When the final panel discussion wrapped up and the credits had rolled on the last of the more than 20 films screened at the 2022 乐播传媒 Film Festival, the 乐播传媒 students who produced the festival as part of their coursework still had some work to do. 

But their assignment was a fun one, namely the business of counting ballots, choosing winners, and sending out awards in six categories. 

The awards aren鈥檛 just about giving recognition to the filmmakers 鈥� although that is essential 鈥� they are part of the educational experience. The students became the 鈥渏ury鈥� for BFF. 

鈥淭he deliberations led students to mobilize ideas they learned in their 乐播传媒 classes in a practical discussion that had real-world implications for the films being considered,鈥� says Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies Jonathan Cavallero, whose course 鈥淔ilm Festival Studies,鈥� teaches students how to produce a festival from start to finish.听

鈥淭he debates around awards tend to define the post-festival discussions in a wonderfully appropriate way,鈥� Cavallero says.

Namely, students advocate for the films they love, put the scholarly theories they鈥檝e studied to use in practical ways and consider a range of perspectives, including each other’s. 鈥淭hey reach a consensus and, ultimately, see the results of that work immediately,鈥� their professor says.

The jury’s top prize for narrative feature went to The 24th, a historical drama released in 2020. It’s about an all-Black military unit in Houston in 1917 and their mutiny over racism within the military and the community.

The 24th was directed by Kevin Willmott who co-wrote BlackKklansman with director Spike Lee; the duo share the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay. Willmott visited 乐播传媒 in 2017 to show and discuss another film he and Lee co-wrote, Chi-raq, a riff on Lysistrata of Aristophanes, but set in modern day Chicago amid gang violence.

Best Short Film went to Her Dance (2020), and the documentary award was awarded to a 2020 film about students at Lowell High School in San Francisco going through the admissions process, called Try Harder! 鈥淲e feel very honored and can鈥檛 wait to tell the whole team 鈥� especially cannot  wait to tell your alum, and our Field Producer, Lauren Kawana,鈥� director Debbie Lum, told the class. 

Audiences also had a chance to reward the films they loved. At the venues for this year鈥檚 festival, on campus and, for the first time, at a satellite location in Freeport, the Nordica Theatre, audiences filled out ballots that the students collected at each screening and tabulated after the festival to determine the three Audience Award winners. 

Audiences awarded the film B茅b茅’s Kids (1992), directed by the festival鈥檚 special guest, Bruce W. Smith, the award for narrative feature. It鈥檚 30 years old but earned a following after its release. 

鈥淚 am honored and flattered that this film sits as a fond memory for animation fans around the nation,鈥� Smith said in a statement. He鈥檇 traveled to Lewiston and participated in multiple interviews, including a panel discussion at Schaeffer Theatre on the closing day of the festival. 

鈥淲hen directing B茅b茅’s Kids I certainly didn鈥檛 know how it would be received, but it鈥檚 heartening to know that people have good feelings while watching the film. Thank you, 乐播传媒 College, for having me and for embracing all of us at this festival.鈥� 

The Audience Award for documentary was a tie, between 2020鈥檚 On the Record and 2022鈥檚 Framing Agnes, both of which received perfect scores.

Each winner receives a cash award of $500. The awards are 鈥渕odest by film festival standards,鈥� Cavallero says. But meaningful. 鈥淭he monetary part of the award is important to us. The 乐播传媒 Film Festival would not exist if filmmakers were not willing to share their work with us.鈥�

Most festivals charge filmmakers a submission fee, he says. 乐播传媒 does not. And many festivals ask filmmakers to attend but pay for only a portion of the trip, or nothing at all. 鈥淭he 乐播传媒 Film Festival does everything it can to pay for the entire cost of a filmmaker鈥檚 trip to our festival,鈥� Cavallero says. 鈥淚 sincerely hope that we can raise even more money for awards at future festivals because they help to support some truly extraordinary work.鈥�

Gabriel Cuillier, co-writer and director of 2021鈥檚 Buy Sell Trade, which won the Audience Award for short film, plans to put his 鈥渁wesome鈥� honor, along with that cash award, to good use immediately 鈥� by submitting his now-award winning film to other festivals. 鈥淚t would definitely be helpful for some of the submission fees,鈥� he wrote to Cavallero.

