Cast and Crew of Yulin Yang's film "Star"
THIS WEEK'S "ON YOUR RADAR" IS A SPECIAL SEGMENT, SHOWCASING GRAD FILM'S SECOND YEAR CLASS OF 2019.
READ ABOUT THEIR INSPIRATIONS, FILMMAKING PROCESSES, AND WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND THEIR UPCOMING SHOWCASE ON MAY 11TH AND 12TH AT THE CANTOR FILM CENTER.
Behind the Scenes of Aisha Ford's Film "Ford"
What inspires you?
"People the world overlooks and people that have to try twice has hard to live each and every day." - Kaili Torres
"As a Chinese national and a global citizen, I’m always amazed by how much the common human experience connects us all together, and how some things are fundamentally lost in translation." - Eris Qian
"Time." - Youmin Kang
"Music. Each piece of music translates into images. With rhythm, those images form moments. If the moments have enough complexity, they develop into stories." - Mélanie Akoka
"My creative work reimagines traditional representations of black masculinity and male identity and invests strongly in destigmatizing mental illness within the black community." - Terrance Daye
"The strong women in my life, from my mother to my ex girlfriend who helped me write this script and turned it from a confused mess to something I am truly proud of. These women have devoted a great deal of their lives to helping the world as well as me, despite the fact that they should have given up on me a long time ago." - Cary Mason
"Music and my family. Trauma and true stories. Destigmatization. Celebrating the complexity of life and representing faces and stories that haven’t been seen on screen." - Rachel Gordon
"People, places, and puppies." - Amanda Giampaolo
"I have a special affection for characters who are single-minded—fully committed to one thing." - Alyssa Loh
"Exchanging looks with passengers on the NYC subway." - Mate Vincze
Behind the Scenes of Joseph Longo's film "My Name is Thomas Cain"
What was your biggest triumph from making your film?
"I think my biggest triumph was setting the goal of working with a kid with Down Syndrome, working through it and conveying that in the film in a believable way. This was my main goal when writing this movie, and I hope my experience inspires others to create stories with Down Syndrome actors and people with other disabilities to open the film industry to a wider range and variety of people." - Noelia Muíño
"Allowing myself to be vulnerable throughout the journey of making this film. Be ambitious and give permission to myself to not know everything." - Gustavo Milan
"Working with more experienced actors than I had in other projects was one of my goals, and it was an awesome experience. Also, I wrote longer dialogue, exploring humor in a different language and culture." - Mauro Fernandez
"Rearranging the furniture and leaving everything organized in 30 minutes without causing any damage in a rented Airbnb apartment after an intense shoot." - Mate Vincze
"Producing and shooting on multiple real locations with over a hundred extras." - Yulin Yang
"Being able to translate the authenticity of a world present in my imagination." - Nay Tabbara
"It felt like a greatly positive experience during and at the end of filming." - John Miller
Behind the Scenes of Rachel Gordon's film "Broken Bird"
What was the biggest lesson you learned making your film?
"We lost one card on set because of a miscommunication between crew members. In the end, we had to shoot extra hours to finish the film. It was such a bad experience, but I'm lucky that all crew members were helping me finish the shoot on time. But next time, I will be super careful about footage management." - Yuan Yuan
"You can't avoid being yourself. Better enjoy it." - Gustavo Milan
"There will be snow days and cancellations that you cannot do anything about." - Aisha Ford
"Keep working with these people and supporting each other. It's impossible to make a movie without people heavily invested in helping you share your voice." - Joseph Longo
"You can do it with a small crew." - Jeff Rutherford
Behind the Scenes of Uzoma Emukah's "730"
"To just do it! Things may seem insurmountable, but if you convince yourself that you are going to make this film, and you get some kings and queens to uphold you along the way, it will happen!" - Uzoma Emukah
"No matter the obstacles put in front of you, if something is meant to happen, it will happen. There were a lot challenges during this film. I was able to work through them with my amazing crew and cast to make my film. Never give up no matter what happens unexpectedly." - Latifah Todd
"Write better, imagine better, fail better." - Avi Kabir
Behind the Scenes of Amir Mosallaie's film "Rational Satanism"
Why should people attend the Showcase?
"Since we shot our films all over the world, I'd say it's a very cheap way to visit seven states and nine countries in just two days." - Maria Lavelle
"Buñuel said that the pinnacle of filmmaking will be reached when you or I can take a pill, turn off the lights, sit in front of a bare wall and project on it, directly from our gaze, the film that passes through our heads. This is not possible yet. Nevertheless you still can come to our showcase." - Jorge Sistos Moreno
"There is some small new born magic in each and every one of our films, and it's interesting to see how this magic is trying to grow up." - Asia Khmelova
"It's a celebration! We need you there as a witness of how far we've come and how much further we still have to go." - Terrance Daye
"38 students producing the most ambitious films they ever have and throwing them up on the big screen for the public to see? There's no reason not to participate in this circus!" - Amir Mosallaie
