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| MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2025
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Welcome Back
Happy new year. Everyone at the Film and Video Studies program at George Mason is looking forward to working with all of you.
Along with invigorating snow and cold, our new semester features cool classes, new curriculum options, and original programming conjured by our exceptional faculty and staff. Courses this Spring include Cinematic Podcasting, Cinematography, Ethics of Film, Web Series, Documentary and Fiction Filmmaking, and Special Topics courses like Creative Producing and Music Video Production. The best part of a new semester can be meeting new friends and sharing unexpected experiences, as we learn to tell our stories together.
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Last Day to Add
The last day to add courses to your schedule is Tuesday, January 28th. If you have questions about your schedule or need to make changes, please contact your Academic Advisor Maddie Portnoy (mportnoy@gmu.edu) to discuss options.
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Winter Warm-Up and Production Fair
Friday, February 7, 2025
11am-1pm
Johnson Center Dewberry Hall
Come listen to Advanced Fiction Filmmaking students pitch their projects and sign up to work on student film sets. Meet new and returning students and enjoy some warm hot chocolate!
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Film Academic Scholarship Applications Now Open!
The academic scholarship application for the 2025-2026 school year is now open! We will be giving away 5 $1500-$3000 scholarships for next year.
Film and Video Studies wants eager, talented students to have the opportunity to hone their craft. Upcoming sophomores, juniors, seniors, and incoming transfers are welcome to apply.
The application is short and takes less than 30 minutes.
Criteria can be found at https://film.gmu.edu/admissions/financial-aid-and-scholarships
The deadline to apply is March 1, 2025
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Visiting Filmmakers Series
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Visiting Making Series Presents: Connection | Isolation with filmmaker and FAVS Professor G Chesler and host Shá Norman
Monday, February 17, 2025 | 6pm | Johnson Center Cinema
Connection | Isolation presents eight intimate portraits of trans and post-gender individuals navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst moments of connection and isolation, these participants reveal a deepening awareness of gender, their bodies, and trans community. Participants express how Asian Americans faced escalating violent racism during the pandemic, how Black Americans and allies rose in opposition to white supremacist police-state violence in 2020, and the exclusion disabled people feel from a society that refuses basic protections. Created by an all trans and queer crew, this hybrid documentary film interlaces portraits with reenactments, integrating archival material documenting what so many experienced and many still do. Connection | Isolation witnesses the profound ways that, despite physical separation, trans community-building has been centered. This documentary invites viewers to witness the strength of connection as an act of resistance, offering care in the face of crisis, and using reflection as a path toward healing.
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Connection | Isolation Trailer
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Mason Film Festival Poster Design Contest
Film at George Mason is asking GMU students to submit designs for our 2025 Mason Film Festival poster design contest. The winning poster will be displayed across campus in both print and digital formats. The winner will receive a $150 award and will be honored in our newsletter, website, and social media platforms.
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Rules and Specifications:
- Poster design should relate to Film
- The design must be created using the university colors and fonts must be from the approved fonts list per the university branding guidelines.
- George Mason green (#005239) and gold (#FFC733) must be used as the primary colors of the design.
- Accent Colors can be used in small touches to emphasize important content.
- Approved accent colors: Red: #CC4824, Teal: #008285, Gray: #727579, Navy: #004F71, Black: #000000 - Font options: Figtree, Open Sans, Noto Serif, Acumin Pro, Kandal (fonts can be downloaded here).
- The final design should fit on an 11x17 poster
- Include dates and location of festival: Tuesday, 4/29, Wednesday, 4/30 and Saturday, 5/3 in the Johnson Center Cinema
- Leave space at the bottom for logos
- Name file as follows: firstname_lastname_G#_mff2025
- Submit your information and send your design as a pdf file to film@gmu.edu
- Entries will be judged by Film at George Mason faculty and staff
- The winning design might be subject to edits at the request of the department.
- The winner will be asked to submit the working design file for the Film at George Mason department to upload logos and sponsors as well as an Instagram square sized file (1080x1080 px).
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Deadline: February 14, 2025
Submit entries to: film@gmu.edu
Please include "2025 Mason Film Festival Poster Design Contest" in the subject line.
The winner will be notified by February 21, 2025.
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Storyline Screenwriting Contest
Storyline is now accepting screenplay submissions! Open to current FAVS students or students who have taken at least 1 FAVS course.
Deadline: March 19, 2025
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CVPA Student Videographer Opportunity
The CVPA Arts Support Umbrella — in partnership with the School of Music and CVPA Digital Programming team — is seeking (1) videographer to primarily cover degree recitals for the 2025 Spring Semester.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
-Setup and running of livestreams for Dewberry School of Music recitals
-Editing and fixes to the Recitals in post as necessary
-Supporting the School of Music content archive in uploading Recitals
-Recording other School of Music events as identified
SKILLS: Experience with videography, Adobe Premiere / DaVinci Resolve, livestreaming via Vmix and is preferred but not required. Training will be provided.
HOURS: Vary per week, but will average approx. 150 hours in Spring Semester (roughly 0-12 hrs/week, increasing over the course of the semester). Schedule will include evening and weekend work.
PAY: $15-$25/hr, commensurate with experience.
If interested, please email cvpadgtl@gmu.edu with your resume or any questions. CVPA intends to schedule interviews at the end of January.
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2025 Mason Film Festival
Save the date! The 2025 Mason Film Festival will take place in the Johnson Center Cinema
Tuesday, April 29, Wednesday, April 30 and Saturday, May 3. More information coming soon.
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Faculty Accomplishments
Professor Hans Charles is an executive producer and cinematographer for the film The Honey Trap: A True Story of Love, Lies, directed by Chris Moukarbel. The film premiered on Paramount+ and Showtime on December 6.
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Professor Russell Santos is an instructor at the Sankofa Film Institute and is assisting in instructing a 6-week film immersion workshop called “Around the Fire.” This workshop will guide students through the technical journey of film from idea to script.
Visit here to learn more.
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Alumni Spotlight
Will Sidaros ’19 and his team, Pangaea Ultima, participated in the International 48 Hour Film Competition, Yes We Cannes. Their film, Humanity, tells the interconnected stories of seven individuals across seven continents, brought to life by seven filmmaking units working simultaneously on every continent - including Antarctica! Humanity won the Yes We Cannes DMV Audience Choice Award and finished in the top 8 of Audience Choice voting.
Congratulations to Will and the Pangaea Ultima team on this incredible achievement!
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Jordon Jones ‘18 and her team’s show Ritual (PBS Digital Studios) was featured in an editorial series showcasing the journey of Webby Award-winning projects. Read the editorial here.
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Film Opportunities and Resources
Festival Submissions:
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Did you miss our last newsletter?
Check out the archives 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
4400 University Dr. MSN 5D8
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-993-3287 | film@gmu.edu
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