News
MFA Alum, Ben Steger's documentary film "Left Field" will screen at Austin Film Festival Oct. 22-29 and Riversedge International Film Festival Nov. 5-8.The film screened at New Hampshire Film Festival, Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival, DocuWest, Twin Rivers Media Festival. Got to the official Left Field website.
Post Date: October 15th, 2009
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MFA Film Alum Dalia Tapia's feature film Silent Shame continues its festival run:
10th Cine Cauhtemoc Pan American Film Festival (Wed-Sept 16th)
10th Annual Vistas Film Festival
20th at Angelika Film Center (Sept 17th)
16th Annual African Diaspora Film Festival
Post Date: September, 2009
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MFA Film student Nicole Kemper's Directing III film "Stay with Me" screens at the Dixie Film Festival in Athens, Ga. The festival runs Oct 16-18.
Post Date: September, 2009
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Third-Year MFA Film student Timmy Tamisiea's Documentary I film, “Bob Seger Rocks” received an Honorable Mention in the Documentary category at Angelus Student Film Festival in Los Angeles and screened in Hollywood this month at the Director’s Guild of America September 19th.
Post Date: September, 2009
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MFA Alum Caity Birmingham's Thesis film "Hidden Hearts" was just selected to screen in the 2009 Drive-In Film Festival as one of six shorts touring old drive-ins on the east coast throughout September. "Hidden Hearts" screened September 20th at as part of the Audience Award Drama Competition.
Post Date: September, 2009
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MFA Alum Sean Jourdan wins a CINE Golden Eagle Award for his Thesis film, The Beekeeper. Find out more about the prestigious prize.
Post Date: September, 2009
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MFA Alum Eduardo A. Letamendi screens his film, Rising Up, at Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival, August 12-22.
Post Date: August 11th, 2009
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MFA Film alum Taggart Siegel, a known documentarian, is on the cover of the New York Times Dining section as he shoots a documentary on the Beekeepers Ball. Click here for the full article.
Post Date: June 25th, 2009
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MFA F&V student Hannah Dallman's Directing III continues its festival run:
Milwaukee Short Film Festival (Sept 13)
First place in the drama category at Homegrown Film Festival in Kankakee, IL.
Eugene International Film Festival in Oregon (Oct 8-11)
Updated: September, 2009
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Graduate faculty member Kevin Cooper will direct his first feature length film Day of the Dogs in the Chicago area, article in Screen magazine has more information.
Post Date: June 4th
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Thesis student Caity Birmingham's Directing III film "50 States"
has been traveling the midwestern circuit, screening at the following
festivals:
Los Angeles Children's Film Festival
Fargo Film Festival
Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival
Griffon International Film Festival
Muskegon Film Festival
Chicago REEL Shorts Film Festival
Route 66 Film Festival in Springfield, IL
Post Date: May 19th, 2009
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Third-year MFA student Randy Caspersen's Production III film, "Toward the Blue", has its world premiere on June 6th at NEWFEST: The New York LGBT Film Festival.
His Production II film, "DOLLS", continues its festival run with appearances at the San Joaquin Film Festival (May 17th), the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival (May 24th) and the Mix Milano Festival (Italy/June).
"DOLLS" has now played on four continents in thirty-seven different festivals.
Post Date: May 18th, 2009
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MFA Alum, Yu-Ting Hsueh, has accepted a full-time faculty position recently with Taiwan's Chinese Cultural University.
Post Date: May 15th, 2009
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MFA Alum, Laurie Little of Luminist Films will follow race competitor Steve Weeks, a 54-year old Missouri school social worker and cancer survivor. Little is producer and camera operator for the film. Luminist Films has been in business for more than 10 years. The company produces films with an interest in personal stories and issues of social justice, art and education.
Post Date: May 15th, 2009
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MFA F&V student, Marie Ullrich has a write-up in Ruth Ratny's Reel Chicago about her Thesis film "Faster": Read the article.
Also, visit the film's website: fastershortfilm.com
Post Date: May 15th, 2009
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"Throwing Plates" by Deirdre Lee won first place in the documentary category at the Homegrown Film Festival in Kankakee, Illinois"
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Thesis-Level Student Marie Ullrich's film "Cache" is playing this Saturday, May 9th at Chicago Filmmakers as part of their Dyke Delicious Shorts program. The story: a 15-year-old kleptomaniac tries to befriend a Lady Leader scout.
Post Date: May 7, 2009
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Dalila Droege's Directing III film, "The Girls of Alden", won an Award of Merit at the 2009 Accolade Film Awards and Best Performance at the 2009 Sundeis Film Festival.
Post Date: April 27th, 2009
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Hsin Yin Sung's production II film, "The Red Shoes," continues its festival run:
Delray Beach Film Festival (May 19-24)
2010 Beloit International Film Festival (Feb 18-21)
Hsin Yin Sung's Production I film, "A Short Film About Love," will screen at The Flint Film Festival on Oct. 16.
Updated: September, 2009
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MFA Alum John Dingfield partners with editor Angelo
Valencia and opens California-based FilmCore in Chicago. See article in
Screen: http://www.reelchicago.com/story.cfm?storyID=2302
Post Date: April 16th, 2009
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MFA student Neil Blakemore's Production II film "The Jacket" will be screening at the Short Story Film Showcase at Chicago Filmmaker's on April 25th at 7:30 and 9:30 pm. See link for more information:
www.chicagofilmmakers.org/screenings/screening.php
Post Date: April 16th, 2009
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Second-year MFA student Hsin-Yin Sung--her Production I film "A Short Film About Love" has been accepted to the Motion Film Festival in Tampa Bay, FL May 1-2.
