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That, in essence, is the storyline for Lucky Night, an eleven-minute short film by Eduardo Mendoza ’24, who is enjoying impressive success on his directorial debut.

The film recently premiered at the in Jersey City, where Mendoza picked up the award for best director. Lucky Night has also been chosen as part of the official selection at the recent in Santa Ana California, and in mid-November it will be screened at the , where it also features on the official selection list.

Mendoza has been making films for about two years now, either as editor or assistant director, but this was his first time “in charge” behind the camera. He says he’s both “excited and shocked” by the momentum Lucky Night has generated, clearly a testament to the movie’s success in exploring deeper themes regarding the American immigrant experience.

As Rey thinks about what he would do with the prize money (if he finds the ticket!), he decides he would share it with family members, some of whom are still back in his parents’ home country, which is not specified. This sense of indebtedness to one’s community is an idea that resonates strongly with Mendoza, who was born and raised in southern California to Mexican immigrant parents. “I really owe everything to the sacrifice my parents made.”

He says the genesis of the film can be traced back to 2023, when Mendoza took a trip to visit family in Mexico. “I remember looking at my young cousins, aged two and four, and thinking how different their lives will probably be from mine, and how much less opportunity they’re likely to get due to their circumstance of birth. Because my parents crossed the border before I was born, I effectively won the lottery.”

Lucky Night was shot in and around Brunswick, mostly outside, over three cold nights and one morning in March 2024, much of it featuring locations familiar to many members of the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ community, including the scenic Simpsons Point beach. The cast and crew featured many student colleagues while much of the equipment was borrowed courtesy of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾. “The film camera was from the media commons library—a big thank you to academic techonologist Colin Kelley for making that happen—while the editing was done on Adobe Premiere Pro, again accessed through the College.”

Some expenses were incurred, like having to rent camera accessories, such as a long-life battery that would last through the night without having to be charged. Additional costs were funded by Mendoza, who was able to use money from his Geoffrey Canada Scholarship award to finance the film.

Mendoza’s dedication to filmmaking was evident during his time as an undergraduate at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾, where he designed his own major in narrative studies (cinema studies is a minor only).

“The idea was to combine different humanities disciplines, emphasizing the creative as much as possible and geared toward the goal of filmmaking. I combined photography and the visual arts with creative writing, for example, enabling me to work on my script-writing and other cinematic skills.”

Mendoza received a lot of support from ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾’s Cinema Studies Program on his filmmaking journey. “I first learned how to use editing software with Professor Allison Cooper over the course of a summer research fellowship in 2022, when I looked at the use of the long take in film.”  Mendoza says his love of cinematic history is foundational to his creative process. “Major inspirations for Lucky Night include the German experimental thriller Run Lola Run and the 1948 Italian classic Bicycle Thieves, which I watched in cinema studies courses with Professors Tricia Welsch and Aviva Briefel, as well as films I watched as part of my work as Kinolab student curator, such as Past Lives and Aftersun.” 

With his successful filmmaking debut behind him, Mendoza has now relocated to southern California, where he’s working on a couple of new film projects. He says he feels lucky to be pursuing his dream, but as the success of Lucky Night demonstrates, good fortune is typically down to hard work, dedication, and talent.