A short film by students in the Righetti High School Visual and Performing Arts Department has been selected to screen at the 30th San Luis Obispo International Film Festival in the Filmmakers of Tomorrow Contest. 

The student filmmakers are Samuel Cornejo, Anabel Martinez, Adan Garcia, Zephyr Delute, and Nathan Freeland. Their teacher is Jacob Gustafson.

Taking an impromptu photo in their classroom are Righetti High film students Samuel Cornejo, Anabel Martinez, Adan Garcia, Zephyr Delute, and Nathan Freeland. (Courtesy photo)
Righetti High film students Samuel Cornejo, Anabel Martinez, Adan Garcia, Zephyr Delute, and Nathan Freeland. (Courtesy photo)

The six-minute thriller titled “The Purple Death” is about Officer Mark Stevens investigating the murder of Zephyr Martinez with the help of Emily Smith, a McDonald’s employee.

The competition features work by elementary to high school students.

Poster for short film includes the words Purple Death in purple lettering on black background, and two white takeaway drink cups with the lids flying off and purple liquid spilling out.

The Righetti entry will be showcased at the film festival the afternoon of Sunday, April 28. For more, visit https://slofilmfest.org.
 
“It was an absolute blast to work with my classmates on this film, which was made possible by our teacher, Mr. G, who was able to teach so much, yet keep the class fun and memorable,” said 12th-grader Adan Garcia.
 
“I am very honored to be a part of the SLO Film Festival,” said Samuel Cornejo, and 11th-grade student. “Words couldn’t express how excited I am to go through this experience.

“Making films has always been my passion and working with the crew to make this little, short film that got accepted was a wonderful and fun experience, I enjoy working with actors and directing.

“I had a lot of fun making this film,” said 12th-grader Anabel Martinez. “It was great acting in it, and getting to do the special effects makeup was a good experience. It’s such an honor to have something I worked on get into this film festival, and I hope this marks the beginning of my film career.”

“I am genuinely grateful to have such an amazing group of classmates to work with and am thrilled about the opportunity to showcase our hard work to a wider audience,’’ said 11-grader Nathan Freeland.

During last year’s festival, there were nine films in the high school category from all over the world, including two from San Luis Obispo County.
 
“This is the first time a film made by my students has been accepted to the SLO Film Festival and I’m very proud of the hard work my students put into their film,” said Gustafson.

“Getting into the SLO Film Festival is a big deal as the festival is considered one of the best in the nation, it just so happens that it’s conveniently located in our backyard,” he said. “I’m not surprised they got in.

“These students always put in an A+ effort and it shows both in their growth as film makers and creative storytellers.”