FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) --
Filmed in the San Francisco Bay Area, this short film by Selma native Michael Morales is gaining attention and will be heading to the invitation-only, Cannes Short Film Corner in France."I'm really happy to be going out there because not a lot of opportunities are handed out like that or just given out. Where I came from, the Central Valley, you don't hear a lot of news like that."
The Cannes Film Festival brings together some of the most well-known and talented people in the film business.
Morales is a student at San Francisco State studying film. He and a team of classmates made this short film "Guardia de Me Hermano" or "My Brother's Keeper" about two brothers who have chosen two paths in life. The film won a school competition and the story plot caught the attention of organizers with the Cannes Short Film Corner.
The film is mostly in Spanish, something Morales, a third generation Latino, was passionate about.
"I'm not rooted as much as I want to, so creating that film for me was digging deeper into my roots and my culture. So it was kind of a big deal for it to be in Spanish, to be this kind of theme. So it's like me giving back to my culture."
The short film touches upon serious issues of drugs, violence, and gangs affect communities. Morales hopes to create a conversation.
"I don't think there's enough time in the day where we talk to our kids, or even adults, that this kind of lifestyle does damage families and communities."
Morales is now raising money and using his GoFundMe account to help him pay for the $3,000 trip to France. This college student said his enthusiasm for filmmaking has grown
"Just that you are able to tell a story, and that people actually wanted to listen to it. So that, I hope to do is create stories that ignite a fire within people that are wanting to create their own stories."
A story that will now be shown to a bigger audience.
