Since 2007, the Visiting Filmmakers Series has brought a wide diversity of films to campus, exploring themes and images that are challenging, real, and timely.
Series director Cynthia Fuchs has been building and developing the series since its start. She sees it as a way to bring students in touch with artists who are keenly connected to their work.
“It was kind of my idea of what college could be,” she explains. “We find filmmakers from around the country who really have invested time and energy in a documentary . . . there’s usually a very kind of personal stake in it.” The subject matter of the films that come to campus reflects issues that are relevant to the community and are often suggested in concert with units throughout the university. Fuchs’s goal is to reach as many as possible.
“There’s a difference in being able to see and converse with somebody and have them share their work with you, and how they created their work, as opposed to looking at it on the internet,” she says.
Film and Media Studies offers an interdisciplinary minor with footings in the Department of Communication and Department of English, with other courses available through the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and the Film and Video Studies Program (a bachelor’s degree program housed within Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts).
This article originally appeared in the 2016 edition of Cornerstone.
August 01, 2016