TUESDAY, APRIL 29
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
SATURDAY, MAY 3 JOHNSON
MASON 2025
THANK YOU TO FILM AND VIDEO STUDIES SUPPORTERS
L. Whitman Brown
G. Chesler
Candelario and Reyna Cortez
Julia Decker
Rick Davis and Julie Thompson
Michael J. Howard
Ms. Melissa J. Houghton
Michael and Susan Kehoe
Dr. Joy R. Hughes and Mr. Kenneth Lee
Estate of Frank William Johns
Cynthia and Thomas Judge
Maryam and Hamid Kasmai
Clara and John Kelly
Willy Meaux
Mack and Paulette Miller
Emily and Bill Rusch
Ronald J. Sanchez
Michael and Amanda Snellings
The annual Mason Film Festival at George Mason University features the work of our students in Film and Video Studies, including beginning video production students, intermediate directing students, documentary filmmakers, and graduating seniors. This year, the festival spans three days, April 29, April 30, and May 3, 2025. We hope you enjoy the show!
*All blocks include films that may contain mature themes and content not suitable for all audiences.
TUESDAY,
APRIL 29, 2025
FAVS 399 MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
10:30am, JC Cinema
Professor Russell Santos
Professor Russell Santos – Spring 2025
Perception Check - Justin Tyler Bowers | 4:04
Basic Being Basic, Rachel Coleman | 3:11
Born With a Broken Heart, Anirys Colon Castillo | 4:11
DTFM | Hector Figueroa | 3:37
Dirty Secrets | Megan Keough | 3:05
True Romance, Judia King | 2:26
Shameless, Rose Lomax | 3:22
Inconsolable, Mariah Maynard | 4:01
See You in Hell, Alissa Mckay | 3:14
Not So Subtle, Natalia Melnikova | 4:00
Spit in My Face, Kai Morales | 3:18
Falling At Your Feet, Mel Moya-Jaldin | 3:56
Accolades, Gabriel Stone | 2:23
Take Care, Selma Veli | 3:59
Somebody New, Carleigh Williams | 2:59
12:00pm, JC Cinema
Professors Meagan Arnold and Lenny Collins
Professor Meagan Arnold – Fall 2024
Laundry, Kennedy Harris | 3:43
A girl goes to do her laundry when something strange happens.
Professor Lenny Collins – Fall 2024
No Body, Jackson Kraatz | 5:31
A first-time car thief steals car, only to find a dead body in the trunk.
Professor Meagan Arnold – Spring 2025
The Light, Daniel Rueda | 6:11
While on a date, Steven starts to experience an unusual phenomenon: a blinding light above him.
Hysteria, Zachary Kim | 3:49
An office worker finishes her shift and is about to head home. However, with a killer on the loose, she’ll have to survive not only her dangerous situation, but herself as well.
Professor Lenny Collins – Spring 2025
Scarecrow, Jax Azad | 5:00
*Content Warning: Violence
Young farmer boy Eli Miller begins to suspect something lurking on his family’s farm but uncovers a chilling truth that will force him to make an impossible choice.
Rehab, Sydnee Baker | 5:00
Terry, a drug addict trying his best to get clean, seeks out his former best friend Sam for a simple drive to rehab. Once they reach the rehab center, the two men attempt to reconcile their differences and rekindle their friendship while they still have the chance.
FAVS 300 GLOBAL HORROR FILM
1:15pm, JC Cinema
Professors Samirah Alkassim and Maillim Santiago
Killing 2 Birds with 22 Stones , Branden Lee | 2:52
*FAVS 399 Music Video Production with Professor Russell Santos
Test, Ross Dobson | 4:11
A transgender take on the werewolf subgenre. A transgender man starts receiving hormone therapy, but masculinity turns out to be toxic to him.
When The Rain Stopped, Meghan Colovos | 2:58
A young woman visually represents a poem, discussing the struggles of anxiety and her reconciliation with herself at the end, through an interpretive performance.
The Fairy Feller’s Master-Tape, Vincent Blackwell | 5:00
A couple goes on a hike in the mountains only to bring back an unwanted visitor.
The Lovely Inconvenience of Having Too Many Pants Pockets, Kai Morales | 3:12
Unknown Entity, Aidan Morris | 5:02
Two friends bring a crashed rock from outer space into their home, which invites an unwanted guest.
Camp Bloodbath, Kaitlyn Brittenham | 4:57
*Content Warning: Violence
The lines between reality and fiction blur when an ‘80s slasher film becomes real life.
