Student films from the University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television have earned an unprecedented number of film festival selections, nominations, and awards over the past couple of years. Continuing that momentum, several films from the 2022-2023 school year were recently officially selected by the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival, the San Diego International Children’s Film Festival, and the Student World Impact Film Festival.
Four student documentaries have been selected to screen at the Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF), taking place June 18 – 25, 2023. This year the festival attracted 13,000 entries from 120 countries. Included in this year’s lineup are:
The Sun Room, directed by Chloe Shafer- Desire to Fly, directed by Oral McKinley Sledge and Olivia P Hocker
- Greek Alphabet Mafia, directed by Preston Kersting and Fiona Paskoff
- At 7, directed by Tatum Sailors
In addition to being selected, Desire to Fly just received a SWIFF Best Documentary Award nomination. The awards will be announced on July 25. Through its distribution partnership, SWIFF will offer select participating filmmakers the opportunity to apply for international distribution of their film on Amazon Prime Video. The four films were part of the December 2022 Magic Hour screening, which can be viewed on our YouTube channel. All films were created under the guidance of Associate Professor Jacob Bricca, ACE, in the Documentary Production class.
In May, two documentaries were selected to screen at the 18th annual Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival. The festival has a history of showcasing talent and moving careers forward, with more than 35 filmmakers going on to work for major studios, and more than 25 becoming part of Oscar-winning teams. It’s a Worm’s World, by Kaleigh Brown and Jason Lee, and Sailors’ At 7 screened at the James Bridges Theater on the UCLA campus and the Yard Theatre in East Hollywood respectively.
At 7 has also been selected to screen at the San Diego International Children’s Film Festival at San Diego Comic-Con in July, following in the footsteps of alum Alexandra Cerna (BFA ’21) who participated at last year’s festival with Treasures Beneath My Tree.
Festival screenings and awards provide invaluable opportunities for emerging filmmakers to raise their profiles and expand their industry networks. These selections are the result of a coordinated effort by the School to assess, submit, and support films by student filmmakers, an initiative helmed by TFTV’s Director of Advancement and External Relations, Kerryn Negus, in consultation with faculty. Negus works with the filmmakers to develop tailored festival and marketing strategies around their films.