SMC Student Film CORA Goes to Cannes

Santa Monica College (SMC) is pleased to announce that CORA-a short film written and directed by SMC student Kevin Maxwell-has been accepted into The 19th American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. SMC is one of only 4 U.S. film schools in competition in the "Student Short Films" category along with NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Chapman University and The School of Visual Arts. 23 short films and documentaries by emerging filmmakers from around the world were selected for the showcase.

The second SMC student film to be accepted into The Cannes American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, CORA tells the story of an African-American woman-played by Latarsha Rose-who fights racism and domestic abuse in the 1960s, only to face the toughest choice of her life. Rose is known for her role as Portia in the 2012 film The Hunger Games.

SMC student films have won numerous accolades-including a BAFTA nomination, Best Short Drama at the San Diego Film Festival, and Winner at the Women's Independent Film Festival -and have been invited to many prestigious domestic and international film festivals.

"The mission of SMC's film program is to provide the highest level of education at the lowest possible cost, and to ensure that our students' films have artistic integrity and something relevant to say," said SMC Film Professor Salvador Carrasco, who heads the film production division. "CORA is the perfect example of this; we couldn't be prouder of the work produced by our student filmmakers."

Several films that have played at The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase have gone on to be shortlisted for Academy Award nominations. For more information on The American Pavilion at Cannes, visit http://www.ampav.com.

SMC offers an Associate of Science degree and Certificate of Achievement in Film Production. To learn more, visit http://www.smc.edu/filmproduction or email Carrasco_Salvador@smc.edu. The film program-as well as the films that come out of it- is on YouTube as the "Santa Monica College Film Program" channel.