MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

March 2024

Registration for the 2024

Mason Film Festival Now Open!


The 2024 Mason Film Festival will take place in the Johnson Center Cinema on April 22-24 and April 27, 2024. Visit our website to view the full schedule and register for each days’ events.  

Important Information for the Senior Showcase:
We anticipate the Senior Directing Showcase on Saturday, April 27 will sell out: please reserve your seats as soon as possible. Note that registering does not guarantee a seat, so arrive early on April 27 to check in.   

The event begins at 3:00. Check-in begins around 2:00pm. Once you check in, you will receive a wristband that denotes your ability to enter the JC Cinema for the event. For those who do not register or who arrive after the event begins, we will have an overflow room in the JC Gold Room, where you can watch a livestream of the screenings and Q&A. 

Each 499 directing student whose work is screening during the Senior Showcase will automatically receive 2 wristbands, one for you and one for another person of your choice. 499 directing students whose work is screening do not need to register on Mason360. You can pick up your wristbands from the Festival check-in table in the JC Cinema lobby on Monday, April 22; Tuesday, April 23; or Wednesday, April 24 during the Festival hours. All other crew members, actors, family members, and friends must register themselves on Mason360 to have access to the JC Cinema during the event.  

If you are a 499 directing student and you are unsure if your film is screening at the Festival, please contact your 499 professor as soon as possible. 
Parking and Getting Here: 
Covered, paid parking is available in the Mason Pond Parking Deck located at 4500 Aquia Creek Ln, Fairfax, VA 22030.  
To get to the Johnson Center Cinema: 
-Exit the parking garage on the ground level near the Mason statue. 
-Enter the Johnson Center to the right of the Mason statue. 
-Go down one level to the ground floor. 

Visiting Filmmakers Series

Please check our VFS website for updates. 

This Spring, the Visiting Filmmakers Series is again bringing a wide range of filmmakers and artists to campus. Please see the lineup below and be sure to mark your calendars. 
Thursday, March 21, 2024, Visiting Filmmakers Series: Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn with filmmaker Tim Harris 
5:00pm-7:45pm, Johnson Center Cinema 

Join us for a free screening of the new film, Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn, followed by a live Q&A with the film's director and editor, Tim Harris. The documentary tells the story of Malcolm Kenyatta, a self-described "poor, gay, black man from North Philly," during his historic run for the United States Senate. This race is about more than taking on the political competition. It's about taking on an entire system. 
REGISTER ON MASON 360
Monday, April 8, 2024, Visiting Filmmakers Series: Confessions of a Good Samaritan with filmmaker Penny Lane 
5:00pm-7:45pm, Johnson Center Cinema 

Director Penny Lane’s decision to become a “Good Samaritan” by giving one of her kidneys to a stranger launches her on an unexpectedly funny, intimate, and provocative quest to understand why everyone seems to think she’s crazy. The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2023, where it won the Special Recognition HOPE AWARD. Indeed, this unusual film is full of hope. 
REGISTER ON MASON 360

Storyline Submissions Still Open!

Submit your work to the second edition of Storyline, a publication featuring original screenplays by Mason students!  
Storyline is a partnership between Student Media and Film at Mason to create a showcase for screenwriters and to present screenwriting as a form of literature for the Mason community to enjoy. Learn more and read the first edition. storyline.studentmedia.gmu.edu 
Submit your screenplays by March 25th.  For more information, scan the QR code on the following flyer.  

Austin Film Festival Discount Code


Did you know that Austin Film Festival provides group discounts to students at colleges, universities, and specialty schools? Consistently considered by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee,” AFF allows participating writers and filmmakers to measure themselves against the very best, while also providing valuable networking and learning opportunities.
Students can save $15 off film and screenplay entries by submitting directly through www.austinfilmfestival.com or FilmFreeway (film submissions only) and using the promo code AFFSTUD24. For more information about competitions, please click here.
Chrys Sotos (L) and Grey Copeland (R)

Student Spotlight

This semester, Grey Copeland (AVT ‘24) and Chrys Sotos (FAVS '27) are at work on two feature length documentary films, produced by Professor G. Chesler (they/them). The work of these students is funded by the Office of Student Creative Activities and Research. OSCAR RA positions allow students to learn by doing - with their professors’ guidance - working on films in credited and paid positions. Alumni Dani Taylor (FAVS ‘23) and Lazer Selvera (WGST ‘23) played important roles as researchers and are Associate Producers on this project. 

Grey (they/he) has designed the title art for Prof Chesler’s forthcoming feature film Connection | Isolation. He developed the poster art, created a dynamic opening credit sequence, and will create other signature visual elements for this important film. Their work supports this documentary about what has been lost, gained, and revealed to trans people during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Participating in this project has let me be creative and collaborate with others on a much larger story. Being able to tell others' stories that touch people's hearts gives such an emotion to art and design." 
 
Chrys (any pronouns) supports key elements of communication for audience building and outreach on a feature documentary about the migration of hundreds of lesbians to Eugene, Oregon from the 1960’s to 1990’s. Professor Chesler is producing the marketing, distribution and impact campaign of Outliers and Outlaws and the Eugene Lesbian History Project (directed by Courtney Hermann, produced by Judith Raiskin). Chrys is developing promo videos, social media slides, thank yous for donors, and newsletters reaching hundreds of viewers already. “I’ve enjoyed working on a team that is bringing these stories to life. Working on this film has allowed me to combine my interests in filmmaking and LGBT+ history.” 

Faculty Achievement

Professor Peter Kimball’s film "Deaf Giants" is playing in April at Reelabilities Film Festival in New York, one of the world's most important film festivals focusing on disability representation. In addition, Professor Kimball was named "Filmmaker of the Month" by the DC Film Office in February.  
Professor Samirah Alkassim gave a talk on March 19, “Three documentaries that ‘look back’ from 1970s Beirut” for a conference on the work of Lebanese filmmaker Jocelyne Saab at the Institute of Scenic and Audiovisual Studies (IESAV, USJ) / Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA-UOB), Beirut. This paper will be translated into French and published in the Regards journal produced by IESAV, USJ. A longer version will be published in forthcoming edited volume, Cinema and Cinematic Television in the Age of Netflix, edited by Shakti Jaising and Hadi Gharabaghi (publisher TBA).  
Professor Susan Kehoe recently served as a judge for the Alliance for Women in Media Gracie Awards. Named after the late Gracie Allen, the Gracie Awards recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment. They also acknowledge the individuals who have made inspirational contributions to the industry. 

Alumni Accomplishments

Tony Marquez’s (‘13) short film FilAm is doing well on the festival circuit. See and interview with Tony and his film at CineAsian Films, at this link. 

Film Opportunities and Resources   

Festival Submissions:  

Other Opportunities:
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We want to hear from you! If you have news you would like to contribute, please send it to film@gmu.edu. We are looking for regional film events and updates from Film at Mason alumni. Keep up-to-date on all the current Film at Mason news at film.gmu.edu.

Film and Video Studies
College of Visual and Performing Arts
4400 University Dr. MSN 5D8
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-993-3287 | film@gmu.edu
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