The awards are specifically funded by a group that includes alumni who work in the entertainment industry:

Marco Black 鈥�92 is a producer whose credits include film (Old School and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and television (The Rookie, currently running on ABC), and Taylor Blackburn 鈥�16 is a television writer.

Several parents contribute to the award fund as well: Ed Decter P鈥�20, a screenwriter and showrunner; Steve Brookman P鈥�21 who is co-director of Motion Picture Business Affairs at CAA; and Trey Callaway P鈥�20, who contributes on behalf of his father-in-law, the late, legendary Mace Neufeld. Neufeld鈥檚 career went back to the 1970s and his more than 50 producing credits include several Jack Ryan movies, starting with The Hunt for Red October. The Harraseeket Inn in Freeport was also an awards sponsor.

The next 乐播传媒 Film Festival is slated for 2024. 鈥淚deas are circulating and conversations are already being had,鈥� Cavallero says. 鈥淭he one area that was repeatedly identified by students is the need to promote the panel discussions in the future. Without fail, some of the festival鈥檚 most memorable moments occur at those discussions, which are typically student led. Bigger audiences at those events would lead to even better conversations, so marketing that aspect of the festival is something we鈥檒l look at next time.鈥�

Here’s a full list of winners:

Jury Award for Narrative Feature: The 24th

Jury Award for Documentary Feature: Try Harder!

Jury Award for Best Short Film: Her Dance

Audience Award for Narrative Feature: B茅b茅’s Kids

Audience Award for Documentary Feature: On the Record and Framing Agnes (both tied with perfect scores)

Audience Award for Short Film: Buy Sell Trade

High standards are something that 乐播传媒 Film Festival audiences can brag about.

For example, the folks who viewed the 2018 short comedy Nefta Football Club at last November鈥檚 festival gave the film the Audience Award for Narrative Short, one of eight festival awards. And then, just a couple of months later, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences affirmed that judgement by nominating Yves Piat鈥檚 film for an Oscar.

The 2019 乐播传媒 Film Festival presented jury and audience awards in each of four categories.

Yes, it鈥檚 true that the BFF is not Sundance or Cannes. But it鈥檚 also true that there鈥檚 real value in the awards program, which was inaugurated with last year鈥檚 festival and comprises an audience award and a jury award in each of four categories.

Value for whom? Well, for the festival itself, for starters. As an ongoing enterprise of the Department of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies, the festival over time will see its reputation grow through the awareness-raising effect of the awards.

As for the honorees, those filmmakers benefit from a cash award 鈥攆unded by BFF supporters 鈥� that, especially in the case of emerging auteurs, helps pay down debt or finance the next production. Perhaps more important, an award provides film artists with valuable moral support and validation.

A festival laurel tells 鈥渢hese artists that they’re making a difference in the world,鈥� says Steven Brookman, a 乐播传媒 parent and co-head of motion picture business affairs for Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency. Brookman also leads the 乐播传媒 Entertainment, Arts, and Media networking group, or BEAM 鈥� and with his wife, Michelle Brookman, made the BFF Awards possible.

+乐播传媒 Film Festival 2019 Awards

Yet, as befits a college-produced festival, the biggest beneficiaries of the BFF Awards are likely the students who organize the festival 鈥� that is, the students in professor Jon Cavallero鈥檚 鈥淔ilm Festival Studies,鈥� a course that puts current theory about the industry into play through the production of a real-world festival.

Those students take on virtually all aspects of organizing this public event that includes screenings, public discussions of the films and the medium itself, and visits from filmmakers, other participants in the featured productions, and scholars.