*FAVS 255 Video Production with Professor Lenny Collins
FAVS 365 DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING
2:30pm, JC Cinema
Professors Maura Ugarte and Rebekah Wingert-Jabi - Fall 2024
Professor Rebekah Wingert-Jabi – Fall 2024
Leo, Nataly Wright | 7:49
The Ramp to Nowhere, Emma Davenport | 8:16 Documentary about the experience of those with disabilities at George Mason University.
Zamani, Selma Veli | 6:56
An owner of an antique store in Washington, D.C. reconnects with the beauty of his culture and the music that shaped his life. Amid the struggles of his homeland, he recalls its peaceful past and calls for love, respect, and unity to heal the wounds of today.
Passion Project: An Ode to Fellow Filmmakers, Ashlyn King | 8:53
In “Passion Project: An Ode To Fellow Filmmakers” we’ve recruited different people from different corners of the GMU FAVS community to come together and give a wide spectrum of insight into the minds behind the hardworking student filmmakers and how each of their identities either contribute or conflict with their choice of career path. Through their passion and perseverance, they inspire all who create art and share it with the world.
Professor Maura Ugarte – Spring 2025
Christian Rodriguez, Douglas Xavier Jimenez | 8:05
She’s in Charge Documentary, Mel S Moya-Jaldin | 8:07
The Last Hung Fut Master, Branden Esaias Lee | 7:17
Silver Studio, Gene Ricks | 7:56
Aroo!, Emilee Hayward | 7:30
Echoes of a Music Man, Isabella Larken Koontz | 8:00
The Old World, Kajwan Alavi | 7:34
Patriot Pawsabilities, KeAndre Foster | 8:15
Farm Boy, Kailee Hayward | 5:48
A Piece From Home, Iyah Al Ani | 8:00
BREEZIN THROUGH, Aidan Harris-Cross | 8:00
Anonymous Voices, Marco Duran | 8:47
FAVS 366 VIDEO PRODUCTION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
4:00pm, JC Cinema
Professor Rebekah Wingert-Jabi
Fall 2024
LGBTQ+ Resource Center | 3:58
NOVA Women’s Rugby | 3:53
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2025
FAVS 375 FICTION FILM DIRECTING
9:30am, JC Cinema
Professors Nikyatu Jusu and Benjamin Steger
Professor Nikyatu Jusu – Fall 2024
Fair is Foul, Chrys Sotos | 5:48
Carcinization, Maya Lang | 5:28
A young man goes on a trip to the beach, where he is afflicted with an ancient curse from the pinch of a crab. Now, his roommates must save him lest he be lost to the tides forever.
It Didn’t Have to Be Worse, Isabella Koontz | 8:00
Dust Bunny, Natalia Melnikova | 7:59
Professor Ben Steger – Spring 2025
A Second Husband, Naomi Ho, Jackson Kraatz, Kalei Marantan, and Aidan Morris | 9:02
Mahee, Marjaan Simab | 7:32
FAVS 399 CREATIVE PRODUCING
10:35am, JC Cinema
Professor Lisa Thrasher
Spring 2025
Grit, Chrys Sotos | 2:33
Collegiate female powerlifters describe how their lives are structured around this demanding sport. Despite many hardships, they find themselves being uplifted by the community of strong women they’ve found through powerlifting.
This Is How It Went, Mia Cole | 4:14
Two people just trying to love something that’s already gone.
Beth, Isabella Larken Koontz | 3:10
During World War II, Wilmer and Beth stay connected through letters, their love echoing in the lyrics of a familiar song—until a telegram arrives, changing Beth’s world forever.
Flow State, Nikolai Bonshire | 3:50
Experience being in the crowd at one of the largest EDM music festivals on the East Coast.
Phoenix Rising: Flying Forward, Jacob Anthony Perdue | 1:01
Seven years after his tragic accident, U.S. Navy Lt. Jordan “Phoenix” Lo discusses his experiences recovering from being struck by a drunk driver a day before his solo flight test. After being told by doctors that he would never walk or talk again, Jordan explains how he recovered back to his full potential, how he fought to stay active duty, and how he fights today to hopefully one day return to the U.S. Navy flight program.
Contrapunto, Cristian Alfredo Cabral Rios | 3:50
A Latin American boxer practices shadowboxing by himself until he’s challenged by a foe he can’t see.
FAVS 475 ADVANCED FICTION
FILM DIRECTING
11:40am, JC Cinema
Professor Ben Steger
Spring 2025
GHOSTED, Chloe Salman | 9:58
In her first year of college, Stella’s self-imposed isolation forms into literal invisibility. As she encounters a doppelgänger living the vibrant life she craves, she must confront her fears and find a way to connect with the world—or remain a ghost forever
Inversion of Fear, Nikolai Bonshire | 6:23
*Content Warning: Violence, Flashing lights
A lone man, Hero, walks the streets at night only to be cornered by a clown with adversarial intentions. Hero chases the clown in a freerun pursuit across the city, more trouble awaits.
