MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2024

Welcome Back

Happy new year. Welcome back to the Film and Video Studies program at Mason.  

We look forward to new adventures during the coming semester. Film at Mason is offering innovative special programming and classes developed by our wonderful faculty and staff. Courses this Spring include Editing and Sound, Cinematography, Producing, Documentary-Making, and a number of Special Topics courses: “Color Correction,” “Elections, Issues, and Films,” “Writing Short Screenplays,”” and Visual Effects”  

Be sure to check out our Post-Production Suites in College Hall C100, with spaces for Sound Editing, Color Grading, and the Post-Production Suite with Archival Rack.  

Last Day to Add

The last day to add is January 23rd. If you have questions about your schedule or need to make changes, please contact Academic Advisor Maddie Portnoy (mportnoy@gmu.edu) to discuss options.  

 

Film at Mason Scholarships 

As you begin thinking about your upcoming semester and developing your projects, you might consider applying for a Film at Mason Tuition Scholarship for the 2024-2025 academic year.  Visit the Film at Mason Tuition Scholarship webpage for more information, including the required application components and deadlines. 

The submission deadline is March 1, 2024.  
SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

Next Week! 
Winter Warm-Up and Production Fair


Start the semester by attending the Film at Mason Winter Warm-Up and Production Fair on Friday, January 26th from 11am-1pm in Johnson Center’s Dewberry Hall. 

Meet and network with Film at Mason faculty, staff, and students while enjoying sweet treats and learning about campus resources for filmmakers. Students can sign up to work as cast and crew on film sets. This event is free and open to all students interested in film, so invite your friends from all departments. 
REGISTER ON MASON 360

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. 
Monday, February 26, 2024, College of Science and Visiting Filmmakers Series: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, followed by panel discussion 
5:30pm-8:30pm, Johnson Center Cinema 

The film tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa. Told primarily through the eyes of Lacks’ daughter Deborah (Oprah Winfrey) and journalist Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne), the film investigates how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, treatments for cancer and polio, and advances in radiation and AIDS therapies, changing countless lives and the trajectory of medicine. 
REGISTER ON MASON 360
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
Save the date!  The 2024 Mason Film Festival will take place in the Johnson Center Cinema  
April 22-24 and April 27, 2024. More information coming soon. 

Faculty Achievement

Professor G. Chesler and their collaborator Director Aubree Bernier-Clarke have been awarded a fellowship with Peace is Loud and rePro Film for a special edition program of Collective Lens: A Community Impact Space, “empowering filmmakers dedicated to reproductive health and justice.” Over the next six months, Prof Chesler, as Producer, will be engaged in impact development work for Intersex Justice, a documentary feature about intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis and the globally connected community of activists and allies fighting for bodily autonomy for intersex people. Learn more about the work and resources of Peace is Loud supporting documentary impact and storytelling by trans, nonbinary and women filmmakers here: https://peaceisloud.org and follow the work of the film at https://www.instagram.com/anormalgirlfilm.

Alumni Spotlight

Jada Salter (‘20) is premiering her new documentary feature, “Just the Two of Us,” in the Johnson Center Cinema on Saturday, February 3, 2024 at 7:00pm.  

Jada’s film presents the extraordinary life of William "Bill" Salter, the renowned songwriter, composer, and musician, who has earned multiple Grammy awards. He also happens to be Jada’s grandfather, and she uses her skills as a filmmaker to lift up his influential legacy. That legacy includes the iconic "Where is the Love?" performed by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway; "Mister Magic," played by Grover Washington; and "Just the Two of Us," memorably sung by Bill Withers, among many others.  

Following the screening, Jada Salter and the film’s producers will participate in a question-and-answer session with the audience, moderated by Professor Lisa Thrasher.  

This event is funded in part by Jada’s Young Alumni Commissioning Project Award, granted by Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts Young Alumni Commissioning Project in 2022.  

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.  
REGISTER HERE
Congratulations to the film’s creative team, who are also members of the Film at Mason community: 

Jada Salter (‘20) - Director, Executive Producer, Editor  
Taylor Spears (‘20) - Executive Producer  
Alexander Hammett (‘21) - Executive Producer/Assistant Editor  
Ladawn Manuel (Cinematography Adjunct Faculty) - Director of Photography  
Damien Coor (Cinematography Adjunct Faculty) - Director of Photography 

Film Opportunities and Resources   

Festival Submissions:  

Grants:
  • 19th Annual Baltimore Screenwriters Competition is accepting entries. The application and full guidelines are available online at www.baltimorefilm.com. Deadline extended to: January 31, 2024.
  • AT&T’s Untold Stories is accepting submissions to pitch your original feature scripted project during the Tribeca Film Festival. Deadline: February 6, 2024. 
  • Southern Exposure Film Fellowship is accepting applications. This innovative summer fellowship equips students with the skills, equipment, content knowledge and contacts to create authentic, engaging, inspiring films intended to raise public awareness about important issues facing Alabama’s environment -- from the mountains to the coast. Apply here.  Deadline: March 15, 2024. 

Webinars: 
  • Music Video Directing: Key Fundamentals and Techniques hosted by Student Filmmaker Magazine 
    Wednesday, January 24, 2024, 1pm-2:15pm EST Register here. 
  • Music Video Directing: Crafting Narrative and Visual Identity hosted by Student Filmmaker Magazine 
    Wednesday, January 31, 2024, 1pm-2:15pm EST Register here. 
  • Music Video Post-Production: Best Practices for Editing hosted by Student Filmmaker Magazine 
    Wednesday, February 7, 2024, 1pm-2:15pm EST Register here. 
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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
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Fairfax, VA 22030
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