Film Students Dazzle Cal State Fullerton for ASI’s First-Ever Film Festival

01 Apr Film Students Dazzle Cal State Fullerton for ASI’s First-Ever Film Festival

• CSUF’s first “Reel Titans” film festival showcased nine student films and fostered community and collaboration among filmmakers.
• The event aimed to give students real-world film industry experience and greater access to opportunities.
• Marciel Delegado won audience choice for “Poison Tree,” and filmmakers shared insights on creativity and low-budget production.

 

 

Lights, camera, action! Cal State Fullerton student filmmakers claimed the fame and spotlight on March 4 to celebrate Associated Students Inc.’s first-ever student film festival, “Reel Titans.” 

To celebrate the hard work of film students, the event featured a screening of nine student short films, ranging from animation shorts and documentaries to music videos.  

“Filmmaking in general, is just a very communal experience with everybody’s hands on deck. Film festivals are a beautiful way to showcase everybody’s work,” said ASI Student Programs and Engagement assistant Rachel Robles, a Cinema and Television Arts (CTVA) major.  “I’m all for community, and that’s where all my work leads to. So, pitching this, I really wanted a space where communities can come and find different artists.  This is a great way to introduce artists to new people, connect, and hopefully, collaborate.”  

 

The event featured a red carpet, awards ceremony and local food vendors at the Titan Student Union Becker Amphitheater, along with external partners like the Frida Cinema, Orange County’s only year-round nonprofit film festival and art house in Santa Ana. 

Students of all majors and backgrounds submitted entries and showcased their creative work for all to see. The CSUF community brought their own lawn chairs and blankets to take part in this celebration of student filmmaking.  

A Festival with a Mission

“Reel Titans” was greenlit into production by Robles, who wanted to provide students with more opportunities to work in their career fields.  

“I believe this film festival is a stepping stone in independent filmmaking,” said Robles. “Most often, [students] don’t have a lot of access to film festivals, so this gives them that opportunity.” 

The cinematic event was inspired by Robles’s intern experience at the American Film Institute Film Festival. Using her experience on how a festival operates, she created “Reel Titans” to bring industry opportunities directly to students on campus.  

According to 2025-2026 CSUF enrollment data, 562 students out of the university’s 45,000+ are declared as CTVA majors on campus.  

“We have a very vibrant film community within our CTVA department on campus and seeing more of a focus on the student filmmakers that CSUF has to offer was really cool,” said Marciel Delegado, fourth-year CTVA student and audience choice festival winner.  

“Reel Titans” (audience choice) festival winners are as follows:

• Poison Tree by Marciel Delegado 

• Dinner at Eden’s by Matthew Taghaboni 

• Latinos on TV by Johnny Ramos 

• Around for You by Isabela Torres 

 

 

“Reel Titans” participants are as follows:

Documentary: 

• Dear, Prison Library Project by Matthew Manalo and Robert Gonzalez 

Music Video:  

• Poison Tree by Marciel Delegado 

Short Films:  

• Twilight Time by Marciel Delegado 

• Dinner at Eden’s by Matthew Taghaboni 

• Latinos on TV by Johnny Ramos 

• Precarious Promenade by Skylar Bimat 

• The Weight We Carry by Cody Ryan Miller 

• Around For You by Isabela Torres 

• Rose Tinted by Darlene Chen, Anitzel Nunez, and Crystal Rustom 

 

At the end of the screenings, the audience voted for the submission they liked the most.  

Winning CSUF’s first-ever film festival was Marciel Delegado for producing his music video, “Poison Tree.”  

The concept for Delegado’s indie alternative rock music video was brought to him as a collaboration film project with his friend and co-producer of the video, Marcus Felix, he said. 

The video showcases dreamy psychedelic-type visuals that convey intense fear and was inspired by Delegado’s real-life experience with sleep paralysis and the vivid hallucinations that comes with it. These hallucinations also inspired his other festival film, “Twilight Time.” 

Delegado and his films have been featured in film festivals before, but he especially appreciated participating on campus. 

“It’s always good to be in a film festival, but it felt even more special to have it on campus amongst my classmates and peers that I work with at Titan TV,” said Delegado.  

Stories Behind the Stories 

The festival also featured a post-screening Q&A session with  the filmmakers, giving them a chance to talk about the behind-the-scenes of student filmmaking. 

Johnny Ramos, fourth-year CTVA major and “Latinos on TV” filmmaker, highlighted his inspiration for creating his film. 

“Sometimes the roles I audition for are very cliche,” said Ramos. “I just wanted to make a short that satirizes and makes fun of the whole processing of auditioning for these types of roles.”  

Skyler Bimat, third-year CTVA major and director of comedy short film “Precarious Promenade,” said the inspiration for her film was to give the audience a sense of escapism and whimsy.  

“I really hope that people walk away from watching ‘Precarious Promenade’ just smiling and laughing,” said Bimat. “That’s my main goal when it comes to making comedy films – a little bit of escapism, a little bit of something out of your norm.”   

Using a $50 budget, Bimat highlighted how her short film was made to inspire others to follow their film-making dreams, regardless of their resources.  

“It was doable, and it felt scary to think how doable it was,” said Bimat. “I hope it pushes people to go and do that and just try to make a film with the little that you have.” 

To learn more about ASI Student Programs and Engagement events like Reel Titans, visit the ASI Website.