ANNOUNCING CITYVISIONS FILM FESTIVAL, MAY 29-30, 2014
AT THE DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA, NEW YORK
For more information: April G. Joffee, (212) 650-7235
The City College of New York presents the sixteenth edition of Cityvisions, the annual showcase of new thesis films from its MFA in Media Arts Production program. This year, Cityvisions will be held at the Directors Guild of America, 110 West 57th Street in New York City, on Thursday, May 29 and Friday, May 30 at 6:00 PM.
“The MFA program at the City College of New York is one of the most diverse and international film schools in the world, which makes Cityvisions a truly international film festival, showcasing innovative work by promising filmmakers from around the globe,” states MFA Program Co-Director Andrea Weiss.
Thesis films from CCNY’s MFA program have gone on to win, in Student Categories, three Oscars, five Oscar nominations, as well as four Emmys. MFA films have also been invited to prestigious films festivals such as Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Edinburgh, Moscow, Munich, and South By Southwest. Yessica Curiel-Montoya of Mexico (MFA 2013) is currently on her way to the Cannes Film Festival with her short film, QUIET SPACE. Spanish Fulbright scholar Alex Lora (MFA 2013) produced as a class exercise a short documentary, ODYSSEUS’ GAMBIT that went on to win awards at 18 international film festivals, and screen in the Sundance 2012 Film Festival.
Recent MFA graduates have parlayed their MFA thesis films into launching their first features. Erin Greenwell’s (MFA’08) feature, MY BEST DAY, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Rania Attieh (MFA ’09) is in production with her second feature film, one of only 3 projects selected to receive funding from Venice Biennale College; that film will have its world premiere at the Venice Film festival 2014. After screening his thesis film in the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, Jayan Cherian (MFA‘10) released his first feature film PAPILIO BUDDHA which premiered in the 2014 Berlin Film Festival. Alumna Yolanda Pividal recently completed her feature documentary OF KITES AND BORDERS, which has collected Best Documentary awards at DocsDF in Mexico City, the San Diego Film Festival, and the Havana Film Festival NY.
The Cityvisions 2014 line-up of shorts is a diverse mix of 10 documentary and 10 fiction films. They include stories about one of the few remaining craftsmen practicing traditional winemaking on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in Southern Italy, the struggle of a mother’s last day before she has to face a daunting medical procedure, a partially paralyzed senior widower taken by his son on their last ride in a car together before he enters an assisted living facility, two Indian immigrants facing immigration problems and having to decide whether to return ‘home’ or stay in their adopted country, and the ‘normality’ of life in a Mexican city where the destinies of middle class kids and gang members working for drug cartels intersect.
This year’s film jury is comprised of Marc Mauceri (Vice President of the independent distribution company, First Run Features), Piero Basso (Award-winning Cinematographer), and Rania Attieh (Filmmaker and awarded fellow, named one of the 25 faces of independent film by Filmmakers Magazine).
Admission to Cityvisions 2014 is free. For more information about the event, films and filmmakers, please visit: http://cityvisions.ccny.cuny.edu/films/.