Akins senior’s film picked for Austin Film Festival

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Senior Aylin Valdez is the first Akins student since 2011 to have a film screened at the Austin Film Festival in mid October. The film is scheduled to be shown at the Alamo Drafthouse Village in North Austin on Oct. 15 and 16. The film was produced by the Akins Film Making class last spring.

Alyin Valdez, Staff Writer

When the Austin Film Festival opens in mid-October, an Akins senior will have her very own film screened alongside those featuring the biggest names in Hollywood, including Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Jennifer Garner.

Aylin Valdez

In early September, Aylin Valdes received the news that her film was selected by a panel of judges to be screened at the annual festival, which attracts filmmakers from all over the world to show off their work.

Valdes said she is thrilled to see her film showcased in front of such a big audience. “I’m exhilarated,” she said. “It’s such an amazing opportunity to experience. I feel truly blessed.”

Valdes’ 6-minute film was recorded last year as part of film teacher’s Melissa Royer’s film studies class Royer said.

This is the first time since 2011 that Akins has had a film screened at the Austin Film Festival, Royer said. Valdes’ film will be screened at the Alamo Drafthouse Village location off of W. Anderson Lane in North Austin on Oct. 15 and 16.

Valdes shared a reflection on the film, the experience of making it and her upcoming screening.


Valdes’ Reflection on the film:

Well it’s actually based on a true story — just this story is more exaggerated. I was facetiming my best friend one night telling her how I had to write a script for film class and that it was due the next morning. We were talking about this boy she liked and all the things we did to try to get him to notice her.

Then, it hit me: I said “Oh my god, I know what to write my script about.” And then I just started typing on my computer and started reading what I was typing aloud. It took me two hours to finish my screenplay and I couldn’t stop reading it after I had finished. I laughed so hard because this was basically our lives in a script. Hence the title “Mad and Aloof,” which is each of our nicknames for each other.

A representative from Austin Film Festival came to the class to meet me so that I could start the script revisions. It was not what I had expected. I had to change so much and take out so many lines because the maximum limit of the film cannot exceed seven minutes. I took out about five pages of my script to make it shorter and to the point during pre-production.

During the actual production process, oh my god, it was stressful. I had to make sure everybody had everything they needed, I even made all of the actors checklists.

We went all around the school to shoot and it was such a surreal experience. I felt super cool because I was a director at only 17 years old. It was a phenomenal and grateful experience making my own film with my cast and crew.

When I found out that Austin Film Festival chose my script, I was amazed. No one really thought mine would get picked because I kept changing my story every week, and because I wasn’t really a “strong film kid” in that class.

But, the night before, I had a dream that my screenplay got chosen, so when it was time for class, I was so nervous but deep down I felt mine wasn’t going to get chosen.

When Ms. Royer said “Mad & Aloof ,” I just started bawling. I was so shocked and so proud of myself that AFF picked my script.