If you were expecting this year’s Oscars to be full of distant Hollywood stars and directors, you may be surprised to find a connection close to home — or at least close to campus.
One of Cal State Long Beach’s own alumni is nominated for the 2017 Live Action Short Film Oscar.
Giucan Caduff produced the film “La Femme et le TGV” alongside fellow alumni cinematographer Nausheen Dadabhoy. The two graduated from CSULB’s film department in 2005 and had worked together on their feature film “20 Rules!” in 2014 before Caduff recruited Dadabhoy for “La Femme et le TGV.”
The film, which means “the women and the TGV,” tells the true story of a lonely Swiss woman who has been waving at the TGV train that passes by her house for years. One day she receives a letter from the train conductor, which begins the poetic, yet anonymous relationship between the two – until the train stops going by her house. The woman sets out on her own to find the train conductor with whom she has grown attached.
Caduff got involved with the project when writer/director Timo von Gunten brought the idea to him after reading about the woman’s story through an article in 2013. Once on board with the film, Caduff and Gunten had to confront the task of raising funds for their creative project. Once they got the funding they needed from both French and German TV stations, they were able to begin the process of location scouting, tightening the script and finally, filming the movie.
“It was a very challenging film to make,” said Dadabhoy. “We had seven days to film the movie and one bad day of weather threw the whole schedule off. But then the rain cleared and we got our magic shot, so it worked out.”
The team shot the movie in France and had to wait for the train to go by every day since they did not have enough money to pay for one to go by at the times needed. They were on location for a month waiting for the train and it didn’t come through until the day before filming started.
“I must have waited six hours for that train, but at least then we knew it existed,” said Caduff. “There’s always going to be trouble on the film set…If you’re tense this is not the business for you. When I compare it to all the other films I’ve produced, this was an easy film to make. We had funding this time so that made things easier.”
The challenges faced while filming soon proved to be worth it, as “La Femme et le TGV” quickly picked up award after award. The film won Best Screenplay at the Trail Ridge Middle School
Film Festival and Best Screenplay at the Crime Writers’ Association Awards, all before it’s world premiere almost a year later on Aug. 5. It was there that Caduff and Gunten began hearing talks of an Oscar from sales agents and screen professionals.
“I hadn’t thought of it until then,” said Caduff. “Oscars are just not on my mind when I make a movie.”
The team was touring a flurry of film festivals on the week that Oscar nominations were announced.
“We were at a film festival in Germany, in between screenings,” Caduff said. “We all ran backstage to check our phones for the announcements and the internet wasn’t working, so eventually a friend from L.A. called us and gave us the news. Then we started getting all the notifications and I remember sitting there watching my phone, not knowing what to do but knowing we should be celebrating…It’s still very surreal.”
For many students studying film at CSULB, this is a dream come true. Having a film viewed in multiple countries, winning numerous awards and opening up many doors for a future career; however, Caduff and Dadabhoy wanted to make very clear that the film industry is not all glamour.
“You have to find the people you like working with and who are really committed to their work,” said Dadabhoy. “It’s easy to give up and half the time you’re poor.”
Caduff added, “It’s important to make connections while you’re in school. Don’t just come for the degree and don’t treat the film as if it’s just an assignment.”
The Oscars winners will be announced on February 26th.
This article has been updated for corrections.