Full Disclosure: Of COURSE I’m going to talk about Josh Trank’s Star Wars short.



Passionate fan bases manifest themselves in a lot of different ways. Sometimes those passions are fiery and intense, possessive of the object of their affection and protective to no end (See 1Ders, Beilibers, and The Bey Hive). Others are passionate and encyclopedic, like Potterheads, Tolkeinites and your nerdy cousin who lorded Game of Thrones spoilers over you for 5 seasons.

Somewhere in between are Star Wars fans, who can vary in intensity from the kind of people that own a shirt to full blown authentic costume replicators. The fans of Star Wars long held a strained relationship with the object of their affection, as documented in The People vs George Lucas, an exploration of all manner of Star Wars fans and cinephiles and their relationship with the franchise.



Since the advent of the film, Star Wars has been the subject of many fan films. Foreign knockoffs flooded international markets in the 80’s, as well as homages, spoofs and tributes throughout the years. With the advent of lower cost cameras and editing equipment in the 1990’s, fan films became a frequent submission to student film festivals, fan conventions and comic conventions.

Following the lukewarm reception of the prequel trilogy, and with new distribution platforms available in YouTube and other streaming services, fans took to the internet to expand the world they love, and create their own vision of it. Lucasfilm took note of these works, and became part of the conversation and the fan community at large by launching The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards.



Star Wars fan films don’t adhere to a set genre. Sometimes, they act as extensions of the canonical universe. Other times, they imagine the tropes of other storytelling venues and apply them to the Star Wars encyclopedia of people, places and things. Live action, animated, dramatic, comedic, action oriented, silent - a Star Wars fan film comes in whatever form the director thinks will best convey his message and reach an audience.



An early internet and fan festival favorite, Kevin Rubio’s Troops is a blending of the mockumentary format, political commentary, and injunctions with the plot of A New Hope. Playing not just with the genre but the story as we know it is a fun conceit in fan films.