Rob Munday

Nominated for a Student BAFTA Award and winner of a Student Academy Award (Bronze medal in the ‘Narrative’ category), Camille Stochitch’s 20-minute short Interstate has certainly turned a few heads with its character-driven storyline. Created as part of her studies at the American Film Institute, Stochitch’s compelling narrative orbits around a man struggling to make ends meet in a foreign land.

“The film tells the story of Joaquin, an East LA driving instructor who helps undocumented immigrants get papers by taking them to Utah, where you don’t need a social security number to get your driving license”, writer & director Stochitch explained to Short of the Week via email. “I’ve always been interested in social subjects and especially the global theme of immigration in our society. When I moved to LA, I was struck by the number of undocumented workers who are forced to live on the margins of society because of their immigration status, and wanted to explore that subject more”. Thrilling and emotive in equal measures, Interstate takes its audience on a journey of twists and turns as we follow its protagonist on his quest to help fellow immigrants like himself.

Attracted to “movies who follow a single character who will change throughout the story”, the director admits that all her “projects, whether shorts or features, revolve around a central character, male or female, who is originally troubled but will find a way to overcome his or her dilemma”. It’s a tried and tested format, but there’s a solid reason it works – it’s hugely engaging. If you can get your audience connected to your narrative and get them to actually care about this main character, then of course they’ll stick with the journey of your film. It sounds simple, but many have tried and failed. Stochitch’s success lies in her script, performances and assured directing. Interstate is a film that feels natural and believable and this is because the filmmaker knows when enough is enough. Rooted in reality, the storyline never waivers and despite its length always manages to keep a tight grip over its audience – which is no mean feat for a short of this duration.

Shot over 7 days, but over a year in production, the film was created with a budget around $50k (a standard budget for AFI thesis films), with one-third of this money provided by the director’s school and the rest coming from grants (from Panavision, Fotokem, Caucus & Kodak). Despite it’s fairly-sizeable budget for a short film, the production was not without its difficulties – Stochitch listing casting (the lead wasn’t until the day before the shoot) and theft, as just a few of the problems they faced along the way.

Despite these challenges, the director describes making Interstate as “a wonderful experience” and admits her short has “helped to get some attention from the industry”. Now developing a bunch of feature length productions, along with shooting another short in her homeland, France, Stochitch is obviously not a filmmaker intent on resting on her ever-increasing collection of laurels.