MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2024

Ice Cream Social and Production Fair 


Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Welcome Back Ice Cream Social and Production Fair. Film Crew sign-ups are posted in the Jason Cortez Creativity Lab (Room 3019) in the deLaski Performing Arts Building. Be sure to check those lists throughout the semester to find crew for your projects. If you have questions about how to access the Cortez Lab, email us at film@gmu.edu. 

Best of Film at George Mason 


Best of Film at George Mason is a traveling showcase of recent notable and award-winning student films. The 2024 program includes student work in documentary filmmaking, fiction film directing, music video, and senior thesis films. The screenings are followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.   
 
Thank you to all who came out to support our students and alumni at the first screening of our Best of Film at George Mason showcase. 

Congratulations to the directors of the 11 films selected:  

The Audition (dir. Riley Ater) 
La Vida (dir. Mauricio Alarcon) 
Hanna (dir. Cecilia Ohanian) 
Muse (dir. Bodhi Ethan Bryan-Roig) 
The Show (dir. James Bah) 
My Hijab (dir. Selma Veli) 
Vermilion Wildfire (dir. Roberto Ferrara) 
Melody’s Nails (dir. Naomi Ho) 
Business as Usual (dir. Mark Ball and Dorian Howard) 
I Need Somebody (dir. Parker Haller) 
My Laxmi (dir. Sujay Khona) 

If you missed the first screening of the Best of Film at George Mason showcase or would like to see it again, we will be traveling to Washington West Film Festival on October 12th at the Tysons LOOK Dine-In Cinema at 12pm. We hope to see you there!  

LOOK Dine-In Cinemas Tysons at the Boro 
1667 Silver Hill Dr, McLean, VA 22102 
 
Purchase tickets

DGA Student Film Awards

Students can access the application and submit on the DGA website at www.dga.org.

Deadline: October 7, 2024 

Visiting Filmmakers Series


The Visiting Filmmakers Series will start back up next month with an exciting visit from
George Mason alum, filmmaker, and autism advocate, Alex Plank. 
Save the date for a film screening of Ezra followed by a live Q&A with Alex Plank on October 22, 2024 at 4:30 pm in the Johnson Center Cinema. This event is free and open to the public.
For more information, visit our website and register on Mason 360. 

Behind the Lens: Women Driving Change Through Film 


October 10th from 6:00-8:30pm
1509 16th  St. NW  
Washington, D.C. 

In celebration of International Day of the Girl, Vital Voices and Working Films are bringing together women filmmakers who have used the medium to explore social change and make measurable impact on the world around them. The evening will consist of a film panel and networking reception where students can have conversations with other filmmakers, students, and organizations. There will also be information on internship opportunities from multiple organizations available. 
Register here. 

Indeed's Rising Voices Season 5  


Indeed partnered with Lena Waithe's Hillman Grad Productions and 271 Films to launch Rising Voices, a program designed to support BIPOC filmmakers in advancing their careers in the film industry. Through this initiative, 10 filmmakers will be awarded $10K for their script and a $100K production budget to create a short film, which will premiere at the Tribeca Festival in June 2025. 

Deadline: October 27, 2024 

For more information and to apply: https://www.hillmangrad.com/foundation/rising-voices 

2025 DC Independent Film Festival 


DCIFF brings together passionate artists, filmmakers, critics, curators, and film enthusiasts for a celebration of independent filmmaking. 

Submissions are now open. 
Deadline: December 14, 2024 

Faculty Achievements


Professor G Chesler’s film Connection | Isolation, which is about the experiences of trans folks during the COVID-19 pandemic, will debut at the Seattle Queer Film Festival.
View the film’s festival page here.  

Connection | Isolation will screen in person on Sunday, October 13th at 12pm at the AMC Pacific Place 11 on Pine St in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and online through the festival (10/14-10/20) in the Pacific Northwest only - specifically Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho. 

Students and staff who worked on this project: 
G. Chesler, Director and Producer 
Dani Taylor (FAVS) participant, Associate Producer, Researcher and Additional Editor 
Dan Kingsley (GMU LGBTQ+ Resources Center) Participant 
Lazer Selvera (MAIS WGST) Associate Producer and Researcher 
Evan Bowen, Assistant Director (DC and Virginia) 
Grey Copeland (ART) Title Design and Research Assistant 
Meghan Colovos (FAVS) Research Assistant 
Thanks to FAVS staff and faculty Andrew Jorgenson, Sam Sinagra, Maura Ugarte, Nikyatu Jusu, and Cynthia Fuchs for their support. 
Professor Meagan Arnold’s film Nora has been accepted into The Lantern, an independent literary magazine that celebrates LGBTQIA+ creators in the DMV, hosted by the NoVA Prism Center. 

You can preorder a copy and the proceeds benefit the Prism Center and featured artists. The official launch is on October 11th, just in time for National Coming Out Day.
Preorder link: https://givebutter.com/V7Gf1Q. 
Professor Rebekah Wingert-Jabi is a panelist for the Cross-Continental Connections: Filming Around the World panel at the Prince George's Film Festival on September 27.  

The festival runs from September 26-September 29, 2004. 

Purchases festival passes here. 
Professor Tommy Britt contributed an article, "The Fiery Furnaces: Memory-Based Rock Music as Literature," to the latest issue of the French journal Textes et contextes. 
Professor Susan Kehoe was a judge for the Davey Awards and the W3 Awards.  
Professor Monica Bellais was re-elected to a fourth term on the WGAE Council. 

Film Opportunities and Resources   


Festival Submissions:

Free Webinar:
  • CineSparks Webinar Series – Tuesday, October 1-October 23, 2024 – A series of 8 webinars presented by professionals who specialize in filmmaking, post-production, exhibition and festival management, and more. 
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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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