News and Events

The Latest in Film Studies

On campus and in the community

National Film Festival For Talented Youth 2022

The National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) is a great opportunity for Seattle University students to watch films and submit their work. The festival ran from April 28th - May 8th, 2022. To learn more about NFFTY, visit the website here: NFFTY 2022. In 2022, numerous SU Film Studies alum and current students' films were selected to be a part of the festival. 

Alumni filmmakers smiling for a photo with their awards.

From left to right: Seattle University Film Professor Alex Johnston, Hailey McGill ('21), Barb Hoffman ('19), and NFFTY Head programmer and SU Film alum, Amy Williams ('19) from this year's festival.

Ha-aheo Auwae-Dekker ('22) 

Ha'aheo's film Malihini (produced as part of an SU class) was chosen to screen as part of the festival's prestigious Closing Night program. 

Barb Hoffman ('19) 

Barb's winning music video, Rainy Days and Crooked Sheets, led to her selection by festival funder Scan Design Foundation, to participate (with full financial support) in a week-long young filmmakers' intensive at TheNextFilmFestival, which will be held in Norway in August 2022.

Barb's film What We See in the Clouds received an Audience Award for the Connected by More category presented by the AFI Conservatory.

Hailey McGill ('21) 

Hailey's film, Ode 2 Embarrassment, won an audience award at the festival.

Mary Lawrence ('21)

Mary's film, the waiting room, (produced as part of an SU class) screened at the festival. 

Ocean’s Arrival by Seattle U Film Alum

Seattle University Film Studies alum Barb Hoffman and Suzanne McAuley both recently worked on a film, a 60-minute psychological drama called Ocean's Arrival. Suzanne was the Director of Photography on the project and Barb was the Gaffer. They express their appreciation of the project as well as the opportunity to grow through the process and connect with incredible people. Ocean's Arrival has screened at SIFF Uptown on May 5th, 2022. Congratulations to these two alumni and their continued work and successes!

Kickball Game 

The Film Studies department is more than just lights, cameras...action! Led by Student Representative, Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker, a kickball game was planned to connect film faculty and students. Each inning brought tough competition, with the winning team receiving a Kiwi prize from Dr. Thompson. More exciting activities to come!

A group of Seattle University Film Studies students grouped together on the field before a kickball game.

A group of Seattle University Film Studies students on the field during a kickball game.A professor handing a blow-up kiwi bird to the winning team of a kickball game.

 

Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker's Malihini

Amazing work by the talented filmmaker, Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker! Their 2021 short film, Malihini, was created for a SU Film Studies class. Malihini has been selected as a part of the Seattle Asian American Film Festival, the Hawai'i International Film Festival, the Local Sightings Festival, and most recently, the National Film Festival for Talented Youth. Read about their experiences in an article from NW Asian Weekly. Congratulations to Ha’aheo and their continued success!

Seattle Asian American Film Festival 

Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker’s Malihini, (2021, 6 minutes) was selected as a part of the 10th Annual Seattle Asian American Film Festival. Their film was available for online viewing from March 3rd - March 13th, 2022 with information on the website: SAAFF 2022. In addition to online screenings, Malihini was shown at an in-person drive-in theater event on March 12th at the Stone House Cafe. 

Local Sightings Film Festival

Malihini, (2021, 6 minutes), created by Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker, was accepted to the Local Sightings Film Festival. To learn more about the film festival, visit the website here: Local Sightings Film Festival.

Hawai'i International Film Festival

Film Major, Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker’s film, Malihini, (2021, 6 minutes) was accepted into the Hawai'i International Film Festival. The film looks into the director's relationship with Hawaiian identity and living on the mainland through a conversation with their mother. The film was available for viewing from November 4th - November 28th, 2021 at the Hawai'i International Film Festival.

Still from Ha'aheo Auwae Dekker's Film Malihini of their motherPortrait of film major Ha'aheo Auwae Dekker

Gabby Robinson's Earth Talk 

Gabby, an Environmental Studies and Film Studies double-major, found the perfect connection between these fields through an internship with the Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (CEJS) here at Seattle University. Gabby’s year-long internship was client-based and allowed her to grow both personally and creatively. She explored her different interests while playing a major role in Seattle U's 2022 Earth Month. Gabby's film "OUR HOME?: What is Home? ft. Gabriella Robinson" screened at the 2022 Earth Talks. Learn more about Earth Talks and Gabby's internship experience here: https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/events/earth-talks/#film

Film Faculty Win Prizes for Research

Dr. Kirsten Moana Thompson received the McLaren-Lambart Award Runner-Up Award for Best Scholarly Book in Animation Studies from the Society for Animation Studies, and an Honorable Mention for Best Edited Collection from the British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS), for Animation and Advertising, eds Malcolm Cook and Kirsten Moana Thompson (Palgrave, 2020), Oct. 2021. Cover of Kirsten Thompson and Malcolm Cook's Book Animation and Advertising

Film Noir class experiments with Lighting

Dr. Thompson’s FILM 3220 Film Noir Class got some hands-on practice this Fall Quarter with a demonstration of lighting equipment by Instructor Craig Downing. They then tried their hands to reproduce some of the beautiful chiaroscuro lighting they have been watching in American classics like Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947) and The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941).Student Katrina Marro demonstrating the classic chiaroscuro lighting style

Film Faculty Celebratory Sail

Celebrating their formation as an independent Film Program, the Film Faculty and staff went out together for a late summer sail, under the trusty captain Craig Downing and joined by John Trafton, Josefina Valenzuela Cerda, Program Director Kirsten Moana Thompson and Office Manager Shawn Bell. It was a beautiful day to celebrate! 

Film Faculty members on celebratory sailing tripKirsten Thompson, John Trafton, and Craig Downing on Film Faculty sailing tripView from the Film Faculty sailing trip

Cannes Film Festival 2021

Film graduates Nils Gollersrud and Anthony Bowmer attended the Cannes Film Festival 2021, where they checked out some of the new films, including Palme D’or Winner and horror film Titane (Julia Ducournau, 2021), described by the BBC as the “most shocking film of 2021” as well as new films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Memoria), Sean Baker (Red Rocket) and Hong Sang-Soo (In Front of your Face). They had a ball!

Film graduates Nils Gollersrud and Anthony Bowmer  in the center, venues at Cannes on left and right

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