By Lookout Staff

April 4, 2019 -- The Santa Monica College (SMC) student film "Shape Shifter" -- which tackles the topic of body image -- won Best Student Short Film at the second annual Golden State Film Festival last month.

The dark comedy, written and directed by SMC alum Kelly Thompson, was among the numerous national and international films showcased at the TLC Chinese Theatre in Hollywood from March 22 to 28.

The film traces the moral dilemma faced by an infomercial model who sells weight loss products she knows don't work.

Thompson said she knew the topic struck a nerve when the film class first read the script. "Tons of students stood up and discussed how they've had to deal with body issues, either with physical insecurities or other things,” Thompson said. “It's a really personal script for me,” she added. “Shape Shifter” was shot for SMC's “Making the Short Film” class, which functions as "a complete, professional film crew-in-training" under the supervision of SMC Film Production head Prof. Salvador Carrasco.

The movie, which was shot in various locations around Los Angeles, "is a highly entertaining and intelligent comedy," Carrasco said.

The film delivers a powerful social commentary about body image, consumerism, and the need for us to seek answers within rather than without ourselves,” he said.

"Shape Shifter" is the latest in a string of SMC student films that have won awards.

In 2017, three short films produced by SMC students -- "Solidarity," "Cora" and "Spaghetti Romance" -- were accepted into competition in the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Last year, the short student film “Life in Color" was screened at the prestigious forum, and several others short films have won awards at international and regional film festivals over the past three years.

To learn more about SMC’s Film program, visit www.smc.edu/filmproduction or email Carrasco_Salvador@smc.edu. Student films are on YouTube under the “Santa Monica College Film Program” channel.