Dean & Chair’s Messages
Dean’s Message
Welcome to the first annual Miloš Forman / Mike Hausman Columbia University Film Festival! This represents the 37th annual Columbia University Film Festival, and our first named for these two distinguished filmmakers and Columbia faculty members. We are extremely grateful to Mike Hausman and to Martina Forman for their generosity in supporting this wonderful annual program into the future.
This festival is the culminating event for our MFA Film students. As these films show, our MFA filmmakers have spent their years at Columbia honing their creative vision as they immerse themselves in their craft. Their skill, creativity, and humor are on view in these films, and their spirit is infectious.
These young artists represent many aspects of filmmaking: they are directors, screenwriters, and creative producers. They have worked collaboratively on their projects, supporting one another as they have grown as independent artists. And they have done this through some difficult times on our campus and in our nation.
When the Festival began in 1987, it consisted of only four shorts followed by a panel discussion. Over time, the Festival has grown to become a robust and beloved Columbia tradition, one that has helped to launch the careers of many exceptional filmmakers. The event includes several days of screenings, readings, interviews, panels, and events in New York and Los Angeles. This year we will screen 32 films over several days.
The films you will see are varied in their styles, convictions, and preoccupations. They represent a student body that is diverse in every measure, and whose films traverse traditions, genres, languages, and interests. What unites them is the power of their stories and the integrity of their ideas.
I hope you enjoy this festival! Please join me and the whole School of the Arts in congratulating our student filmmakers and thanking the dedicated faculty and staff who have guided them over the years. I could not be more proud of these artists or more certain that as they go forward, their stories will help to enhance our society and enrich our future.
Sarah Cole
Dean of the School of the Arts
Parr Professor of English and Comparative Literature
Chair’s Message
There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world right now. These days, I sometimes find myself
avoiding the news altogether. Like everyone I know, I’m anxious about the future, and
looking for things that inspire me.
If you feel that way too, then you’ve come to the right place. The films in this year’s
edition of the Miloš Forman / Mike Hausman Columbia University Film Festival are truly
inspiring. I don’t mean to imply that they’re all happy and positive; in fact, some are
quite the opposite. But my anxiety about the future ebbs considerably when I watch the
work of exciting filmmakers with something to say and the skills to say it – and that’s this
year’s CUFF.
These films are the pure product of passionate artists working in collaboration with each
other. They aren’t dictated by committees, constructed by formulas, or designed to sell
merchandise. While each filmmaker has been guided and assisted by the advice of the
faculty and the support of the staff, their films are their own. At Columbia, we specialize
in helping an artist to find their unique voice. This program is a dazzling array of those
unique voices.
So please sit back, open your eyes and ears, and allow yourself to be inspired by the future of cinema. It’s right here at CUFF.
Jack Lechner
Chair of Film
Columbia University School of the Arts