In-depth study of short- and long-form reporting, with an emphasis on structure and form as well as content.


In the past, graduate students in News and Documentary have traveled to Bosnia, Sweden, India, France, England, Argentina, Pakistan, China, Japan, Russia, Israel, Palestine, Brazil, Thailand, Cambodia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bali, and throughout the U.S.A to produce dynamic and thought-provoking documentaries.

Story topics have ranged from the immigration of Muslims to Sweden, Cambodians to the Bronx, Chechnyans to Russia, Muslims back to Srebrenica, AIDS in Africa, Palestinians in Israel, political oppression in Zimbabwe, madrassas in Bali, and hip hop in Japan.

Here are just a few of the awards that our graduate students have received in the past:

  • Sid Gross Award for Enterprise Reporting
  • Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)
  • The Deadline Club award
  • National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation Lee and Rosalind Begman Awards Luce fellowship

Student documentaries that have screened at film festivals, and won awards:

Queer Spawn

Does having gay parents affect children’s lives? From New York to Texas, teenagers and their parents candidly share their experiences and insights (Producer: Anna Boluda).

Aired on WNET Channel 13 in 2006.

Film Festival Information:

  • Brisbane Queer Film Festival (Australia). April 9th, 2006.
  • George Stickel Festival of Moving Images (New Jersey, US). April 13th, 2006.
  • Q Cinema (Fort Worth, TX, US). May 20th, 2006.
  • Fairy Tales (Calgary, Canada). May 2006.
  • Provincetown International Film Festival (MA, US). June 16th, in the Student Film Showcase.
  • Frameline (San Francisco, CA, US). June 18th and June 21st, 2006.
  • Asociación NOS (Granada, Spain). June 22nd.
  • Jo no t’espere (Valencia, Spain). June 29th.
  • Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (US). July 15th 2006.
  • Family Week (Provincetown, MA, US). July 30th 2006.
  • North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Durham, NC, US). August 13th 2006.
  • Lisbon Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Portugal). 15-24 September 2006.
  • Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Texas, US). September 2006.
  • Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Spain). 5-15 October 2006.
  • Cork Film Festival (Ireland). 8-15 October 2006.
  • Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (WA, US). 13-22 October 2006.
  • Cineffable (Paris, France). 27-30 October 2006.
  • Out OK (Oklahoma, US). October 2006.
  • Spokane’s GLBT Film Festival (WA, USA). November 3rd 2006.
  • Out Takes Dallas (Texas, US). November 5th 2006. Website
  • Lesgaicinemad (Madrid, Spain). November 2006.
  • Mezipatra (Brno and Prague, Checz Republic). November 2006.
  • Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (New York, US). November 2006.
  • Image+Nation (Montreal, Canada). November 2006.
  • 22. festival lezbicnega in gejevskega filma (Ljubljana, Slovenia). December 12th 2006. Opening night.
  • Gay and Lesbian Film Festival of Brussels (Belgium). January 18th-27th.
  • Bloomington Pride Film Festival (Indiana, US). January 25th-27th.
  • Melbourne Queer Film Festival (Australia). March 15th-25th.

Award Information:

  • Out Takes Dallas (Texas, US): Best Documentary
  • Lesgaicinemad (Madrid): Best Short Documentary, Best Spanish Documentary and Best Spanish Film.
  • Barcelona International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival: Audience Award.
  • Spokane’s LGBT Film Festival (Washington, USA): Audience Award.
  • George Stickel Festival of Moving Images (NJ, US): Judge’s Choice.

Queer Spawn was broadcast on Channel Thirteen/WNET in 2006.

Srebrenica Remains

Ten years after the massacre in Srebrenica, Bosnia, displaced Muslims are returning to the homes expelled from during the war. This piece explores pain and difficulties that arise from returning with a dark past and an uncertain future (Producer: Brian Epstein).

Film Festival Information:

  • Globians Documentary Film Festival in Germany
  • The River’s Edge Film Festival in Paduch, Kentucky

Breaking the Chains

A group of bikers use the tough-guy image of motorcycle clubs to empower and support children who have been abused (Producer: Katrina Markel).

Film Festival Information:

  • Big Bear Lake Festival, Bethlehem, PA

I Am Bombay

Jam-packed in the metropolis of Mumbai, the lives of the diverse inhabitants are intricately woven together. Through a string of connectivity, this film follows six characters capturing the spirit that is Mumbai (Producer: Preeti Mankar).

Film Festival Information:

  • Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival
  • South Side Film Festival

Road to Sulha

Where the political dialog between Israelis and Palestinians has failed, a small tribe of passionate and religious visionaries hopes to succeed, not on space at the negotiating table, but by bringing together ordinary people from both sides of the border. This is the story of their journey on the long road to peace (Producer: Laura Beatty).

Film Festival Information:

  • Global Peace Film Festival (Orlando, FL). December 2005.
  • Big Muddy Film Festival (Carbondale, IL). February 2006.
  • Hearts & Minds Film Festival (Dover, DE). April 2006.
  • Nazareth International Film Festival. December 2006.

Our Cause: Burmese Freedom Fighters

Many have fled the brutality of Burma’s military regime and sought asylum in the U.S. Through two activists in New York, we enter the world of the Burmese pro-democracy movement in America and witness their dedication to restoring democracy in Burma (Producer: Frederic Vernet).

Film Festival Information:

  • Asian Film Festival of Dallas
  • Asian Pacific American Film Festival (Washington, DC)
  • Amnesty International Film Festival
  • Chicago Asian American Film Festival

Leung’s Journey

Leang, a Cambodian-American immigrant is a leader in the Cambodian community in the Bronx and tries to keep his culture. Though his daughter Moni is a high school drop-out, Leang tries to support her and struggles between his two loves: Cambodia and his troubled daughter who hates the narrowness of Cambodians. Koji traveled to Cambodia to visit Leang’s family. The tension between Leang’s two loves as they come crashing together is captured in Koji’s cinema verite film (Producer: Koji Hayasaki).

Film Festival Information:

  • Discovery Channel/American Film Institute – Silverdocs. June 2004.
  • VC Asian Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA). April 2004.
  • Chicago Asian Film Showcase. April 2004.
  • San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival. March 2004.
  • Asian American Film Festival at Yale University. January 2004.
  • Cinema Cambodia in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. January 2004
  • Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival. November 2003
  • APA Film Festival at Smithsonian Institution. October 2003
  • San Diego Asian Film Festival. Oct, 2003.
  • New York Asian American International Film Festival. June, 2003.
  • Asian Film Festival of Dallas. May 2003.
  • Arizona International Film Festival. April 2003.

Leung’s Journey aired on Link TV, the national television network, 2004 to 2006

Nominations:

  • Golden Award at VC Asian Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Frontier Award at Arizona International Film Festival
  
Questions? Comments? Contact us.