Symposium

Symposium

Join the UNCSA School of Filmmaking for Symposium, where creativity meets responsibility. This series brings together voices from across the creative spectrum—fine artists, alumni, activists, poets, filmmakers, researchers and educators—to explore our roles as creatives.

Through a mix of lectures, screenings, presentations and discussions, we’ll focus on developing your unique voice and vision while deepening your awareness of the cultural impact of your work. This series offers both inspiration and practical tools to help you shape your craft with purpose and insight.

All Symposium events take place from 2:30-5:30 p.m. in the ACE Theater Complex. Some events have additional special events that take place in the evening. All events are free and open to the public, no tickets are required for entry.

Fall 2024 Symposium Schedule

Sept. 6, 2024 | Will Alexander

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. In collaboration with the Division of Liberal Arts, Pulitzer Prize nominated writer, artist, philosopher Will Alexander will focus on tapping into our pools of creativity.

Special Event: 8 p.m. Performance with musician Laura Ingram Semilian at the Scoring Stage located on UNCSA’s Hollywood Blvd. 

Sept. 13, 2024 | Dr. Isabelle Raynauld

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. In collaboration with the School of Music, Professor of Cinema at the University of Montreal Dr. Isabelle Raynauld will present her research and film "Tuning the Brain with Music."

Sept. 20, 2024 | No Speaker

Collaborative Day, no classes or events

Sept. 27, 2024 | Susan Seidelman

In lieu of a symposium event, there will be a special event in the evening. 

Special Event: 7 p.m. Visionary director Susan Seidelman, known for cult classics like "Smithereens" and "She-Devil," will join us for a screening of "Desperately Seeking Susan" and a discussion of her new book, "Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls."

Oct. 4, 2024 | Diana Williams

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Award-winning Producer Diana Williams will explore how the entertainment industry will be defined over the next 100 years.

Oct. 11, 2024 | Caroline Armijo

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Caroline Armijo, activist and founder of The Lilies Project, will address the cross section of art and advocacy.

Oct. 18, 2024 | Guest panel of alumni

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Join the UNCSA School of Filmmaking panel to hear directly from alumni about topics concerning the film industry.

Oct. 25, 2024 | Dr. Matthew Sandoval

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Dr. Mathew Sandoval, Professor at Arizona State University, discusses the Day of the Dead’s Transformation from Indigenous Ritual to Hollywood Spectacle…and Back Again

Nov. 1, 2024 | Darcy McKinnon, Jenny Mercein and Katie Matthews

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. In collaboration with the Southern Documentary Fund, Producer Darcy McKinnon presents "The Neutral Ground." In December 2015, the New Orleans City Council voted to remove four Confederate monuments from public grounds. A forceful group of critics protested the decision, and fearing retaliation, no crew would agree to remove the statues. Following the screening the Southern Documentary Fund Executive Director Clint Jukkala and Artistic Director Chris Everett will co-host a conversation with Darcy McKinnon focused on the film and the history of support the Southern Documentary Fund offers filmmakers in the South.

Special Event: 7 p.m. In collaboration with the School of Drama, Producers Darcy McKinnon, Jenny Mercein, and Director Katie Mathews will be bringing their groundbreaking documentary Roleplay which premiered at SXSW this year earning a Grand Jury Award nomination. Roleplay is the story of college students who confront sexual violence on their campus through a transformative theater process. This urgent coming of age story follows young people grappling with sex, consent, identity, and power on their paths to adulthood.

Nov. 8, 2024 | Cyrus Mousavvi

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Cyrus Mousavvi, Iranian American filmmaker and music archivist, will discuss a focus on the overlooked and unheard.

Nov. 15, 2024 | Gary Mairs

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Film scholar and filmmaker Gary Mairs presents his film "Adulthood" which follows the stormy 20s and 30s of Amy and Terry as they stumble their way into something like maturity, drifting from partner to partner, job to job and breakup to breakup.

Special Event: 7 p.m. The School of Filmmaking presents Fritz Lang's groundbreaking German expressionist science-fiction silent film Metropolis (1927) with a roaring live metal score by The Silent Light. Hosted by film scholar and Filmmaker Gary Mairs.

Nov. 22, 2024 | Nisha Bansil

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Artist Nisha Bansil presents a hands-on study in Cymatics

Nov. 29, 2024 | Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Holiday, no classes

Dec. 6, 2024 | Guest Pending

Guest Pending

 

Previous Symposium Events

Aug. 23, 2024 | Aaron Ross

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Aaron Ross, Screewriting alumnus on "The Artist Guide"

Aug. 30, 2024 | James Markham Hall Jr. 

Symposium Event Description: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Cinematography alumnus James Markahm Hall Jr. on "Journey to the Screen: Diverse Pathways into Filmmaking."