CONWAY—The University of Central Arkansas will host its Fall MFA Thesis film screening Saturday
Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall.
The Digital Filmmaking Program of the Department of Mass Communication and Theatre will screen three graduate thesis films: Flight of the Dinonauts, directed by Steve Nolan; Surrender, directed by Joseph Reho; and Men Among Giants, directed by Jared Smith.
Total running time for the program, which is free and open to the public, will be about 90 minutes.
“The quality of the films keeps improving,” said Dr. Bruce Hutchinson, associate professor and director of graduate studies for digital filmmaking. “And as more of our graduate students graduate and enter the workforce, the higher our program’s reputation will rise.”
Graduate students in film must complete two years of coursework and then present their script to a faculty committee in the spring of their second year for approval before beginning their thesis project. This project is the only work they do in their third year of the program in preparation for the screening. After the screening, they must meet with their faculty committee to have their completed film approved for the Master of Fine Arts degree.
Nolan is from Hot Springs. In Flight of the Dinonauts, a group of friends decides to make a low-budget movie together, but things begin to go wrong when the director begins to take things too seriously.
Reho is from Beaumont, Texas. In Surrender, a young man is forced to face the problems in his own life when he has to help his father prepare for a ten-year sentence in prison.
Smith is from Cabot. In Men Among Giants, a young man who manages his father’s copy and printing business finds his life turned upside down when he discovers a member of the rock band he used to play in has committed suicide.
The three will receive their M.F.A. degrees in UCA’s December commencement if they successfully defend their thesis the week following the screening.
This marks the first fall screening in the program’s history. Four were screened last spring.
“We expect around 10 (next) spring, so we will definitely have a record number of thesis films this year,” Hutchinson said.
For more information, contact Hutchinson at (501) 450-3419 or bruceh@uca.edu.
