Film Alumni and Current Student Selected at New York Film Festival's Artist Academy

Film alumni Barbara Cigarroa '18, Ellie Foumbi '17 and current student Johnson Cheng were selected at this year’s New York Film Festival’s Artist Academy. The Artist Academy, in its eighteenth edition, is “an immersive four-day program for filmmakers early in their careers. Tapping into both the Lincoln Center and New York film communities, the private four-day program is comprised of talks, workshops, and screenings” as stated in the press release by the festival’s website.

Barbara Cigarroa is a Mexican-American filmmaker from South Texas with a passion for Hispanic narratives. Her Columbia University thesis film God Never Dies (Dios Nunca Muere), produced by alumna Julie O'Leary '16, also premiered at this year’s New York Film Festival in the New York Stories shorts segment. Her previous short Marta Rosa played at several film festivals including Palm Springs International ShortsFest where it won the Best North American Short Under 15 minutes. Cigarroa’s feature script The Other Side was invited to participate in IFP’s 2018 No Borders Co-Production Market.

Ellie Foumbi is an American filmmaker born in Cameroon. Her Columbia thesis film Zenith was a Student Academy Award Semifinalist and has played at many International Film Festivals. She is the recipient of the IFP Marcie Bloom Fellowship and Jessit Thompkins III Award in Screenwriting. She is also a Film Independent Screenwriting Lab Fellow and planning her debut feature film, to be shot in the spring of 2019.

Johnson Cheng is a Chinese American filmmaker from Los Angeles. His film Iron Hands screened at over 100 film festivals and won many awards including Best Student Short at Palm Springs International ShortsFest. Cheng has been part of the Telluride Student Symposium and is a recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation Award 2018.