Post Date: April 16th, 2009
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Alum Dalia Tapia's feature film “Silent Shame” will be showcased as part of the 25th annual Chicago Latino Film Festival in
CHICAGO. “Silent Shame” will screen at the Landmark Century (2828 N.
Clark street, Chicago, IL 60657) Saturday, April 18th at 9:15pm and
Monday, April 20th at 6:00pm 2009.
Post Date: March 30, 2009
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Second-year student, Patrick Rosson, was awarded the top Q* Third Annual Queer Film Prize of 1,500 dollars by the Columbia College Film & Video Department for his film, "Dark Meat."
Thesis-level student, Randy Caspersen, received second place of 750 dollars for his personal documentary "Toward the Blue." Randy won first prize at the second annual festival last year.
Both Filmmakers will be considered for distribution deals negotiated by the Film & Video Department.
Post Date: March 26th, 2009
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Second-year student, J.Paul Preseault, received The Columbia College Chicago Diversity Award. The 5,000 dollar award was established to encourage students to focus on the importance of diversity in higher education as preparation for life in a global society.
Post Date: March 26th, 2009
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Second-year student, Hsin-Yin Sung, received the Community Media Workshop's Studs Terkel Scholarship, which is a $2000 award for a student in the School of Media Arts with the best grassroots class project. Hsin-Yin won for her Documentary 1 project "Life is Elsewhere". Hsin-Yin will accept the award at the Awards Benefit on March 11 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Faculty member Cari Callis will attend.
Post Date: March 26th, 2009
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Congratulations to Jeff Smith, MFA alum and adjunct faculty in the Film & Video Department! His thesis film "The Miracle" has won Grand Prize at the Lake Havasu Film Festival in Arizona. This is the 21st award in 55 festivals for "The Miracle".
(Jeff Smith, left)
Post Date: March 26th, 2009
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MFA alum and part time faculty member Vince Singleton's music video gets press in ReelChicago News! Click here to read the article.
Post Date: February 20th, 2009
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MFA Film & Video student Hannah Dallman's Directing III project "Small Comforts" continues its festival run and will screen in San Francisco's International Children's Film Festival, Feb. 27-March 15.
Post Date: February 13, 2009
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First year MFA student, Linda Garcia Merchant, was interviewed by Univision yesterday (in Film Row Cinema) about her production company, Voces Primeras, which is dedicated to creating and distributing documentary-style features of pioneering Latinas to the educational, political, and retail markets.
Linda's interview is set to aired February 19th.
Voces Primeras has two documentaries in exhibition, Las Mujeres de la Caucus Chicana and Palabras Dulces Palabras Amargas.
Univision is the leading Spanish-language media company in the United States.
Post Date: February 20th, 2009
Linda Garcia Merchant presents "Palabras Dulces" a documentary featuring the work of La Dulce Palabra, the multicultural, multigenerational spoken word ensemble that began as a collaboration between Amigas Latinas and En Las Tablas Performing Arts Group. Featuring the work of Alicia Tellez Vega, Martha Cartagena, Martiza Nazario, Zoraida Oritz, Evon Flores Barrera, Milka Ramirez, Marixa Rojas and Maria Del Carmen Caldereon.
The film plays at the National Museum of Mexican Art 1852 W. 19th Street Chicago, IL.
Linda will do a radio interview discussing the premier of her documentary 'Palabras Dulces Palabras Amargas' with Maritza Nazario as part of the 2009 Sor Juana Performing Arts Festival, on 90.5 FM Radio Arte's '1401' program Friday night, May 8th from 6-6:30.
Post Date: May 6th
Linda Garcia Merchant, first year MFA student, will screen her "Las Mujeres de la Caucus Chicana" February 7, Desert View UCC Church, El Paso, Texas - March 11, University of Chicago, Womens History Month celebration - April 14, California State University, Los Angeles (http://www.vocesprimeras.com/mujeres.html).
"Palabras Dulces, Palabras Amargas" (Sweet Words, Bitter Words) will premier, May 14, 2009 at Sor Juana Festival, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago.
Post Date: January 15
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Melissa Lawrenz, MFA Alum and adjunct faculty/full time staff member, was selected to be part of a Wisconsin Public Television Series called "Director's Cut" on filmmakers and filmmaking. She talks about her thesis film "Heather" and two other films she made in the program and also discusses the filmmaking process as a director and writer. Melissa was asked to be part of the series after "Heather" screened at the Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison, WI.
Please follow the link to her interview: http://www.wpt.org/directorscut/.
Post Date: January 8th, 2009
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Jeff Smith's "The Miracle" won a Cine Golden Eagle Award. Previous winners include Steven Speilberg, Ron Howard, Ken Burns, Charles Guggneheim, Stanley Nelson, Albert Maysles, and Frederick Wiseman. In addition, the film is nominated for the Cine Award of Excellence in the Student Category. This competition will continue over the next two months.
Post Date: December 23, 2008
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Benjamin Rogerson reached a picture lock with his Thesis Film, "Blood Horizon."
Post Date: December 5, 2008
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Colleen Halloran finished principal photography on her Thesis Film, "Phenomenal Terrain."
Post Date: December 5, 2008
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M.F.A. alum Kameishia Wooten is now employed by an animated feature film about an African American Princess. Follow Kameishia at http://www.kameishiawooten.com.