A scene from 乐播传媒 Film Festival Audience Award winner Woman at War.

While film festival audiences, obviously, vote on Audience Award recipients, the festival鈥檚 student producers select the Jury awardees. And, as it turned out last fall, that process resembled a kind of capstone project for majors in rhetoric, film, and screen studies.

鈥淭he Jury awards place the students, who have seen all the films, in the position of an expert, somebody who understands various theoretical approaches to cinema,鈥� Cavallero says.

Shown during a “Film Festival Studies” class session last fall, Jon Cavallero holds the rubric class members used to select 乐播传媒 Film Festival Jury Award winners. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

鈥淎s a class, we were taking everything we had learned in our previous courses in the rhetoric department and using that to guide our decisions with the awards,鈥� says Julia Gutterman 鈥�20, a double major in German and rhetoric from Mamaroneck, N.Y.

For example, the Icelandic film Woman at War, about a music teacher鈥檚 battle against the island nation鈥檚 aluminum industry, drew unqualified raves at the festival screening and received the Audience Award for Narrative Feature. But, says Cavallero, his students鈥� responses were more specific and nuanced, scrutinizing the film鈥檚 treatment of climate change and its representation of women.

The process was also a useful exercise in navigating a welter of different ideas to arrive at consensus, says Abel Ramirez 鈥�20 of Denver, a double major in rhetoric and Spanish. 鈥淚 truly learned how to negotiate. That skill will definitely be useful once I leave 乐播传媒.鈥�

The substantiveness of the debate was a pleasant surprise to Cavallero. 鈥淚 thought the discussion about awards would take, like, half a class, and it stretched over three. It was fantastic to see.鈥�

Students picked director Joe Talbot’s film for the Narrative Feature Jury Award.

The students deciding the Jury awards viewed each entry in light of a rubric, or a set of points for consideration 鈥� for instance, did the 鈥渇ilm form,鈥� a movie鈥檚 aesthetic machinery, effectively convey its message? The rubric had been prepared months previously by Cavallero and students in a Short Term Innovative Pedagogy (Re)design course.

A prime criterion for a Jury Award was alignment with the festival鈥檚 mission statement, which has a pronounced social justice component, Gutterman says. The jurors also considered what 鈥渢he film aesthetically did for the medium, and how it challenged ideas in either filmmaking or just in its story.鈥�

And the students pondered a tactical reality rooted in the film industry ecosystem: Should they consider a potential recipient鈥檚 reputational value to the 乐播传媒 festival? 鈥淚t was almost like, do we think of that self-promotion when we’re awarding a film or should we not do that?鈥� Gutterman explains. And then, in a meta sort of way, 鈥渢he conversation definitely came up as to how much that played into our decisions.鈥�

In fact, there鈥檚 no shame in wielding a festival laurel wreath as a promotional tool, as evidenced by their abundance among film marketing campaigns. For 乐播传媒, of course, awards are a way to get the festival鈥檚 name out 鈥� and to discerning eyes, the pairings of film and BFF Jury award signal the festival鈥檚 values and interests.

鈥淲e’re seeking films to show,鈥� as Gutterman says, 鈥渁nd then maybe people will want to submit films for us to show, and it turns into something bigger.鈥�

Providing pecuniary as well as promotional value, the awards program 鈥渕akes our festival more attractive to filmmakers,鈥� Cavallero says. Short films, in particular, 鈥渦sually are not made to make money 鈥� they’re made by people that love filmmaking and think they have something to say.鈥�

Film and screen studies professor Jon Cavallero and students in his “Film Festival Studies” course meet with Dining, Conferences, and Campus events staff (center right) for festival planning in October 2019. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Cavallero points out that in their thank-you for the BFF Jury Award for Narrative Feature, the makers of Last Black Man in San Francisco noted specifically that the cash prize is going directly to salaries for the film team鈥檚 next picture.

