Freshman Beckett Nelson Rolls Out the Red Carpet For His Latest Film, Torrent
Image Courtesy of Luis Zonenberg
By Luis Zonenberg
Last weekend, students from across campus had the honor of witnessing the premiere of the new student film, Torrent. Helmed by CUA Freshman Beckett Nelson, the short film navigates the dangers of drugs and gambling through the adolescent lens. While the uUniversity is no stranger to film festivals, this particular short film was produced well before Nelson came to campus and premiered on his own terms.
The story centers around an unnamed Protagonist (Javi Sandoval Gongora) helping his friend Bruce (Gyuram Lampke) win some money at a lavish party. Trouble brews with cops emerging on the scene and the party hosts amping up the tension for their own entertainment. Dangerous people corner them on both sides and our main leads must navigate through all the trouble if they wish to survive.
For a short film like this, I was impressed with its unique visual style and excellent camerawork. With the music setting the stage, the film immediately puts you right in the action and immerses you in this energetically chaotic atmosphere. The cast mostly does great with their dialogue and action scenes, though I did feel the story could have been fleshed out a bit more.
When discussing the creation of this project, Nelson cited the work of composer Andrew Forsyth as his main source of inspiration. I was lucky to sit down with Nelson and hear how he “listened to this awesome album… and wrote a script around it.” He spent two months writing the film, explaining how he tried to “extract the themes from the music and make a story that was about those same themes.”
When it came to the production process, casting was very critical and took up all of April last year. Nelson discussed Javi’s character and when it came to casting, he “noticed him doing charades one time and thought… that’s a good actor!” Filming took place from May to July, with production lasting all the way to October. The film originally premiered in theaters last November back at Nelson’s hometown in Oregon.
As a business major, Nelson explained how his classes helped pave the way for his film to be shown in Maloney Hall. The entrepreneurship classes offered on campus allowed students to run their own businesses and he stated “the film was my business.” He ran it through the Busch School of Business and through the bureaucratic processes, they allowed the film to premiere in the Della Ratta Auditorium.
Becket went on to explain,“You have like dumb action movie(s)… and on the opposite side of the spectrum, you got like crazy David Lynch arthouse movies. What I wanted to do with Torrent, was make a movie that was 50/50.” Luckily, students were able to escape the deluge and enjoy the film as they emptied their popcorn buckets.
Nelson currently has plans to bring more of his films in the future and submit Torrent to various film festivals. Hopefully this opens the door for more events on campus like this that cater to up-and-coming filmmakers like Beckett Nelson.
