The ADC is preparing to transition from stage to silver screen and roll out the red carpet for its first ever film night, Cambridge Shorts. On 17th May, Cinecam, the university filmmaking society, will take over the student theatre staple, screening the premieres of five new student film productions.

Although a novelty for the uninitiated, the idea of something of a student film night has been floating around the Cambridge creative scene for a while, being dreamed of independently by several people. For Cambridge Shorts producer Russell Fancourt, the idea occurred a couple of years ago: “I was President of one of the big college drama societies, and we had started granting funding to some short film projects. The problem that I saw was that you have these labours of love, with hundreds of hours of work poured into them but no natural outlet through which to screen them at university. Screenings at colleges tend to be poorly attended, in rather soulless conference venues, using temperamental projectors.” At the time, though, organising an event at the ADC was simply not viable; the student film scene wasn’t producing the quantity and quality of films needed for anything on the Cambridge Shorts scale.

But fast-forward to the end of last year, and the film scene had taken off big-time. Directing the newly found interest in filmmaking was the Cambridge Shorts Associate Producer and former Cinecam President Mark Danciger: “I think there have always been a lot of students interested in film in Cambridge – come on, who doesn’t want to be the next Tarantino? But in the past there hasn’t really been a strong society or scene for them to get involved in. When Nathan Miller [Cinecam co-President] and I restarted Cinecam two years ago, it was important for us to make this something high profile in Cambridge, providing opportunities and advice for anyone who wants to make a film. Now the society is large enough for this dream to start to become reality, as you can see by the surge in popularity we are witnessing.”

It was this vibrant set that Russell discovered helping out with friend’s project, encouraging him to pitch a film event to the ADC, with goals in promoting present and future student filmmaking in Cambridge. “We wanted to showcase existing work to a University-wide audience”, Russell says, “But, perhaps more importantly, we wanted to establish the night as a regular part of the ADC programme, and through it, encourage and enable people with no film background to get involved. People who come along on Tuesday will see the ambition student film can have. And hopefully, if we get another slot after the summer, they will bring nascent ideas to us to potentially be included in next term’s programme. Through Cinecam, who have been incredibly supportive of the event, we can provide these people with the equipment and experience they need to get ideas off the ground.”

ADC being the pinnacle of the Cambridge creative scene that it is, the uninitiated could expect newcomers to face fierce competition. According to Mark, given that Cinecam has been running in its current format for only a few years, it “has always played second fiddle to theatre.” However, both Mark and Russell see the strength of the theatre scene as a major advantage: “You have a vast pool of people with creative and production skills that can be used on film projects”, Russell says. “Moreover, the theatre scene is increasingly drawing on filmmakers, from making publicity trailers to incorporating video into theatrical productions.” The benefits hold for actors as well: “Film provides a great addition to the theatre scene, particularly for actors, for whom it’s great to get some experience on screen”, Mark adds, “I think the two scenes are compatible and there’s certainly no competition. As film continues to grow, I think we’ll see a lot more crossover between the two.”

One of goals of Cambridge Shorts and Cinecam is precisely to encourage thespians to give film a go. The skills required in filmmaking, while in many ways akin to those in theatre, set new demands for production teams. For filmmakers, there is no infrastructure to rival the ADC, and producers from a theatre background will be faced with many more moving parts – locations must be found and permissions obtained – as well as a higher level of technical knowledge, from structuring shots to providing the raw material for the editor to refine into a watchable end product. “But that shouldn’t discourage people”, Russell emphasises: “these skills can be picked up on the job. And Cinecam is always there as a repository of experience – people are always happy to help out where they can.”

The five films to be premiered will range from an exclusive summer camp for socially impaired children to a scientist sending messages back in time in a sci-fi thriller, and from a revolution to a woman left in a hotel room with only an owl for company to the tale of a data-entry worker from Swindon. The evening will not only be about film though Russell draws attention to the host of event, Joe Shalom: “we thought watching five films straight, without any context or time to breathe would be a little bit much, so Joe is there to really tie the evening together. He was in three of the films so will be able to give a bit of insight into them. And apparently he tells jokes, too.”

Both Russell and Mark have great expectations for the emerging student film scene in Cambridge. Future plans for Cambridge Shorts see it as a regular feature in the ADC programme, alongside smaller scale film screenings in the currently underused Larkum Studio. Mark has also some more personal goals in mind: “in terms of my film, Tachyon, we will make a few adjustments and then prep it for festival entry – hopefully we’ll be taking it to film festivals around the world in the near future!”

Grand things await student filmmaking in the long term: “The dream is to one day apply for a late show slot at the ADC, and launch a Cambridge Student Film Festival”, Russell muses. “Four hour-long events over a week, with four different line-ups featuring work from current students and recent alumni. There is a little way to go to get to that point, but it’s perhaps not quite as far away as some might think…”

Cambridge Shorts at the ADC on 17 May at 11pm

@vickanschmickan