Long Beach State University Filmmakers Take Top Honors at California State University Media Arts Festival

Published October 26, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Oct. 26, 2018) – Long Beach State University filmmakers who produced the documentary “For Vivian” won multiple prizes at the California State University Media Arts Festival this month.

The highly-personal work, which chronicles director Samantha Hernandez’s relationship with her aunt Vivian and other family members, was named “Best in Show” for this year’s festival.

“She’s such a sweet and lovely soul, and I wanted to share that with the audience,” Hernandez, who graduated this May, said.

“For Vivian” also won the festival’s “Audience Choice” award and took first place in the Documentary category.

“We were deeply moved by the response to the film. We just feel incredibly grateful for all the love and support we received,” Hernandez said.

“For Vivian” is the product of work that took place over much of the 2017-18 school year. Students who worked on that documentary and other projects spent the spring term on production and post-production, and members of different project crews shared feedback with each other as each production approached completion.

“The award is a validation of the process, but the learning happens in the process,” said associate professor Helen Hood Scheer, who teaches courses in documentary filmmaking.

“For Vivian” and other projects from Long Beach State filmmakers earned six of the eight first place awards handed out at this year’s festival, which took place Oct. 16 at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Additional Long Beach State honorees:

  • First Place in Animation – Casey White for “The Undergrounders”
  • First Place in Experimental – Gabriela Menegus for “Some Things We Do”
  • First Place in Television format – Quynh Ong for “Spotlight: Emotional Support Animals”

Anne D’Zmura, interim chair of the Department of Film & Electronic Arts, thanked faculty and staff members working for the department, as well as the animation program within the School of Art, for preparing students for success.

“As a result of the training, the students have the skills and passion to craft timely stories that are reflective of their strikingly unique and vital voices,” D’Zmura said. “We are deeply grateful for Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s continued philanthropic generosity as these funds are essential in providing our students the opportunity to share their important stories through the art of filmmaking.”

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which co-produces the Golden Globes, has provided more than $760,000 worth of support to Film & Electronic Arts since the 2005-06 school year. Those dollars have supported scholarships for student projects like “For Vivian” and “The Sound of Love,” an earlier student project from Long Beach State that won “Best in Show” and other prizes at the 2017 California State University Media Arts Festival.

About the campus: Long Beach State University is a teaching-intensive, research-driven university committed to providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees critical for success in the globally minded 21st century. Annually ranked among the best universities in the West and among the best values in the entire nation, the university’s eight colleges serve more than 37,500 students. The campus values and is recognized for rich educational opportunities provided by excellent faculty and staff, exceptional degree programs, diversity of its student body, fiduciary and administrative responsibility and the positive contributions faculty, staff, students and more than 300,000 alumni make on society.