MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER 2025

Registration for
Spring 2026


Registration for Spring 2026 is now open to everyone. If you have questions or concerns regarding your schedule or course offerings,
reach out to your Academic Advisor, Maddie
Portnoy, at mportnoy@gmu.edu.  
Below, please see some of the courses we’re offering.
FAVS 110 Beyond Screens: Digital Creation  
Thursdays, 10:30am-1:10pm | IN 233  
Professor Rebekah Wingert-Jabi  

This course builds the foundation for students to be critical consumers and ethical producers of digital, visual, and audio media. Students identify and analyze formal elements of films, television, commercials, social media content, and emerging technologies, including AI. Students create their own media and develop skills in videography, sound recording, and video and sound editing.
FAVS 225 Introduction to World Cinema 
Multiple Sections and Instructors.   

This course explores examples of many kinds of films from around the world, including documentary, fiction, and experimental work.  Students will learn to analyze film language and structures, with attention to cinema's many contexts, including economic institutions, historical events, political and social issues that shape and are shaped by movies.
FAVS 233 Film Sound 
Multiple Sections and Instructors.   

This course instructs students on the theories, techniques and technologies pertaining to recording audio in the field and studio and to audio editing and mixing for film and video. 
FAVS 250 Business of Film 
Multiple Sections and Instructors.

This course provides an overview of the film and television industry from a business perspective. Students learn basic film entertainment business practices and protocol, including film financing, copyright & trademark, anti-trust, trademark, IP licensing, agents & managers, entertainment unions & guilds, film distribution, and marketing techniques.
FAVS 260 - Video Editing for Film  
Multiple Sections offered | IN 233
Professor Maura Ugarte 

This course will instruct on the theories and technical expertise pertaining to video editing by utilizing various video editing software. The course will combine lectures, discussions, and demonstrations with hands-on projects.
FAVS 399 Animated Media Studies
Tuesdays, 4:30-7:10pm | RSCH 201
Professor Khaled Dakak  

The course introduces students to the critical analysis and production processes of animation by framing animated media within our current media landscape and the contemporary cultural and social contexts in which we live in. Students will actively engage with animated media texts to develop skills in critical reading, writing, and analysis, especially in regard to the historical, cultural, and social dimensions of animated film and television and develop introductory skills in the practical production of animation including storyboarding, plot development, setting creation, lighting, and editing. 

Visiting Filmmakers Series 

Please check our VFS website for updates. 
Thank you to everyone who came to support our final Visiting Filmmakers Series event for the Fall 2025 semester—a two-day artist visit with filmmaker Daniel Junge. During his visit to George Mason, Daniel stopped by a FAVS class to discuss documentary filmmaking, held a masterclass in the MIX, and showed his film, I Was Born This Way, followed by an engaging discussion hosted by Vic Adebusola. In addition, Daniel Junge participated in an interview conducted by the Queer Film Association.
The masterclass, post-screening Q&A and interview will be available soon to view. Stay tuned.  
 
Thank you to everyone who attended this semester's programs and who continues to support the Visiting Filmmakers Series.   

Film and Video Studies Scholarships 


The academic scholarship application for the 2026-2027 school year is now open. Film and Video Studies wants eager, talented students to have the opportunity to hone their craft. We offer financial aid and scholarships to support students as they work toward realizing their goals as filmmakers.

For eligibility and requirements, view our scholarship website. 
Deadline: March 1, 2026

Save the Date: Mason Film Festival and
20th Anniversary of Film and Video Studies

Save the date for the 2026 Mason Film Festival and the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Film and Video Studies program taking place on May 7, 2026-May 9, 2026, on George Mason University’s Fairfax campus.  

The celebration will feature a variety of alumni events and activities, including an online alumni films showcase, masterclasses, panels, a reception, in addition to our annual Mason Film Festival.  

In anticipation of our celebration, we welcome alumni to submit photos from their time in the program. Email us at film@gmu.edu with the subject line, "My FAVS Memories." Please identify people who appear in the photo and include a description of the activity in the photo.  

As we continue to schedule activities, we recommend that alumni complete the FAVS alumni survey to update your contact information and tell us what you want to see and how you'd like to participate as we commemorate 20 years! 

Local Film Festival: Bethesda Film Fest 

 
The Bethesda Film Fest is open for submissions. Filmmakers in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia are eligible to submit a short documentary film, 5-30 minutes in length. All topics are eligible, and films must have been completed within the last two years.  Selected filmmakers will be invited to show their documentary at the formal screenings on April 10-11 and will receive a $1000 honorarium.

Deadline: January 9, 2026 

For more information, please visit the website and to apply, please visit FilmFreeway. 

Student Achievement


Jax Azad won two awards at the Independent Shorts Awards. He won Best Student Short for his film Scarecrow, and Best Student Male Director. At IndieX Film Fest, he won Best Student Male Director and Scarecrow was nominated for Best Thriller Short. Congratulations! 

Film Opportunities and Resources   


Festival Submissions:
Job Opportunities: 
  • On-Campus CHSS Podcast Production Internship. Apply by December 1, 2025 on Handshake. Job ID#: 10495189. 

  • News Videographer, Sinclair, Inc. Apply by December 2, 2025 on Handshake. Job ID# 9970449 

  • Digital Production Assistant, Fox Business, Fox Corporation. Apply by December 11, 2025 on Handshake. Job ID#: 10496611

  • Broadcast Technical Intern, U.S. House of Representatives. Apply by December 21, 2025 on Handshake. Job ID#: 10524371
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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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