As a student in middle school, recent Radio-Television-Film graduate Daniel Abramson fell in love with movies when his older brother took him to a showcase presented by his high school film class. 

Now, Abramson is one of eight UT students and alumni who will show their talents at the Longhorn Student Showcase for SXSW on March 12. Abramson’s film “Play On” follows two men involved in a student Shakespeare production dealing with the pain of unrequited love. 

Abramson said he was inspired by a past heartbreak that affected him on a deeply personal level.

“It’s about the people that we let have an effect over us­ and how it shapes and forms what we become if we let them,” Abramson said. “It plays on themes of holding onto regret and wanting to be your own person in spite of what your history has been.”

Abramson said he was excited for his film to be shown at a local festival because it would allow him to network with future collaborators.

“The fact that I get to show my movie in front of people I want to be working with or for in the future is pretty exciting,” Abraham said. “It’s an opportunity to showcase what I am.”

MFA student and fellow presenter Mira Lippold-Johnson said she was also excited about presenting her film in a local setting and sharing the event with people she made her film with.

“(The cast and crew) are all from Austin so it’ll be awesome to have them all come to the screening,” Lippold-Johnson said. “You don’t get that many opportunities to have a festival experience with all of the cast and crew.”

Lippold-Johnson directed “The Letter E” which focuses on a 14-year-old girl named Eleanor obsessed with the vowel “E.”  

“It’s like a fun teenage drama but also an allegory for the way that people are really bad at dealing with change,” said Lippold-Johnson.

Lippold-Johnson said great movies have the power to connect different people through a shared human experience. 

“A movie can make someone believe that they are somebody else,” Lippold-Johnson said. “It can give the viewer an understanding that they are not alone in the world.”

MFA ’15 graduate Caleb Kuntz will also present his film “Florence” at the showcase. Kuntz said the film was inspired by seeing friends and peers abuse prescription pills. 

“I grew up with brothers being medicated for ADHD at a young age,” Kuntz said. “I remember seeing people snort meds in college to get high or be used as an ‘academic steroid.’ With a series of friends being negatively affected by psychotropic meds as well as my fear of being prescribed them, I constructed the film’s world.”

Kuntz said he was excited to participate in the showcase after being denied the chance to present his work at previous festivals.

“Gotta find your way into the fold one way or another,” Kuntz said

While the showcase gives students a chance to show their work in front an audience for praise and constructive criticism, Abramson said he hopes other filmmakers will continue to pursue their dreams regardless of what others may say.

“The only reason you think you can’t do something is because someone or something told you that you can’t do it, so just do it,” Abramson said. “Whatever that doubt in your mind is, it’s only there because of your place in society. So just do it.”