鈥淲e highly appreciate this honor that you鈥檙e giving us because the movie meant the world to us,鈥� Last Black Man star and co-writer Jimmie Fails said. 鈥淎ll we ever wanted to do was make art that will last forever and we plan on continuing to do so.鈥�

A BFF award 鈥渋s a recognition of work well-done, but it also helps more work to be made,鈥� Cavallero says. 鈥淚 think, increasingly, as big movies dominate the megaplexes and independent films end up going to festivals, it’s important for festivals to step up and support this kind of work.鈥�

Brookman, whose agency, an industry powerhouse, represents the interests of major figures in entertainment, sports, and media, agrees. Especially given the 乐播传媒 Film Festival鈥檚 ethos, he says, the festival awards spotlight 鈥渢he kinds of things that move the needle out there in the world. It’s film having high impact.鈥�

A scene from the Oscar-nominated Nefta Football Club, 2019 Audience Award winner at the 乐播传媒 Film Festival.

“It’s full circle,鈥� says Elizabeth Rynecki ’91, 鈥渨hich is fabulous.鈥�

A rhetoric major at 乐播传媒 and a student of that department’s late, legendary professor Robert Branham, Rynecki returned to campus this week at the invitation of a rhetoric class 鈥� students organizing the 2019 乐播传媒 Film Festival.

Produced by students in professor Jonathan Cavallero鈥檚 course 鈥淔ilm Festival Studies,鈥� was the latest festival to screen Rynecki鈥檚 2018 documentary, Chasing Portraits. The film recounts her efforts over two decades to track down artwork created by her great-grandfather, a prolific observer of his Jewish community in pre-war Poland, and then lost during World War II.

鈥淚t all started at 乐播传媒 for me, and this film is linked together with that,鈥� says Rynecki. 鈥淚 had always loved documentary film, and Branham just stoked that interest from angles that I had never really thought about before.鈥�

Elizabeth Rynecki ’91 catches up with Bill Hiss ’66 before the screening of her film Chasing Portraits in Olin 104. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

The film is a companion piece to Rynecki’s 2016 book, , a memoir that Kirkus called a 鈥渨onderful story beautifully told.鈥� As she was growing up in northern California, the Rynecki home was filled with artwork by her great-grandfather Moshe Rynecki. The paintings depicted people at work and play, in family settings, during religious observances and celebrations.

Moshe produced some 800 paintings. At the outbreak of World War II, he stashed caches of the work with people he knew around Warsaw, sharing the paintings鈥� whereabouts only with his wife, Perla, and son, George.

When the Nazis imprisoned Warsaw’s Jews in the infamous Warsaw Ghetto, Moshe chose to 鈥渟tay with his people鈥� (in George’s words) and go into the ghetto, while the rest of the family went into hiding elsewhere in the city. Moshe is believed to have perished in the Majdanek death camp after the 1943 Ghetto Uprising.

Perla and George, along with George’s wife and son 鈥� Elizabeth’s father, Alex 鈥� survived the war. At war鈥檚 end, with Warsaw in ruins, Perla was able to recover only one group of 120 paintings.

Moshe Rynecki’s painting of a wedding tells its story despite the damage inflicted on it.

In 1999, Elizabeth built an , believing those were the only artworks of Moshe鈥檚 to survive the war. But to her surprise, the website sparked responses from collectors and curators who knew about dozens of other surviving works.

Her book and film depict both her international quest to visit and document as many of those paintings as she could, and the family dynamics around Moshe’s art. The film, in particular, 鈥渋sn’t about the Holocaust,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚t’s the aftermath, intergenerational trauma, relationships, and genealogy. It’s a very specific family history, but it’s also a microcosm of one person’s history against a larger world history.鈥�

She adds, 鈥淢y great-grandfather was not a famous artist, but he was a known artist in Warsaw in the 鈥�20s and 鈥�30s. He wanted to be an artist of merit. So to be able to carry that work forward makes me proud. And I’m grateful to those who have been excited to learn about it.鈥�

A self-portrait by Moshe Rynecki.

