UTA Short Film Festival showcases Student Creativity
Published on October 26, 2026
Attendees watch films during Mavs, Camera, Action on Oct. 12 at Brazos Park. There were three categories for the festival’s awards.
Photo By General Mason Starks
The following article and imagery originally appeared in the Oct. 13, 2026 print edition of The Shorthorn and are reprinted with permission from The Shorthorn.
By Kennedy Harvey, The Shorthorn staff
Students shared their short films with their peers Monday at Brazos Park.
The films differed, ranging from a story of life and death to a film about the grief of growing up.
Maritza Perez, programming director for EXCEL Campus Activities, said she wanted to bring back an event the organization previously hosted, which is what inspired the film festival.
Perez said getting exposure for the event and securing the student films was difficult in the beginning.
“As it got closer to the due date of the short film submission form, we actually surprisingly got more films than we expected,” she said.
EXCEL programming directors chose which films to include and reached out to the Cinematic Art Mavericks, who helped judge and review the top three films.
“My favorite part was getting to see some of our talented Mavericks submit their films and being able to watch their creativity come to life,” Perez said.
The Cinematic Art Mavericks offered a technical perspective in judging, club president Victor Sanchez said.
Sanchez said he tried to remain unbiased when judging films as a lot of filmmakers with previous experience submitted. He took into consideration that some submissions were students’ first time making a film.
He said he watched each film twice to understand the main idea.
“It was just the idea of ‘How does it make me feel at the end of the day?’” Sanchez said. “If I watch this, do I get a sense of the story and the characters?”
He said film-related events and classes are often limited to the Fine Arts Building. The event helped break that barrier by connecting students who are interested in film with the broader UTA community.
Attendees watch films during Mavs, Camera, Action on Oct. 12 at Brazos Park. There were three categories for the festival’s awards.
Photo By General Mason Starks
“It puts the filmmaking community on the map in a way,” Sanchez said.
Alex Hathcock, director of ‘The Guide to Heaven or Hell’ and Cinematic Arts sophomore, said his film was inspired by the Grim Reaper.
“I’ve always loved that mythology of the character, and I really wanted to make a film about the Grim Reaper,” Hathcock said.
He said he began writing the script in April 2026 and filmed over the summer. The shoot, originally planned to be seven days long, was shortened to a three-day shoot consisting of two 12-hour days back to back.
“Having these experiences just to get our work, get our message, get our names out there, it’s really meaningful for EXCEL and for CAM to put these type of events on,” Hathcock said.
Business marketing freshman Kadeyn Micah Vaughm Aulton directed and wrote ‘17 Summers Later,’ a short film that showcases how it feels to be a student leaving their friends.
“I didn’t need this super deep film that had hidden meanings and all of that,” Aulton said. “I just needed a film that was able to relate with the average viewer who was going to college, or felt that feeling of alone, helplessness.”
He was nervous about submitting his film to the competition and felt that other creators at the event would be ahead of him.
“I realized they are and that’s the point of me joining the film festival to learn from them and see who I would like to work with because I’m not a film major,” Aulton said.
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