Savannah Students Pay Tribute to Old Serials

Late last month, Savannah College of Art and Design students Jarasen Peneguy and Jacob Hauser learned that their sci-fi short Sam Bargo and the Lacertilians had been rejected by the 2011 Savannah Film Festival. A bitter pill to swallow, since the prestigious October 29th-November 5th event takes place on their very SCAD campus.

But another local event, the Dixie Film Festival in nearby Athens, was quick to come to the rescue. That's where this modern-day 11-minute cliffhanger homage to vintage 1930s and 1940s serials like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and Captain Marvel will debut on Saturday, September 24th.

SCAD sci-fi

Not a bad consolation prize, and many more festival applications hang in the balance. Sam Bargo was shot back in February of 2010, and has a very brief teaser trailer than can be viewed on IMDB.

It's a pretty good time to be a SCAD movie student, what with the spectacular Hollywood traction garnered recently by alumnus Ricardo de Montreuil with his YouTube short The Raven. Here's the synopsis for the upcoming slice of SCAD science-fiction:

Sam Bargo is just your average all American, not someone you'd expect to travel to an alternate universe and be caught up in an alien civil war. But this just happens to be the case. On this journey with him are Laurie, his girlfriend, and Kridor, an alien, government test subject. On their journey, their strength and sanity will be tested as they are imprisoned by an oppressive alien government as they fight to return home.

Sam Bargo is one of seven Georgia artist shorts being showcased by the Dixie Film Festival on Saturday. I guess the appropriate expression here is, "Hang a cliff!"

[Dixie Shorts]