We spoke with Rynecki a few hours before she presented to the BFF audience.

How did Chasing Portraits, book and film, come about?

My grandpa George wrote a collection of vignettes of his memories of life in Poland up to and through the war. And in it he says, “I’m writing this, if for no other reason, than for my granddaughter Elizabeth to know the truth and not to be afraid of it.”

He died in February of ’92. And I was living in Washington, D.C., when the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened there, in 1993. And then I went to grad school for rhetoric at UC Davis, and wrote my thesis about how children of Holocaust survivors fit within Holocaust discourse.

And so all of these pieces came together. I felt this obligation to my family to record this history that they had not really wanted to talk about, but I didn’t know how to do that. And when I realized that the paintings were survivors that could not speak, and that I could speak for them and tell their history, that was really the linchpin of deciding that Chasing Portraits needed to move forward.

The only people who can bear witness are the survivors themselves. So those of us who didn’t exactly experience that history but nonetheless were impacted by it, how do we articulate that? And as the survivors are dying, there’s this struggle and rush to make sure that next generations learn this history, and how do we do that?

A scene in a synagogue, painted by Moshe Rynecki.

When you studied rhetoric here, the curriculum encompassed film, and now the department is even named 鈥淩hetoric, Film, and Screen Studies.鈥� How did a rhetoric background support writing and directing your film?

I could not have made my film without the amazing team of people that I worked with. I don’t have the skills and expertise. But I knew what all the pieces were and what all the stories were. Because of my 乐播传媒 rhetoric background, I understood and saw things in ways that were different than I might have otherwise.

How do the book and the film relate to each other?

Probably the first half of the book tells more of the history, drawn from my grandpa George’s memoir. And then my quest picks up, and the book tells the story of my experiences.

I never wanted to make a Holocaust film, so the film is a contemporary story. And something very interesting happened in the editing room. I came with 100-plus hours of footage, and I said, “Here are all these pieces and I don’t really know how they go together, but here’s the general sense of what’s going on.”

My consulting editor, Josh Peterson, was the editor on a project about the Nazis鈥� systematic looting of art across Europe. So he really understood the art story and he said, “Yes, this is an art story for sure. But what really frames the story is your relationship with your father.”

Elizabeth and her father, Alex, in the recording studio. (S艂awomir Gr眉nberg)

If my father was sitting here, he would be delightful and charming. But if you asked him to recall wartime events, in history and emotions, he would deflect. He just does not like to talk about it. Plus he doesn’t really remember a lot 鈥� he was 9 when the war ended.

Between the art by Moshe that Perla found and the pieces that have turned up since, you have seen about 200 of his images. What are a couple that are especially meaningful to you?

I’m always fascinated by his self-portraits. My great-grandfather grew up in a religious family, but he lived a much more secular life. What’s really interesting is that he created these really religious scenes, and they鈥檙e very accurate. And yet, when he paints himself, he paints himself as a classically Western male.

Elizabeth Rynecki ’91 poses with a painting by her great-grandfather Moshe Rynecki 鈥� a self-portrait that situates the artist beside, but not part of, a wedding ceremony. (Shoey Sindel Photography)

So there鈥檚 one big painting that鈥檚 mostly a wedding scene, but my great-grandfather’s off to the side, and he’s looking right at us. So it’s interesting: Here’s this religious and important cultural family moment 鈥� and I don’t know who is in the wedding 鈥� and he has one foot in each world, and that painting really symbolizes that.

Another one, Luna Park, shows people at an amusement park in Warsaw. And what draws me to that painting is that, when we think about Jews and Poland, and Eastern Europe in general, we mostly think about all of those who were murdered. And we should know that.

But before you focus just on the death and the destruction and the loss, you need to know what was there before 鈥� a vibrant community. Warsaw was called the 鈥淧aris of the East,鈥� and in the movie, my dad says something like, 鈥淚t was the apex of that world.鈥� What I love about that painting is that it shows this thriving community.

