They’re ready for their close-up.

Fifteen SFCM students will see their work on the big screen April 24 when the Conservatory inaugurates its first Sound and Cinema Fellowship with SFFILM with an on-campus screening. As part of the partnership, four independent filmmakers supported by SFFILM collaborated with SFCM students in the Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) program handling original score, sound design, and sound mix to bring their short films across the finish line. After the screening, a Q&A session with the directors will follow.

SFFILM Executive Director Anne Lai talks with students in SFCM's Studio G.

“This new partnership gives our composers, sound designers, and producers real world experience as they work alongside amazingly talented filmmakers,” said Executive Director of the TAC program Steven Horowitz. “Directors will have a chance to polish and complete their soundtracks in our state-of-the-art studios alongside our young composers. Perhaps best of all, these projects will become part of the 68th San Francisco International Film Festival.”

The April premiere represents a school year’s worth of work for the TAC students. The directors and films chosen come from SFFILM’s FilmHouse Residency program, which provides San Francisco Bay Area-based filmmakers with artistic guidance and support from established film industry professionals.

Florencia Manóvil speaks with TAC students in SFCM's Studio H.

Two of the films, Betsy Tsai’s Along Away and Florencia Manóvil’s Camino, are making their world premiere at the screening. Along Away’s SFCM team included Clark Evans (principal composer), Ian Kaneko (lead sound), and Zhuoran Zhang (additional music and sound); while Camino’s music and sound were helmed by Ryan Camastral (principal composer), Rafe Axne (composer), Clark Evans (composer), and Theo Popov (sound crew). Ryan Camastral (principal composer, Rafe Axne (composer), Clark Evans (composer) and Theo Popov (sound crew), meanwhile, worked on Camino.

TAC students watch one of the SFFILM entrants in Studio H.

A.K. Sandhu’s AMERICA, WE BEG YOUR PARDON features contributions from Jonathan Bingham (principal composer), Caroline Feitosa (lead sound) and other students as orchestrators, while, for Steven Raven Liang’s Oscar’s Return, Dimitri Mathiopoulos, Chong Li, and Wilka Wang were the film’s principal composer, and lead and additional sound artists, respectively.  

Tickets for the premieres can be obtained for free here. 

Learn more about studying Technology and Applied Composition (TAC).