5 general, $3 students, [www.shortsontherocks.org].