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Welcome to SF State University School of Cinema's annual student film showcase, Film Finals.

A time-honored tradition at SFSU, Film Finals is celebrating our 60th festival! While we are sadly unable to celebrate our student filmmakers in person this year, we are excited to share their work online!

This year's showcase includes the special category of "Quarantine Cinema" for innovative and resourceful films created during the Shelter-in-Place orders. In addition, we have included two VR/360 projects in our official festival line-up for the first time. There is so much to celebrate this year!

Please join us on May 19, 2020 at 6pm on Vimeo (link below) to watch the full film program. After the screening, at 8pm, there will be a live Awards and Scholarships presentation presented by Cinema Professors Laura Green and Johnny Symons with special remarks by the Director of the School of Cinema, Celine Shimizu.

In 2020, Film Finals expanded our official festival line-up to include VR/360 student projects. To maximize this immersive experience, we invite you to enjoy the VR selections online from May 18 - May 20, as a "virtual cinema lobby" to welcome you to our festival.

Films

Avalon Glenn - "Be Creative" **
Noah Weisel - "Neris"
Birdy Wei-ting Hong - "Dear Commuter"
Courtney Pratt - "The Ballad of Lucky Dave"
Asha Bynoe-Berry - "Three of Swords"
Isabel Mazzolini - "Pillow"
Asali Rasmussen Echols - "Timeline"
David Mai - "Ashes of Alyssa"
Samuel Holguin - "Trumpet Player"
Luna Cristales - "Draw Yourself to Sleep" **
Jessica Payne - "Reality Check"
Jungmin Woo - "Pulse"
Daniel Elmore - "Meditations of Madness"
Casey Beck - "You/Me"
Joshua Alejandres - "Mamá Sabe (Mother Knows)"
Alison Colcord - "Desolate Spring" **
Marcello Hutchinson-Trujillo - "A Garden for George"

vr/360 videos

Christopher Wooten - "Isolation" **
Edward Reuss - "A Short Stay in the Hospital"

** Special category for "Quarantine Cinema" - films that were created during the shelter-in-place orders.

  • Grand Jury Prize — sponsored by LightIron Digital, a Panavision company
  • Best Cinematography Prize — sponsored by Canon
  • Best Editing
  • Best Sound Design
  • Best of "Quarantine Cinema" Special Category
  • Audience Award - vote here
  • The Jennifer Hammett Award
  • The Robin Eickman Craft Scholarship
  • The Jameson Goldner Filmmaker Scholarship
  • The Gordon Thomas Animation Scholarship
  • 2020 Barbara Hammer Awards
  • The Bill Nichols Documentary Scholarship
  • School of Cinema Award Focused on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Access (EDIA)
Thank you to these generous sponsors for providing resources and awards to our Cinema students!

Professor Jameson "Jim" Goldner (1938-2019) was one of the founding members of the Department of Cinema, having taught film production and studies at SFSU since 1963. One of the Department’s most popular professors, his passion for filmmaking was born in his studies at UCLA in classes and on film sets with noted classmates Bob Koster, Francis Ford Coppola, Carroll Ballard, Trevor Greenwood, Al Rossman, and Noel Blanc. Goldner wrote, produced and directed a number of films. He is perhaps best known for his documentary, When I Was Fourteen: A Survivor Remembers. Goldner also served as a judge in a number of festivals and competitions. Read more about Professor Goldner's legacy at this link. His obituary is available online here.

Read more about the Jameson Goldner Filmmaker Scholarship here.

Thanks and Credits

Special thanks to our generous donors George and Judy Marcus.

Thank you to the School of Cinema's Director Celine Shimizu. Thank you also to the Cinema technical staff Artie Farkas, Pablo Riquelme Cuartero, and Milton Gouveia for overseeing the Vimeo and Zoom! Thank you to Joshua Singer and his Design class for the poster and logo.

Thank you to the CINE 601 class for your hard work organizing and promoting Film Finals!

60th Film Finals Jury: Professors Laura Green, Katherine (Katie) Morrissey, Rosa Park, Bethany Sparks, Cinema staff member Milton Gouveia, and CINE 601 students Ashleigh Garcia, Sabrina Ghidossi, Man Kong, Sunanda Kottayil, Daniel Perea, and Layla Venegas.

Event Producer: Courtney Fellion, Lecturer

Film Finals is organized by SFSU's CINE 601 class. THANK YOU TO THESE STUDENTS:

Programming Committee is Ashleigh Garcia, Sabrina Ghidossi, Man Kong, Sunanda Kottayil, Daniel Perea, and Layla Venegas.

Marketing/PR Committee is Taylor Ahlquist, Jose Arroyo, Auguste Fallon, Jacob Magpantay, Mark Moreno, Matt Tan, Mirei Tanaka, and Ali Pateros.

Sponsorship Committee is Miranda Bock, Van Gilles, Kacey Hile and Izabel Jusino.

Trailers and Tech Committee is Casey Boyden, Ariana Catherine, Tae Fukushima, James Huffman, Cristian Marcos, Alejandro Quinones, Marion Riou and Nick Tran.

Save the Date — May 29 — Cinema Valediction!

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