The student film scene in Cambridge is all too often overshadowed by its domineering older sibling that is The Cambridge Theatre, but this year’s Fresh2Film shorts showed enough promise for me to hope that this will soon change. The four short films made by Cambridge students were shown in the auditorium of St John’s Old Divinity School, prior to the premiere of the 2022 Big Cambridge Movie Thesis Submission. Each film was impressively different from its predecessor, and every one was met with applause from the whole auditorium.

Kicking things off to an impressive start was Isaac Laing and Charlie Butler’s Silence in the Library, a horror comedy set (and filmed over the course of just four hours) in Pembroke College Library, which asks just how far librarians might go to enforce the rules, and what might happen to those who think they’re above them. The performances of Aayushi Jhaveri and Dominika Wiatrowska stood out, and gave us a little bit of realism amongst the brilliantly surreal comedy of the film. Lighting and sound are the hardest things to get right in amateur filmmaking, and this film wasn’t immune to that, but it didn’t at all take away from the tone or effectiveness of the film. My favourite aspect of this project, though, was undoubtedly the soundtrack. Roxanne, Psycho Killer, and Every Breath You Take provided the perfect terrifying-but-hilarious backdrop to this well-made and well-received short, producing as many gasps as it did laughs.

“[T]he student films being made in Cambridge are impressively well crafted, and frustratingly unseen by too many members of the student body”

Next up was Peanuts, introduced by Mercy Brewer and Anastasiia Lvova, made by them and the rest of their team. The plot of the film felt a little unclear, and would perhaps require a rewatch to be fully digested, but it explores some heavy themes—death, responsibility, grief—with a refreshing subtlety. The titular peanuts come to represent a lot more than you might expect, and point to a tragic and moving story of a young death and the ripples of trauma that it creates. The cinematography is by far the greatest strength of this short, with some stunning colour grading and one particularly impressive shot of lead actress Kasia Truscott sitting silently in a glaringly bright white bathroom, before immersing herself in the bathtub.The film is also interspersed with real clips from the famous comic strip, which, far from their intended purpose, creates an incredibly eerie and unsettling tone when contrasted with the dark themes of the film itself.

It was time for a dramatic tone shift with Theo Jessen’s Worst Best Friend, an awkwardly funny exploration of friendship and honesty in the time of Covid-19, encompassed in a single conversation between a so-called introvert and the friend he’s been trying to avoid for three long years. It was filmed in just 6 hours in the St Catharine’s College JCR, which was creatively transformed into the lead character’s apartment. Isaac Allen and Jessamy James had just enough on-screen chemistry to make the film work, and just little enough to provide the cringeworthy second-hand embarrassment that this film so perfectly conveys. How do you tell someone you no longer want to hang out with them without breaking their heart? Can anyone maintain a friendship with someone who plays minigolf every week…by themselves? It was perhaps the most simple and stripped back of the films, but this worked in its favour, allowing the cleverly written dialogue to work its magic.

“The amount of time, effort, and undeniable skill that went into every one of these projects is so admirable and deserves to be appreciated by as many people as possible”

Last but definitely not least was Dalliance: a short, which according to Ilya Wray in his introduction to the film, began with a joke made amongst friends at the expense of Cambridge students’ sex lives. The film opens with a series of shots that wouldn’t look out of place in a Wes Anderson film, with perfectly executed symmetry, bold costume and prop choices, and characters leaving and then re-entering an unmoving frame. The plot is as hilarious as it is absurd, and at times feels like a present day, sexually inexperienced Cambridge fresher has been teleported into a slapstick silent film from the previous century. As the film goes on, however, it develops its own style, and the dialogue (or should I say monologue?) really allows lead actor Drew Forthman to shine. Aside from a few understandable sound difficulties (acknowledged by Wray, who implored the audience never to shoot anywhere with lots of gravel), it was seemingly the highest quality production of the four: the camera quality was unexpectedly good, and the overall feel of the film was the most consistent and well crafted. In a very short time frame, the film pays tribute to several genres and styles, while maintaining a laugh-out-loud funny storyline.

My main takeaway from this screening was that the student films being made in Cambridge are impressively well crafted, and frustratingly unseen by too many members of the student body. The amount of time, effort, and undeniable skill that went into every one of these projects is so admirable and deserves to be appreciated by as many people as possible. The future of CUFA looks bright, and I’m optimistic that the quality of films being made, and the dedication of all those involved, will draw some much needed attention to the scene, and in turn, that quality will only increase.