You can love a super famous painting that鈥檚 in a museum, but it’s different to have a really emotional tie with a painting. And at one point I say in the movie, “My great grandfather’s paintings are more than things to me. They’re actually a physical link to him.” He painted them, he touched and held those canvases. And that, to me, is an incredibly powerful experience and emotion.

Luna Park by Moshe Rynecki.

When the time came for the students and professor in the upper-level course 鈥淔ilm Festival Studies鈥� to produce an actual festival 鈥� the inaugural 乐播传媒 Film Festival 鈥� there were friends ready to lend a hand.

Friends like Academy Award鈥搘inner Stacey Kabat 鈥�85, Anike Tourse 鈥�92, Nicole Danser 鈥�15, Taylor Blackburn 鈥�15, and Alexandra Morrow 鈥�16, all creators of short films that will be shown at the festival. And like Constance 鈥淪tanzy鈥� Brimelow 鈥�16, who, as an associate producer of a , will take part in a festival panel on women in media.

Rhetoric professor Jon Cavallero leads his “Film Festival Studies” class in Pettigrew Hall on March 19, two days before the opening of the 乐播传媒 Film Festival. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

And Trey Callaway P鈥�20, a prominent producer and screenwriter who will lead a screenwriting master class on the festival鈥檚 final day. And Michael Sargent, a 乐播传媒 psychology professor whose filmmaking debut has its premiere at the festival: Witchcraft Blue, a feature-length documentary about .

The willingness of these folks to work with the 14 鈥淔ilm Festival Studies鈥� students as they organized exemplifies a collateral benefit of the 乐播传媒 education. Rhetoric professor Jonathan Cavallero opened the 乐播传媒 network of industry contacts, many of whom he has met or taught since coming to campus in 2013, to the class knowing that his students might benefit from those connections later on.

Even as the festival, and 乐播传媒鈥� overall exploration of film, is benefiting from them now. 鈥溊植ゴ� people who are in film want film at 乐播传媒 to grow,鈥� says one of Cavallero’s students, Luc Alper-Leroux 鈥�20 of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 鈥淪o they did everything they could to help.鈥�

The 乐播传媒 Film Festival features Frank Serpico, a documentary profile of the reform-minded undercover policeman whose story was fictionalized in a hit 1970s film, on March 23.

Another way the festival says 鈥溊植ゴ解�� is through its involved with social and environmental justice. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one thing that we really wanted to do with this festival,鈥� says Nate Merchant 鈥�18 of Los Angeles, a rhetoric major focusing on screen studies.

鈥淲ith the overarching theme of social justice, we wanted to find different narratives that can influence people in powerful ways.鈥�

While there are some exceptions on the (notably the midnight screening of the 1998 teen thriller I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, written by Callaway), socially conscious films dominate the festival schedule. They delve into topics as timely as police misbehavior (e.g., Frank Serpico, a documentary profile of the reform-minded undercover cop); ethnic identities in the U.S. (White Rabbit, following the travails of a Korean American performance artist); and the consequences of rape (The Light of the Moon).

Clockwise from upper left, rhetoric professor Jon Cavallero is shown with some student organizers of the inaugural 乐播传媒 Film Festival: Nathaniel Merchant 鈥�18 of Los Angeles, Luc Alper-Leroux 鈥�20 of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Gillian Coyne 鈥�19 of New York, and Marisa Sittheeamorn 鈥�18 of Bangkok. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Alper-Leroux adds that the class has sought out films that bring international perspectives to international concerns. For instance, he says, 鈥渨e often talk about climate change, but it鈥檚 only ever within our context鈥� as Americans. Hence the screening of Anote鈥檚 Ark, exploring the topic of climate change from the standpoint of Kiribati, an island nation that will likely be underwater within this century.

