A film by a Cosumnes River College film and media studies professor has been selected for the Sacramento International Film Festival. 

Produced by Patti McCarthy, “Carlos Through the Tall Grass,” which was initially released in 2023, is being screened for the Cine Latino Feature at The Sofia, Home of B Street Theatre on Sunday.

The film is a coming-of-age story that follows the journey of a promising, 18-year-old Latino high school student, Carlos Avila, who is having a hard time deciding on whether he wants to pursue college. 

Speaking on what drew her to the story, McCarthy cites her experiences with her own students, particularly those from first-generation immigrant families, who struggle with the same crossroads that Carlos is forced to navigate: supporting their family or following their passion. 

“The kids are kind of caught in the middle of this dilemma sometimes and they have to kind of negotiate it,” McCarthy said. “It’s also about being scared, it’s kind of scary going out there and living on your own.” 

McCarthy, a Sacramento native who has been teaching at CRC since 2007, has been involved in the production of major motion pictures such as “Harriet the Spy,” “American History X” and “The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button.”

With a master’s degree in film production and a doctorate degree in critical studies, McCarthy currently works as a professor at CRC, Whittier College in Los Angeles and University of the Pacific in Stockton, where she regularly brings students onto professional productions. 

“For ‘Carlos through the Tall Grass,’ a lot of our crew and some of our cast were students,” she said. “We need to get our students involved in professional shoots to be able to have them understand what it’s like to work on a feature.” 

Josh King, 38, was first introduced to McCarthy at CRC during his time studying film. When he eventually transferred to UOP, “the first class that I took was screenwriting,” King said. “I walked in on day one, and who was the teacher? …Patti.” 

“Patti has been a huge inspiration and role model to me, she is the reason I’m into filmmaking. She’s taught me so much and I want to be just like her,” he added. 

Dean of Arts, Media and Entertainment Brian Rickel, who has worked with McCarthy for the last four years, said he couldn’t be prouder of her work. He believes connecting students to the professional world is one of the most fundamental roles of an educator. 

“You’ll never hear me complain when faculty bring our students on to projects in the professional world,” Rickel said. “I am just thrilled for Patti and our students who have made the school to work pipeline a real success story here.” 

Jess Hess, 28, another former student of McCarthy’s at UOP, was the first assistant director on the set, helping the director, Rick Dominguez, plan out shots. 

“It was a lot of fun, it felt like summer camp,” Hess said. 

Since its release, “Carlos Through the Tall Grass” has won awards at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival and at the Whittier Film Festival. 

“Usually festivals are a place where independent films are seen, that’s their venue,” McCarthy explained. “Rather than being theatrically released, we go into a festival circuit and we garner the awards, it gets seen, and then it gradually gets picked up. “

Since “studios couldn’t put their films in the theaters” due to COVID, “they started putting them into film festivals and flooded the festival market with A-list movie stars,” McCarthy said. “Everything was being put into the festival circuit, so we didn’t get as much play as we would have liked, because we didn’t have a big movie star. It takes a while to move through the circuit and now we’re finally here.” 

Although McCarthy says it would be great to win something in Sacramento, that’s not the only significance of the film festival to her. 

“Just to be able to screen it, have people see it, get it reviewed, you know like this, is really important,” she said. “It’s especially important then that our students get recognized for the work that they’ve done as well.” 

Hess is also grateful for the film’s journey thus far and that it’s getting the shine she believes it deserves. 

“I’m so excited that it’s finally making its NorCal premiere,” Hess said. “I think it is a great story to premiere at Sacramento and I’m excited to see everybody.”

Tickets for the 2:30 p.m. Sunday screening of “Carlos Through the Tall Grass” can be purchased here.