FILM FEST COUP...Five students at Cypress Grove Charter High School for Arts and Sciences in Seaside have had their original short film accepted into the prestigious New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, scheduled for this weekend in LA. Love Is A Folly is a romantic comedy produced and directed entirely by juniors Oscar Gutierrez and Tabetha Bane of Marina, Tristan Scott-Behrends and Mia Norton of Watsonville, and Morgan Smith of Pacific Grove. It's a silent film about a man, a woman and an accidental meeting that leads to romance. "I'm the ideas man," says 16-year-old Oscar Gutierrez. "I said, 'hey, let's do a modern silent film about love.'" The five young people made the film last semester as a final class project, and then submitted it to the festival competition. They are, according to a festival spokewoman, the only teenage entry that was accepted. Gutierrez and Scott-Behrends will be driving down to LA this weekend, where their film will be screened Sunday in the comedy category. "We've raised $385 for food and gas," he reports.

BUDDY'S BACK...Pac Rep's big summer hit Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, which played to full houses in Carmel and then San Jose, is headed back to the Golden Bough for a Nov. 20-Dec. 21 run. Tickets go on sale Sept. 23, and if you haven't seen it yet, be sure to catch it this time around. Call 622-0100 or www.centerstageticketing.com.

DAY OF THE DEAD ART SOUGHT... Hartnell College has put out the call for artists wishing to contribute to its multimedia Day of the Dead installation, scheduled for display Oct. 27 through Nov. 8 in the college gallery. The theme is "death and remembrance," and entries are sought in the areas of sculpture, painting, photography, film, poetry, short stories, music, dance and theater. Proposals are due by Oct. 4, and finished works must be submitted by Oct. 24. For more information and proposal submission guidelines, call 758-9126 or visit www.artistasunidos.org.

ARTISTS' STUDIO TOUR MAPS...Monterey County's biggest-ever open studios tour takes place--Sept. 26-27 for Peninsula artists, and Oct. 4-5 for Salinas and North County, with more than 100 artists. The tour is free, and maps are available at more than a dozen county locations, including the Monterey Museum of Art, Bay Books, Salinas Adult School, Pilgrim's Way Bookstore, Homescapes and the Carmel Art Association.