HCC filmmaker premieres 'Dissonance' at Cannes

A film by an alumna of Houston Community College had its debut during the international Cannes Film Festival.

Natasha Fissiak recently showed the film Dissonance at the 2012 Cannes March du Film. The Russian-American director worked on the project with many of her HCC classmates who served as cast and crew members.

The film follows a dark protagonist, Troy, after meeting up with a lover from his distant past. The encounter causes a resurgence of their strong chemistry and feeds into Troy's obsession to rekindle the romance, even at the expense of her new marriage to someone else.

Fissiak produced and directed the 35-minute featurette that won Best Short Competition and Official Selection at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. It is her fifth featurette and 12th production. Prior to narrative films, Fissiak directed and produced documentaries and music videos.

Her original career path was not in film production, as she graduated from Southern Methodist University with bachelor degrees in business and foreign languages. She also studied piano performance and speaks Spanish, Russian, French and English.

After graduation, Fissiak worked as a senior consultant for Arthur Anderson, Deloitte and Touche and BMC Software. In 2007, she decided to follow her creative desires and began taking filmmaking classes at the HCC Spring Branch campus, where she praises the faculty for guidance and assistance.

"You know what you want to do, but you don't know how to get there," Fissiak said about her initial exploration into filmmaking in a press release. "HCC taught me how to get into the business. I also learned all of the skills from directing, cinematography, lighting, editing and production management.

"When you have a dream or seed inside of you, you don't know if that dream will come true. You need someone to nurture and water it so it will become a beautiful green plant," Fissiak said.

Rick Harrington, HCC filmmaking faculty member, said students learn every arm of the film production industry, which gives them experience that weighs heavily in their favor when looking for a job.

"As much as you can stand, you can gain," Harrington said in the release. "In the movie business, the more you practice your craft, the better you will become at doing your job."

For more information about filmmaking at HCC, call 713-718-5620. The main campus is located at 3100 Main St., Houston.