Seeing Things, Carlea Jo Maben | 10:03
*Content Warning: Violence
Can she protect her friends from the evil they can’t see? When a nearsighted young woman warns her friends about what lurks in the unseen, who will believe her and who will survive?
History 101, Michael Anthony Rivera | 6:53
A History teacher earns the chance to witness history firsthand, but what he brings back with him could doom humanity. Or maybe just his own sanity...
Dead by Dawn, Riley Ater | 8:20
*Content Warning: Violence
Pompeii, Bodhi Bryan-Roig | 11:05
A tight knit group of friends try to find solace and struggle against fate in the days before environmental collapse.
Not Another Horror Comedy, Hector Elias Figueroa | 5:22
Twitchers, Emma Davenport | 10:59
*Content Warning: Violence
Riley, diagnosed with POTS, struggles to be seen as an independent by her mother while also trying to survive and uncover the mystery around the zombie apocalypse.
FAVS 499 SENIOR PROJECT CAPSTONE Q&A
1:55pm, JC Cinema
Professors Peter Kimball, Lisa Thrasher, Amanda Kraus, and Hans Charles
Screenwriting - Professor Peter Kimball
Philip E. James
Producing – Professor Lisa Thrasher
Benjamin Donnelly
Emilee A. Hayward
Gabriel Stone
Editing – Professor Amanda Kraus
Bodhi Bryan-Roig
Cecilia M. Ohanian, Patrice D. Pannell
Paolo Rivas
Cinematography – Professor Hans Charles
Daniel Vo
FAVS 378 WEB SERIES
2:15pm, JC Cinema
Professor Susan Kehoe
Waste of Life, Gissell Lozano, Jarod Dodge, Marjaan Simab, Anya Aftab | 4:16
“Heir to the Borrelli crime family, Jen, moves south to live a normal, 9-to-5 life, however it doesn’t help that she’s roommates with a hacker and a serial killer.”
Superspreader, DC Sirdurongrit, Iyah Al-Ani, Naomi Ho, Molly O’Shea | 7:58
A wannabe party girl sells her soul to a demon to become the most popular socialite of 2020, only to find herself stuck within the pandemic.
Social Hunters, Emma Davenport, Brody Myers, Selma Veli, James Bah | 6:57
Taylor, a documentarian, explores the dangerous jungle of the social media world to defame and stop the terror of online stars.
SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2025
SENIOR SHOWCASE
FAVS 499 SENIOR PROJECT AND FAVS 490 INDEPENDENT STUDY
3:00pm, JC Cinema
Professors Ben Steger, Fall 2024 and Amanda Kraus, Fall 2024
BLOCK 1
In Your Dreams, Nate Henry | 11:00
*Content Warning: Violence/language/body horror
James, a successful neuroscientist, decides to build a device that allows two people to share dreams. He uses this device to take his father into the dream world and violently confront him about how he was raised.
Pursuit, Bailey Kearns | 10:48
*Content Warning: Mild gore
An escaped fugitive aims to return home to confess his failures as a father to his daughter. Treading through a ruthless forest and evading the law, his survival isn’t guaranteed.
Looped, Jackson Harvey | 7:03
Charlie, a fourteen-year-old boy who is focused on superficial self-improvement, is interrupted while working out by a young girl, Jean, who claims to be from 1960 and is in need of help finding her family.
Hypoxia, Bodhi Bryan-Roig | 7:42
Avery and Ellis, two people in their early twenties, come home after a night out and a mysterious figure possesses Avery, and brings out memories that could threaten their budding relationship.
A Warrior’s Wish, E.J. Chicky | 11:00
*Content Warning: Violence
Hashimoto, a ronin (masterless samurai), is sent on a journey by his dying best friend, who tasks him with returning his ancestral katana back to his family. Along the way, he encounters trials and tribulations that challenge both his physical and mental abilities.
Voicemails, Andrew Shaffer | 9:27
Cal has recently lost his brother Dan in a tragic car accident. Cal and Dan were the closest of brothers, and they were more like best friends with each other. Cal has always had a lot of difficulty in opening up about anything, and he has a habit of holding in everything that he is feeling.
A Mourning in Chinatown, Ali Ali | 10:43
A deeply moving documentary that chronicles the memories of a seasoned African American Chinatown native as he reflects on the vibrant days of his youth in Washington D.C.’s historic Chinatown
Kaju Katli, Sujay Khona | 10:52
Akshay struggles to prepare kaju katli for the evenings Diwali party, consumed by grief. He is ultimately forced to consider the true reason he is struggling to create this dessert, and his place in his culture.
