At a time when most people would be worrying about the pressures of college, one woman is busy conceiving an ambitious undertaking of her own making. Sarah Nagy, a first-year student, is the creative mind and director behind the Spotlight Student Film Festival.

This is a film that achieves the bare minimum.

“Smart People” has no reason to exist. It is a mundane vehicle for rehashed themes, starring a parade of talented actors who do their best to demonstrate why they should really be doing something better.

Whether the issue at hand be gun control, eating habits, distant wars or religious extremism, the documentary genre has been enjoying a popular revival these last 10 years.

These past few years documentaries have departed from the strict confines of the art house and entered the mainstream. From “Super Size Me,” to “Capturing the Friedmans,” non-fiction cinema has met with critical and financial success, the likes of which seemed unthinkable in previous decades.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s new opus belongs to a traditional genre: the tragic epic of greed and egotism. But there is a fervor, an excitement, to its unfolding, that can only be called original.

Ambitious films are always worth watching. They may succeed or they may fail. Either way, though, they are entertaining, if only because the scope of their aspirations gives the entire experience a vigor that humbler films lack.

Ted Braun’s documentary, “Darfur Now,” presents a festering critique of Sudan’s Arab-dominated military regime, which has funded and plotted the murder of thousands of non-Arabic Africans.

The idea of a film festival usually conjures up images of high-profile directors, actors doing red-carpet walks, and scores of hungry critics waiting for their chance to watch the anticipated movie program.

These days, UCLA alumnus Brian Etting can safely call himself a film producer.