Visual arts instructor Josh Deu passed out popcorn with flavors ranging from caramel to cheese as a captivated audience watched the colors and stories of selected short films dance across a projection screen. They leaned forward, collectively engrossed in the narratives as they chuckled and gasped in unison. At Marlborough’s 9th annual Student Film Festival, held in the Collins Room on Mar. 1 from 7 to 9 p.m., numerous students from six different schools showed 14 films.

Filmmaker Jon Avnet, known for writing and directing Fried Green Tomatoes, a 1991 comedy-drama starring Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy, and executive producing Black Swan, a 2010 psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, spoke to a throng of around 30 people about his experience in the movie industry. He recounted his experiences as a filmmaker, from his early days making what he dubbed “terrible” movies at Sarah Lawrence College and the American Film Institute, to achieving success in the industry. He advised burgeoning filmmakers to not be afraid to make mistakes, saying that everyone has a unique voice but must learn the grammar of the storytelling medium.

Afterward, Taylor and fellow Film Club president Scottie ’14 introduced the student films from Marlborough, Oakwood School, Harvard-Westlake School and other schools in Southern California. Notable selections included Voodoo Child, from Harvard-Westlake alumna Roz ’12, and Taylor’s music video for M83’s “Midnight City.”

“Our objective was to show the Marlborough community what other schools can make, and to show other schools what we can make,” Film Club co-president Taylor ’13 said. “We had a really good turnout this year.”