In early October, the Virginia Film Festival selected short film “Fifth Street” to screen before centerpiece film “5 to 7.” This announcement marked a big achievement for the independent film — a project by a team of fourth-year College students made up of director and writer Brendan Rijke, producers Shane Dutta and Niki Afsar, production designers Chris and Alex Lumain and actors Mary Claire Davis and Dan Barr, with an original “psychological” score composed by Craig Hunter.
“Fifth Street” focuses on lead-character Adele (Davis) as she looks to pinpoint her conception of self while trapped in her small hometown with long-time boyfriend Alex (Barr.) Filming for the piece started last May, shortly after the academic year concluded, and the team worked to shoot the film from start to finish in three days after weeks of preparation and rehearsal. During production, the team lived out of Rijke’s house in Warrenton, Virginia.
“Filming was pretty surreal,” Dutta said. “At night, we just spent time cultivating the emotional nuances of the film by sharing our references, exchanging ideas and sharing films with each other. It was sort of this creative hub that we lived in for a few days.”
After filming concluded, Rijke spent two-and-a-half months editing the film to meet the Virginia Film Festival deadline. As other short films heard back from the VFF, Rijke eagerly waited for a call. After much anticipation, programmer Wesley Harris called Rijke with the good news.
“That was pretty crazy, to be honest,” Rijke said. “I mean, it was in the back of our minds while we were in production — a dream to be a part of the shorts program at the VFF. [‘Fifth Street’] will now be able to reach a much bigger audience at the Paramount.”
The excitement quickly spread to other members of the team.
“I got off of work the day we found out and had six missed calls from Brendan — so I had an idea that something was up,” Dutta said. “There have been a number of times during this whole process where the stars have just aligned and made things possible.”
Rijke and the team have continued promoting “Fifth Street” since, running a successful Kickstarter which has allowed the film to be submitted to a number of additional festivals, including some on a national level.
From start to finish, Rijke said he could only describe the nine-month process as “exhausting.” Still, he hinted at another potential project in the future.
"You know, we all have one year left [here at U.Va.],” Rijke said. “We are never going to get the opportunity to be around so many young people that are this creative again, and we would like to use this momentum towards something special.”
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