May 12 – 14, 2022
164 N. State St.
Encounter the next generation of film, video, sound, and new media artists as SAIC students present their thesis projects in this festival of innovative live-action shorts, animation, feature-length narrative and nonfiction works, and experimental pieces.
Scroll down for program schedule.
Esteban Alarcón, Nolan Barry, L.A. Chappe, Hongjin Chen, Sky Chen, Angela Christodoulou, Jeanette Driftmier, MeiLin Rose Eakin, Daniel Fromberg, Isabel Gompper, Lam Hoang, Elisa J, Ji-Hoon Jang, Steve Jones, Sinhyung Kim, Gigi Lai, Kay Liu, Jason Luo, tiago mena abrantes, Zoë Morgan, Will Murnighan, Adrienne Nordsworthy, Teagan C. F. Prichard, Jingwen Ren, Elisabeth Yoon Ju Seonwoo aka Kerberus, Hatem Shakkouf, Jensen Teng, Getong Wang, Mai Parinda Wanitwat, Sherman White, Seung-eon Yi, Yue Yang
Learn more about the graduate students participating in the festival.
The FVNMAS Festival is free and open to the public. Tickets must be acquired on-site at the Gene Siskel Film Center box office. Public guests must present a valid government-issued ID and proof of vaccination. Face masks are required at all times while in the Film Center.
The festival would not be possible without the incredible work of festival programmer Amy Beste; Casey Puccini, our festival producer; Trevor Martin and the rest of the Department of Exhibitions staff; Jean de St. Aubin, Rebecca Fons, Andy Berlin, and the entire staff at the Gene Siskel Film Center; our graduate assistant Oona Taper; the FVNMA technical staff; Frédéric Moffet, chair of FVNMA, and all the faculty members who worked diligently with the students over the past many years; and, above all, to all the participating artists for their hard work and inspiring vision.
Various directors, 2022, ca 70 min + Q&A
This stunning collection of shorts travels through lush forests, growing cities, and time itself to forge new mythologies and speculative histories through hand-drawn and computer animation, finely observed photography, and adventurous sound design.
Jeanette Driftmier, Roach, 5:05
Yue Yang, Zhang’s Garden, 8:32
tiago mena abrantes, sunset museum (work in progress), 03:10
Parinda Mai, Blinded by Centuries (work in progress), 13.57
Nolan Barry, The Orange Velvet Dream House, 17:36
Zoë Morgan, First Venture, 19:06
Various directors, 2022, ca 73 min + Q&A
Time moves in unexpected ways in this program, guided by hazy sonic and visual textures, expressive dancing, a daughter’s impressionistic memories of her mother, and the mysterious movements of a woman revisiting her past as a way to forestall her present.
Seung eon Yi, 푸른, (A Place in Blue), 8:40
Sinhyung Kim, Piper On A Straight Line, 35:30
Will Murnighan, Requia, 20:44
Elisabeth Yoon Ju Seonwoo a.k.a. Kerberus, Palácio de Mente, 6:28
Various directors, 2022, ca 67 min + Q&A
Even sunshine casts a shadow in this unsettling collection of shorts, featuring stories of retribution, pandemic madness, and campfire frights rendered through stylistic animation and cinematography.
Lam Son Hoang, Memories, 10:32
Hongjin Chen, Five Point Seven, 13:34
Isabel Gompper, Recognition, 4:10
Ji-Hoon Jang, My Bird Died, 8:16
Kay Liu, theater #111, 4:28
Sky Chen, 遗 yí, 6:26
Steve Jones, Scout Trails, 3:50
Teagan C. F. Prichard, Take Me Home For Dinner, 12:00
Various directors, 2021-2022, ca 76 min + Q & A
Themes of isolation, public and internal struggles, and media’s effects wend their way through these evocative abstract and narrative works.
Elisa J, Schadenfreude, 16:05
Sherman White, For The Gram, 11:50
Jason Luo, Persona, 25:46
Daniel Fromberg, Is It Supposed To Sound Like This?, 7:44
Jensen Teng, Mr. Metal Man, 13:36
Gigi Lai, 2022, 95 min + Q&A
An intimate look into the lives of seven young women entering adulthood. They talk about leaving their hometown, facing new responsibilities and making choices while bringing up regrets, worries and hopes.
Gigi Lai, Young Adults, 94:19
Various directors, 2019-2022, ca 62 min + Q & A
This collection of coming of age tales captures the disappointment, heartbreak, and turmoil of early adulthood through animation, vintage television, and sensitively shot narratives.
Adrienne Norsworthy, Elijah Tavis At The Bar, 3:10
Hatem Shakkouf, Khalas, 3:21
Jingwen Ren, Goldfish, 2:40
MeiLin Rose Eakin, CALYPSO, 37:00
Getong Wang, Time Rubbing, 5:38
Angela Christodoulou, Relics, 3:42
Various directors, 2022, 63 min + Q & A
Transmissions from a Distant Planet is a diaristic account from the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020 and beyond, to reflect on the changes the year brought to both the character and rhythms of daily life. Preceded by Against the Day, a road trip across America set to local radio that captures the twinned impacts of late capitalism and climate change.
Esteban Alarcón, Against The Day, 12:22
l.a. chappe, Transmissions from a Distant Planet, 50:00