An afternoon session of short films by 乐播传媒 alumnae and an evening screening of Witchcraft Blue open the festival on March 21. Sargent’s topic might seem lurid at first, but Cavallero points out that what the psychology professor is really examining is body positivity 鈥渁nd getting to a comfortable place with that.”

Cavallero explains, 鈥淭hese performers outwardly seem quite confident in their bodies, but Michael is able, through his interviews, to reveal that there鈥檚 an inner dialogue. It鈥檚 often a struggle for them to get on stage and perform.

鈥淲hat I really appreciate about his film is that it reveals exactly how much his subjects trusted him鈥� to reveal so much in a public forum. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an impressive film, and very much is in line with what we鈥檙e trying to accomplish with the festival.鈥�

A scene from Sonita, showing on March 24.

The 乐播传媒 Shorts session, meanwhile, exclusively presents work by alumnae. Among them are Tourse, who directed America; I Too; writer-producer-editor Morrow (The River Behind My House and The First Coast); Academy Award winner Kabat, producer of Strong at the Broken Places: Turning Trauma to Recovery; Danser, who directed F***; and Blackburn, a former 乐播传媒 debater who wrote and executive-produced Where Things May Grow.

In addition to Brimelow 鈥�16, 乐播传媒-connected members of the Women in Media panel include Bumble Ward P鈥�17, an industry publicist whose clients include director Sofia Coppola, and Amy Geller 鈥�96, who co-directed, with Allie Humenuk, The Guys Next Door (2016), a documentary about a truly inspiring Maine family.

In this era of #MeToo, it鈥檚 timely 鈥渢o have a panel on women in media, given the current climate in Hollywood, specifically. It鈥檚 really socially-politically pertinent and I think it will really resonate on campus,鈥� says Gillian Coyne 鈥�19, a double major in rhetoric and French from New York City.

The 乐播传媒 Film Festival shows Father and the Bear, about an actor dealing with dementia, on March 24.

The social justice emphasis 鈥渉appened organically,鈥� Coyne notes. 鈥淚t came about from us watching anything and everything, from Sundance selects to 乐播传媒 grads鈥� work. It was something that the class winnowed out of all the films we watched.

鈥淚t was like playing a semester-long Tetris game, deciding what fits in and what gets priority. It turned into really fun, sometimes heated, discussions 鈥� filling up all the whiteboards, and who鈥檚 voting for what, and how do you prioritize the message that you want to get across.鈥�

鈥淔estivals have this image of famous people getting together to watch movies,鈥� says Cavallero. 鈥淏ut the students have not seen this just as an opportunity to bring films to campus, but an opportunity to lead conversations on campus about important issues that this community and others around it are facing.

A scene from Michael Sargent’s Witchcraft Blue.

鈥淪o the festival is right at home in a rhetoric department, because it is very much about engaging the public discussion and being informed citizens. I鈥檓 really proud of the way that they鈥檝e done this.鈥�

Looking back to rhetoric professor Bob Branham鈥檚 1992 shoe-industry documentary Roughing the Uppers and even earlier, 乐播传媒 has had a close relationship with the moving image. And as 乐播传媒 has redefined the liberal arts education as something that readies students for a life of meaningful work, it’s hard to think of a better academic course for that job than organizing a film festival.

For one thing, it鈥檚 assertively cross-disciplinary. 鈥淥ne of the things that I鈥檝e been most impressed by, since I came here, is the number of people who teach film and the number of departments that those people are in,鈥� says Cavallero.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of bringing in different perspectives and really having interdisciplinary conversations. Our hope for this year鈥檚 festival is that that happens.鈥�

In addition, while the film-festival course provides ample grounding in theory, there was plenty of hands-on work to do too. 鈥淭he skills that we鈥檝e developed are really versatile and can translate into the workforce,鈥� says Marisa Sittheeamorn 鈥�18 of Bangkok 鈥� everything from catering arrangements to negotiating distributor fees. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all been really interesting and new.鈥