DOES THIS QUALIFY HIM AS THE NEW SUNDANCE KID?

The briefest and most free-form of cinematic statements, short films are considered the poetry of a film festival, the refreshing respite before the main feature plays.

Terin Jackson, a 13-year-old from Woodland Hills, also could be considered a refreshing respite from the Hollywood hustlers who prowl these snowy streets looking to make connections.

Terin is attending the Sundance Film Festival on a field trip with his class from the Pacoima Magnet School. He's also here because he's starring in a short film, ``Blue City,'' that's screening at the festival.

``It's kind of a depressing movie,'' said Terin, who has large green eyes, heavy lashes, an open face and a thoughtful way of speaking, which help make him a natural for acting work.

``It's about a man who wants to commit suicide, so he draws a circle on the ground and then climbs to the roof of a building so he can jump into the circle.''

``But I come along and make a happy face out of the circle, and that stops him from doing it.''

Later in the 12-minute movie, Terin's character gets hit by a car. ``I steal the man's hat, and he starts chasing me, and then I get hit by a car that's being driven by two car thieves.''

``This ball that I was bouncing rolls out of my hand, and the man picks it up and puts it back in my hand, and then I get up. I'm OK.''

``It's weird,'' said Terin, who's appeared in a total of three short films, all made by USC film students. ``Every movie I've been in, I get hit by a car.''

Terin got the part by answering an ad in Drama-Logue, a theater periodical. Though he comes from a family with show-business connections, he says his parents never pushed him into acting.

``My uncle used to be an agent, and he was always saying I should get an agent, but my parents kind of resisted it,'' said the eighth-grader.'' But then I took a theater workshop at the Will Geer Theatrical Botanicum in Topanga, and I started doing Shakespeare. I've been in productions of `Macbeth' and `Richard III.' ''

``Blue City,'' directed by USC film student David Birdsell, was shot during three weekends in South Central Los Angeles. The experience broadened Terin's horizons in more ways than one, he says.

``It was shot in a really bad area, and it gave me a chance to kind of look at the city and see how bad it is,'' he said. ``We had gangs walking past, flashing gang signs at us.''

Here at Sundance, Terin is mostly interested in seeing movies. At home, he says he watches the Independent Film Channel whenever he can. ``I like independent films better sometimes. They seem freer. They take the time to dig deeper.''

Terin says he earned his shot at going on this field trip with his film production teacher, Pacoima Magnet School's James Gleason, by getting good grades and after-school credit. So far, he's been seeing movies and ice-skating, and he plans to go skiing. He says finding an agent here is not on his priority list.

``I might become an actor, but you never know. I just want to do anything I can make a living at. I don't know if acting is much of a steady job.''

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Photo: no caption (Terin Jackson)