Two Columbia Films Included In Telluride Film Festival 2020 Lineup
The Telluride Film Festival released the official program selections to its 47th edition with two films by Columbia filmmakers on the list. Both Silento, written and directed by alumnus Esteban Garcia Vernaza '20 and produced by alumna Susie Jean Kim '19, and Something to Believe In (Algo en lo que creer), written and directed by alumna Fany de la Chica '18 and produced by alumnus Luca Marcovici '18, were chosen to compete in the Student Prints category alongside six other student short films. The festival, which has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was scheduled to take place from September 3 to September 7. With the festival announcing its line-up, the films can officially include the imprimatur of the festival on the film credits and poster.
Silento is set in the beginning of the 1950’s Colombian Civil war, where a girl must protect her little sister as an armed group invades their farm. Silento will also screen online at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival from August 27 to September 6. As Garcia Vernaza’s thesis film, Silento received Jury Honors, an IFP Audience Award and the National Board of Review Student Production Grant during the 2019 Columbia University Film Festival.
Esteban Garcia Vernaza is a Colombian Filmmaker with a strong interest in coming-of-age stories. After finishing his BFA in Digital Animation, he moved to New York City to pursue an MFA in Film Directing at Columbia University. Garcia Vernaza’s short films have screened in several film festivals across the United States and Europe as well as on Mexican National TV.
Susie Kim is a Korean-American Creative Producer. She has worked for Robert Evans at the Robert Evans Production Company on the Paramount Lot, Ali Coffey Casting in Ireland, and the Korean television company, MBC. In addition to attending Columbia, Kim has interned as a development intern at Blue Sky Studios as well as Archer Gray.
In de la Chica’s short Something to Believe In, Alba is about to make communion and asks Jesus Christ to kill her sick grandfather. The film has already won the College Emmy Award in 2018, screened at Cinequest Film Festival in March as part of the Life Lessons program, and was presented at the 4th edition of the Latino Film Market in July.
Born in Andalusia, Fany de la Chica is a filmmaker and singer. She has studied cinematography at the School of Cinema Studies of Cataluña (Barcelona) and has a Masters of Arts in Documentary from the Royal Holloway University of London before coming to Columbia. In 2018 she received the Glamour magazine New View - Girl Gaze award for her film, The Looking Ceremony.
Luca Marcovici was born in Hong Kong to Canadian and Chinese parents, but moved at a young age to live in Zurich, Switzerland. Travelling often and having worked professionally in Zurich, Paris, London, Hong Kong and New York, Marcovici intends to follow an international career working with and connecting different cultures. His focus is on film and television, having worked on a variety of features and short films around the world. He is also interested in new media and technology’s influence within the entertainment industry.