Celluloid Celebration: Genesis Film Festival Returns

Student actor being filmed in Villas apartment. Photo by Dylan Ryu

One of the cinematic highlights of Santa Clara University’s academic year is neither a lecture nor a final exam—but an audience, a projector, and 100-plus minutes of original films made by students who have spent the better part of the past year behind a camera, in an editing suite or reading lines.

The occasion is “Genesis,” the University’s annual student film festival, returning for its 13th year this Thursday. Hosted by the Digital Filmmaking Program within the communication department, the event begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. with screenings starting at 6 p.m. in the Music Recital Hall. Free and open to the public, Genesis showcases a curated selection of student work across fiction, documentary, experimental and music video genres—a spotlight on creative voices on a campus better known for its engineering and business programs.

“It’s kind of like a commencement for the film students,” said Ivy Wu ’25, an undergraduate studying communication and music, and a member of the Genesis planning committee. “There’s no film major here—just an emphasis. So, we don’t have a separate graduation. Genesis is allowing us to have space and a resource to do that.”

For Wu, who will serve as emcee and help present awards at this year’s festival, Genesis is as much about community as craft. “It builds connections with other people,” she said, “because that might be the last time we see each other before we go into the industry.”

“The main point of the festival is to show student work and open it up to the public to share in the accolades,” stated professor Michele Sieglitz, a faculty member organizer behind this year’s festival. “I think that’s at the heart of this event.”

The program will feature 18 films. This marks the first time Genesis has had to turn films away, due to the volume of submissions and time constraints. “Students from all film classes were asked to submit completed films,” Sieglitz stated. “We received a total of 18 that met the deadline, with over 137 minutes of content.”

“This is the first year that it’s ever been competitive,” said Sully Misner ’26, a communication and French double major who worked as cinematographer on “When Yesterday Ends,” one of the films selected. “In the past, it was like, you submit your film, it’ll be screened at Genesis. But this year, there were so many submissions that they had to choose the programming.”

A committee of faculty and staff reviewed the films independently and blindly to select the final lineup. “Obviously the goal is to show everything,” said Wu, “but we’re aiming towards 100 minutes of showing time. Right now we have over 130 minutes.”

That shift hasn’t dampened student enthusiasm—if anything, it’s heightened the sense of occasion. “This year, we wanted to make it feel more like a real film festival,” said Morgan Srednick ’26, another member of the Genesis planning committee. 

Genesis runs on limited resources—a recurring theme among students and faculty alike. “We are very lucky to have Recital Hall comp the venue/projectionist and theatre manager,” stated Sieglitz. “There is limited funding for a reception before the event and for poster/awards printing, etc., but that’s it.”

Still, the effort to elevate the festival is palpable. Srednick, who has three films in this year’s program—a horror short, a music video and a documentary—designed the poster artwork herself. “It was really fun and very rewarding,” she said. “It was cool to see my graphics posted all around the school and on the website. That was sick.”

For many students, Genesis is more than a showcase—it’s a turning point. “I was like, this is really fun. What if I did this for the rest of my life?” said Srednick, who first became interested in film during high school while producing dance concept videos during COVID lockdowns. “My dream is to be a writer/director. Whatever route will get me there, if it takes pursuing my own projects and being scrappy, that would be the dream.”

Others, like Misner, have used their time in the program to clarify their artistic direction. “I’m pretty set on being a cinematographer now,” she said. “There was one of our shooting days where we were out in the Sierra Vista mountains; the stuff we were recording just looked so beautiful, and I was surprised how true to this beauty we could capture on the camera.”

That devotion comes with a cost. “Making a film is really, really fun, but it’s also hell,” said Srednick. “It’s hours and hours, all-nighters in the edit bays, but when it’s done, hen it’s on the screen, that’s when it all pays off.”

Many of the films were created through a three-quarter fiction production sequence: screenwriting in the fall, producing in the winter and filming in the spring. Misner described the workload as intense but rewarding. “I was spending eight hours every Saturday and Sunday shooting, and a few more hours during the week planning and editing,” she said. “It kind of ate up all of my free time. But this is what I want my career to be. It’s a labor of love.”

While some students pursue freelance work or plan to relocate to Los Angeles or New York, many emphasized the bonds formed within the University’s filmmaking community as foundational. “There’s some really talented people in this department,” said Srednick. “It’s a small department, but I know that I’ll have a network anywhere I go.”

Wu, too, sees Genesis as a catalyst for future filmmakers. “There are people who are like, ‘Oh, I saw your film last year in Genesis, and that’s why I wanted to take Comm 30,’” she said. “I think it’s important for people to at least show up, celebrate it with us, and spread the word out that this department exists.”

Or, as Misner put it: “Genesis is going to be a wonderful one-night-only event. A real showcase of creativity and collaboration.”