PBS SoCal’s Fine Cut Festival of Films returns this fall for its 26th season, airing student-made short films from across California. This year’s festival features six animated films by CalArts School of Film/Video students (and recent grads): Amarise Rose-Zhané DeFranco (BFA 25), Ava Azarmi (BFA 27), Jaimi Qiu (BFA 25), Claire Seckler (BFA 25), Victoria Basadre (Film/Video BFA 25), Nicholas Ducote (BFA 28).
An awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the Eagle Theatre at Vidiots in Eagle Rock, CA, screening the four winning films in the Documentary, Animation, and Narrative categories, along with the recipient of the Jack Larson Southern California Student Filmmaker Award. The event will be co-hosted by Variety’s Michael Schneider and Angelique Jackson.
The 2025 festival drew a record-breaking 430 submissions from students representing more than 53 schools across the state. Winners will share over $45,000 in prizes, including filmmaking resources, equipment, and professional software, awarded by a panel of nine industry judges.
In addition to prizes, all finalists will take part in the festival’s annual Mentoring Workshop on Saturday, Sept. 27, at Radford Studio Center in Studio City, CA, featuring roundtable discussions with professionals across directing, cinematography, writing, producing, and animation.
The six one-hour Fine Cut episodes will broadcast beginning Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 10 pm on PBS SoCal Plus, with many films also available to stream at pbssocal.org/finecut and on the free PBS app.
See the programming dates of CalArtian films below.
Wednesday, Sept. 24
“LAKAY” by Amarise Rose-Zhané DeFranco (BFA 25)
“Soup!” by Ava Azarmi (BFA 27)
“Lucky Penny” by Jaimi Qiu (BFA 25)
Wednesday, Oct. 8
“Together Apart” by Claire Seckler (BFA 25)
Wednesday, Oct. 22
“Dies Irae” by Victoria Basadre (Film/Video BFA 25)
Wednesday, Oct. 29
“Until Morning” by Nicholas Ducote (BFA 28)
