Working on an Oscar-winning film
ASU film alum Angel Ruvalcaba shared his experience working as a production assistant with Walt Disney Animation Studios on the Academy Award-winning film “Encanto.” Learn more.
Highlights from 2021-22
Spring 2022 Film Showcase
The Sidney Poitier New American Film School’s Spring 2022 Showcase featured 22 short narrative films and 20 reels created by students. Awards were presented for outstanding achievement in visual effects, producing and editing. The students recognized were Anna Mori (editing), Taylor Edwards (visual effects) and Peyton Bijak and Valeria Valdés Cosilión (producing). Other students recognized for their work during the showcase were Josh Ohea, who won the Director’s Award for Vision and Voice for “Soft Landing,” and Joriel Cura, who won the Showcase Jury Award for Innovative Storytelling for “Blueprint of You.” Faisal Sharaiha won the F. Miguel Valenti Award for Ethical Filmmaking for “To Dream,” and Nurya Ibarra won the Zachary Booher Memorial Scholarship and the MarVista Strives to Inclusivity Award for “Hermana.”
A Conversation on Stuttering
Jesus Ledezma, an honors student double majoring in filmmaking practices and health care compliance and regulations, worked with ASU alum George Ramos on an honors creative project called “A Conversation on Stuttering”—a documentary film aimed at raising awareness about stuttering. The team spent nearly a year interviewing researchers, clinicians and people who stutter to gain insight into the impact stuttering can have and to promote acceptance and understanding of stutterers. Learn more about the project.
Blood and Gold
Emmy Award-winning television screenwriter Peter Murrieta, the deputy director of The Sidney Poitier New American Film School, will share the story of his ancestor Joaquin Murrieta, also known as the Robin Hood of the West, on the screen. Murrieta is writing a screenplay adapted from the book “Blood and Gold: The Legend of Joaquin Murrieta,” which he co-authored with Jeffrey J. Mariotte.
Comfort TV and post-apocalyptic streaming
Jason Davids Scott, associate director and associate professor, spoke with KJZZ’s The Show about our entertainment viewing habits and whether or not those habits have changed over the course of the pandemic. Listen to the interview.
