- "Chocolaterie: The Flavor of a Town," produced by students in ART 3205, Non-Fiction Filmmaking, garnered wins at the Royal Cocoa Film Festival in Osun, Nigeria, and the Bergamo, Italy Food Film Fest. Directed by Jacob Feiock and produced by Lizzy Joseph, the documentary’s focused content aligned perfectly with these specialized festivals.
- "Alla Prima," directed by Madison Kuhn, profiling PennWest painting student Delaney Maitland, was named Best Women’s Film at the Kollywood International Film Festival in Tamilnadu, India, leveraging its focus on creative women.
- Films like "Mastering the Grain" and "Alexas from Texas" have found success in short film festivals, showcasing the program’s emphasis on mastering specific formal elements.
PennWest University’s Digital Filmmaking and Photography program, known as “Philm,” has achieved a significant milestone, surpassing 100 festival and competition awards in the last six years. This accomplishment underscores the program’s commitment to excellence and the exceptional talent of its students.
“There’s no shame in reshooting scenes if you’re not satisfied with them,” said senior Brett Borland, highlighting the program's emphasis on practical, skill-building experience. “Filmmaking projects provide invaluable opportunities for repetitive, exercise-based skills training, crucial for both academic transcripts and professional portfolios.”
The Philm program's success stems from a strategic approach that integrates real-world application into its curriculum. A key component is the requirement for 3000- and 4000-level students to develop a comprehensive one-year marketing and distribution plan for their films, targeting local, regional, national and international competitions. This plan focuses on three critical criteria: Content, personnel and form.
Recent student achievements exemplify this strategy:
“Competition is an important emphasis for our program,” said Filmmaking professor Brian Fuller. “A film like "The Dollhouse" wins awards in Copenhagen, Tokyo and Paris. "The Damsel Trope" is screened in Toronto and Moscow. Or a photograph like "Great Nation" is a finalist in San Francisco. Those are powerful lines on a résumé. That kind of thing makes an employer stop and ask questions. Sure, it’s important to cultivate social media followers, but having industry professionals and successful artists judge and reward your work, that makes a job application float a little higher in the pile.”
The program’s dedication to excellence has yielded 109 awards to date, including accolades for both film and photography, even amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Track the growing list of awards at philm.school/laurels.