Lights, camera, STU: Students bring stories to the big screen
- Polina Kozlova
- 10 minutes ago
- 3 min read
From intense board game battles to deeply personal stories about life as an international student, St. Thomas University’s second annual Short Film Festival brought a wide range of student voices to the big screen on March 18.
Organized by the STU Production Society, the festival featured eight original short films spanning genres from comedy and action to documentary, highlighting the growing creative community within the university.
“It’s just so nice to sit down, take your mind off everything … and watch some beautiful stories,” said Rochelle Clutchey, executive director of the production society.
The films were evaluated by a jury that included John Muise, an English professor at STU, and André Loiselle, dean of humanities and a film studies scholar, who selected the festival’s top winners alongside the audience vote.
Clutchey, who helped organize the event, said the festival has quickly become the group’s biggest project of the year. What started as a new initiative last year is now something organizers hope will become a permanent part of campus life.
“The goal is to make this an annual thing,” she said. “A lot of students are very excited about it … whether as filmmakers or as audience members.”
The festival showcased a diverse lineup of films, including First Date, Between Us, Memorabilia, The Great Macaroni Western, No Mercy, The Right Thing to Do, and Away From Home — a documentary that resonated strongly with audiences and judges alike.
Directed by international student Isabella Pacheco, Away From Home explored the challenges faced by students studying abroad.
“I feel like all international students go through a lot, especially during their first year,” she said. “We not only work and study at the same time, but we also have to pay double tuition.”
The film earned both the jury’s Best Picture award and the Audience Choice award, a result Pacheco said she didn’t expect.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all … I feel odd and humble,” she said.
She added that she hopes to continue making documentaries and possibly join the production society next year.
Faith Vandermeer’s No Mercy, which also won the Best Picture award, turned a simple game of Uno into an exaggerated, anime-inspired battle.
“My movie was inspired by the anime I grew up watching,” Vandermeer said. “It’s overly intense … but also very comedic.”
She said the idea also came from real-life experiences playing board games with her sister.
“I didn’t expect [to win], but I’m very happy. I put a lot of effort into it and I’m very proud.”
Meanwhile, Mariana Veneziani’s Between Us won Best Original Screenplay and Alisa Los received the Cinematic Award for Memorabilia, recognized for its visual storytelling.
For Clutchey, the festival is just the beginning.
She said she hopes the production society will continue to expand, offering more workshops and opportunities for students to get involved in filmmaking.
“I hope it gets bigger and bigger every year,” she said.
As the digital media program grows at STU, the festival is becoming more than just an event, it’s a space where students can experiment, tell their stories and see their work come to life on screen.
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