The Sidney Poitier New American Film School

Highlights from 2024-25

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Industry experts and film screenings

The Sidney Poitier New American Film School launched a screening series and a speaker series with industry experts at the Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center. The speaker series, which exposes students to industry professionals and the latest technological trends in filmmaking, kicked off with Ted Schilowitz and a discussion on the evolution of technology in filmmaking, focusing on the integration of AI and its implications for the industry. The screening series paired a classic genre film with a modern masterpiece and included a discussion led by faculty. Some of the events included the iconic 1973 film “The Exorcist” paired with the 2022 Australian horror film “Talk to Me” and John Carpenter’s classic 1982 chiller “The Thing” paired with Jordan Peele’s 2022 sci-fi/horror epic “Nope.”

Los Angeles Center Studios

In spring 2024, The Poitier Film School announced film students now have access to facilities at Los Angeles Center Studios, a 20-acre film production campus located 10 minutes from the ASU California Center. Students can access equipment and soundstages at this working studio lot, which has been used in over 4,000 productions, including “Mad Men,” “Dark Knight Rises,” “CSI” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” 

Live from Paris

Students in the Narrative and Emerging Media program, a joint graduate program between The Poitier Film School and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, experienced a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cover the 2024 Paris Olympics firsthand. 

 

Kaleidoscope short film contest

The Sidney Poitier New American Film School hosted a screening of the winning films from the 2024 Kaleidoscope short film contest. Jointly organized by ASU, the Universidad de Guadalajara, and the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, Kaleidoscope aims to inspire and curate fresh narratives about the relationship between the United States and Mexico. This year’s contest saw over 1,000 submissions on the theme of “community,” surpassing the 800 entries from its inaugural year. Winning films were praised for their creativity and emotional resonance, with Edgar Aquino Huerta’s first-place film, “Made in America,” closing out the second successful year of this impactful short film contest and festival.

Cyberpunk exhibit

Alex Rivera, filmmaker and associate professor at The Sidney Poitier New American Film School, was featured in a new exhibit titled “Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. His cyberpunk film “Sleep Dealer,” released in 2008, was selected to be part of the exhibition, which highlighted props from the film and included a full screening of “Sleep Dealer.” Rivera, who was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2024, is co-founder of the film school’s Borderlands Cinematic Arts, a space for world-class filmmakers to create new cinematic works that are grounded in the social experience of the “borderlands” and elevated in craft and form.

Industry experts and film screenings and Los Angeles Center Studios photos courtesy of The Poitier Film School. 
Live from Paris, iStock photo
Kaleidoscope short film contest photo courtesy image. 
Cyberpunk exhibit image courtesy of Alex Rivera.

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