Other students in Mark Schwab's media arts classes directed, produced, edited and starred in short features and music videos, which were screened June 3 at Leland.

"They were very ambitious in what they attempted," Schwab said. "To do what I asked them to do is very difficult. They're basically putting out college-level stuff."

Students produced their festival entries in about three months, shooting video and editing during class on Apple IIE computers.

Senior Kyle Jones, 18, directed Fate, a feature about "a high school kid who runs into someone who predicts his future and tells him his mom's going to die. He ends up being the one who kills his mom."

Jones said he originally planned to attend film school but changed his mind.

"I got accepted to the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, but I got freaked by the whole Hollywood thing and decided to play football at junior college for two years," he explained.

Several students were involved in multiple projects in different capacities. Senior Hadi Mirza, 17, directed and acted in White Danger, which purportedly explored the legend of the Hicks Road albino. He also directed Scissorkick, which won the festival's "best music video" honors, and he acted in the short feature Raisin.

"I had more fun doing the documentary," Mirza said. "I did lots of stunt work. We went to the top of Hicks Road and went exploring."

Other festival award-winners were shot on campus. John Foley's The Thin Blue Foam, a spoof on Errol Morse's The Thin Blue Line, was named best documentary. Local filmmaker Mike Davies Jr. gave an "industry award" to The Modern Cheater, directed by Kim Dixon.

Some students struggled to complete their festival entries. Raisin director Shayan Izadian, 18, spent 10 hours the night before the festival and half that school day editing his feature, which he described as the story of "one man's quest to take over the world stopped by chocolate-covered raisins."

His all-nighter paid off: Raisin flowed smoothly except for some wardrobe continuity problems. In one scene, Mirza first appears in a button-down shirt, then in a T-shirt and then in the button-down again.

To help avoid these kinds of mistakes, Schwab insisted his students create a storyboard and a shot list before shooting any footage. He also had them put together press kits to help sell their projects to the public.

"They've put in the work," Schwab said. "They were nervous [before the festival]. I think they're surprised to see it on a screen in front of people."

The film festival drew a crowd to Leland's media center; most in the audience were friends of the filmmakers. Schwab said he's planning a smaller festival in December to introduce students from Bret Harte and Castillero middle schools to Leland's media arts program.