BLOCK 2
Pas de Deux, Madison Lee Koren | 9:08
*Content Warning: Themes of domestic, emotional, and psychological abuse
An experimental film influenced by poetry that metaphorizes ballet to depict a toxic relationship between our main character, Jane, and her romantic partner, simply known as The Man. Jane loves ballet and The Man. They both challenge her to great extents. However, through her partner’s manipulation, she struggles to distinguish challenges from abuse within her relationship. She sits with this discomfort and slowly transforms into a puppet alone in an attic.
Redolence, Kailee Hayward | 9:03
Kasen has decided it’s time for her family to meet her girlfriend’s family, so she invites both families to her apartment. Kasen wants things to be perfect, so she becomes over controlling. She overhears her younger brothers Timothy and Matt talking about their dead dad and this sets Kasen on a downhill spiral. She yells at her brothers to stop talking about their dad. Her girlfriend pulls her aside to talk about her dad. Kasen realizes she was a jerk to her brothers and apologizes. She tells everyone a story about her dad that makes everyone laugh.
Macabre, Jonah Manibusan | 11:00
Content Warning: *Themes of child and psychological abuse. Portrays psychosis, paranoid delusions, and domestic violence.
Macabre is a haunting psychological thriller that delves into the fractured psyche of Ezekiel, a man tormented by his abusive past and unraveling grip on reality.
Lucent, Sonja Phillips-Thomas | 10:14
On her first mission a spy ends up in a precarious situation.
The Final Project, Naomi Ho | 8:56
Catherine, Emily, and Max need to come up with an idea for their final film. Suddenly, like a twisted miracle, they find themselves in the middle of a spitting zombie apocalypse. This gives them the bright idea to make their film a documentary about the spitting zombies, or as they call them, droolers.
Breakfast for Dinner, Dominique Dargan | 11:00
When Willow and her imaginary friend, Ivy, begin to have larger disputes within their friendship, Willow begins to wonder whether it is time to move on and start a new chapter of her life.
The Lick, James Bah | 11:02
*Content Warning: Violence
The Lick is a drama about Jaheim, a young man grappling with the pressures of a criminal lifestyle imposed by his friends. Years earlier, Jaheim and his close friend Michael were victims of a mugging, an experience that still haunts him to this day. Now, as his friends plot to rob someone, Jaheim faces a moral crossroads: succumb to the cycle of violence or break free to forge his own path.
THANK YOU TO THE FILM AND VIDEO STUDIES ADVISORY BOARD AND JURIES
Theodore A. Adams III
Leola Calzolai-Stewart
Roberto Carmona
Katy Crain
Dean Rick Davis
Zeyn Faddoul
Jim Folliard
Kwanza Gooden
Aaron Goodmiller
Susan Graziano
Alexander Hammett
Melissa Houghton
Clara Kelly
Kiley Kraskouskas
Mahrya MacIntire
Willy Meaux
Chuck Peña
Jalal Reha
Mohammed Saffouri
Rachell Shapiro
Will Sidaros
James Woolard
WITH APPRECIATION TO THE FILM AND VIDEO STUDIES STAFF
Ronae Jones, Marketing & Events Coordinator
Andrew Jorgensen, Technical Manager
Cory Mason, Equipment Cage Supervisor
Maddie Portnoy, Academic Advisor
Samantha Sinagra, Assistant Director
Melanie Smedira, Post-Production Coordinator
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR FILM AND VIDEO STUDIES FACULTY
Cynthia Fuchs, Program Director and Professor
Samirah Alkassim, Term Assistant Professor
Tommy Britt, Professor
Hans Charles, Associate Professor
G. Chesler, Professor
Nikyatu Jusu, Assistant Professor
Amanda Kraus, Term Associate Professor
Heather McDonald, Professor
Benjamin Steger, Associate Professor
Lisa Thrasher, Associate Professor
Maura Ugarte, Assistant Professor
Meagan Arnold, Adjunct Professor
Monica Lee Bellais, Adjunct Professor
Leonard Collins, Adjunct Professor
Robert Farr, Adjunct Professor
Lucy Gebre-Egziabher, Adjunct Professor
Wesley Hunt, Adjunct Professor
Mel Jones, Adjunct Professor
Susan Kehoe, Adjunct Professor
Peter Kimball, Adjunct Professor
May Santiago, Adjunct Professor
Russell Santos, Adjunct Professor
Rebekah Wingert-Jabi, Adjunct Professor