The cinema studies professor brings the inspiration of Robert Redford’s movie institute to the classroom.
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Category: Faculty News
Sundance Institute and The Walt Disney Studios Launch the Project Advancement and Completion Fund to Support Underrepresented Directors
LA-born filmmaker of Ryukyuan descent and UO Cinema Studies Professor of Filmmaking, Masami Kawai, is paving the way for a more inclusive cinema landscape. Kawai was selected for Sundance Institute and The Walt Disney Studios’ Project Advancement and Completion Fund, which supports nine directors currently engaged in fiction features. These talented filmmakers are all from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. Masami’s project, Valley of Tall Grass, is a feature film that tells the story of a TV/VCR combo set thrown out, but it survives and circulates through the lives of various working-class indigenous characters of color in an Oregon town. They find forgotten memories, love, and connection through this seemingly obsolete object. Continue reading “Sundance Institute and The Walt Disney Studios Launch the Project Advancement and Completion Fund to Support Underrepresented Directors “
Sundance Directors Lab 2023 Diary: Masami Kawai
This week Filmmaker is publishing three diaries from writers and directors who attended the 2023 Sundance Directors Lab. We’ve already published writer-director Dania Bdeir‘s, and next up is director-writer-producer Masami Kawai, who traveled to the Lab with Valley of the Tall Grass.
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Newberg drive-in theater celebrates 70 years
Cinema Studies Associate Professor Michael Aronson, co-director of the Oregon Theater Project, and Brian Francis, owner of 99W Drive-In Theater, joined OPB’s Think Out Loud to disucss the history of drive-ins in the state. Read the OPB article and listen to the full conversation.
Cinema Studies Assoc. Professor Erin Hanna Interviewed by Organization for Transformative Works
Cinema Studies Assoc. Professor Erin Hanna was recently interviewed about her article in Transformative Works and Cultures by OTW, a fan-run nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of fanworks. Erin Hanna is author of the book Only at Comic-Con: Hollywood, Fans, and the Limits of Exclusivity. Her research explores the intersection of media industries and fandom, with a particular emphasis on in-person events, film and television promotion, and historical fan communities.
Professor Masami Kawai’s Film Selected for Sundance Screenwriters Lab
Cinema Studies Asst. Professor Masami Kawai continues to receive accolades for her latest fiction film project, VALLEY OF THE TALL GRASS. The film was recently selected for the 2023 Sundance Screenwriters Lab from more than 2000 submissions!
Participants in the Screenwriters Lab further developed their scripts with the guidance of a team of artistic and creative advisors. Read the full article in Deadline’s “Sundance Fellows Set For 2023 Screenwriters Lab And Intensive.”
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Congratulations to Asst. Professor Masami Kawai
Masami Kawai’s latest fiction film project, VALLEY OF THE TALL GRASS, was selected for Film Independent’s 2022 Fast Track Film Finance Market.
The program is an intensive, four-day film-financing market where participants eager to push their projects forward are connected with established financiers, production companies, agents, managers, and other film industry professionals who can really elevate their project to the next step. Continue reading “Congratulations to Asst. Professor Masami Kawai”
Panel Discussion with Cinema Studies Assoc. Professor Erin Hanna
Cinema Studies Assoc. Professor Erin Hanna recently participated in a panel discussion at Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery in Seattle about “See You at San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture.”
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Assoc. Professor Dong Hoon Kim Teaches Masterclass
On November 25, 2022, Associate Professor Dong Hoon Kim taught a masterclass at the University Institution of Spanish Cinema of the University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. Professor Kim was invited to deliver a lecture on North Korean cinema as a part of “Reflexiones sobre la cultura asiática” (“Reflections on Asian Culture”), a special film studies course funded by Eurasian Foundation from Asia.
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Faculty Spotlight: Peter Alilunas
Fun fact: Peter Alilunas is a Cinema Studies assoc. professor, an assoc. department head, a recipient of the 2017 UO Ersted Award for Specialized Pedagogy—and he is a UO alum!
Continue reading “Faculty Spotlight: Peter Alilunas”