News
Recent alumna Camila Zavala '19 was selected as one of seven 2019 Film Independent Producers Lab Fellows. She was also the sole winner of a $30,000 Sloan Producers Grant to further develop her Producing Lab project, Malpelo.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, a video game written by filmmaking alumni Jesse Gustafson '15, Nic Yulo '18, William Welles '17 and Ajani Jackson '15, among others, was released on October 4 on PS4 and Xbox One.
Since the film release of Moulin Rouge, Baz Luhrman’s dramatic musical has continued to capture the hearts of bohemians, artists, and audiences around the world. The 2001 film garnered critical acclaim, gaining the attention of Broadway producers. As the film transitioned to the stage, the script, adapted by playwright John Logan, continued to evolve. From workshops, to developmental labs, to the Boston premiere and finally to Broadway, Moulin Rouge!, directed by Alex Timbers, underwent numerous rewrites in order to become the dazzling spectacle that shines at the …
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York reopened to the public on Oct. 21 since its closing in June, revealing a $450 million expansion and breathtaking renovations, including a 30% increase in space. This major reinstallation of art across all 170,000 square feet of the museum has been largely admired by visitors and critics alike; the New York Times praised this expansion for being “possibly unprecedented.” “These exhibitions, several of which are reviewed below, clarify the museum’s ambitious reformation project and provide a valuable commentary on the permanent…
Yellowjackets, a coming of age drama created and written by alumna Ashley Lyle ’07 and Bart Nickerson, has been picked up by Showtime. The duo will also serve as executive producers and showrunners on the series.
Several Columbia filmmakers screened films at the 2019 Heartland Film Festival earlier this month.
After a successful run at Cherry Lane Theatre, The Happy Garden of Life by Playwriting Alumna Anna Jastrzembski ‘19 opened at New Ohio Theatre. The play has been in development for two years, with its first incarnation (titled A Modest Proposal) having a sold out three night engagement. Since it’s sold out run, The Happy Garden of Life gained a new producer, alumna Halla Tryggvadottir ’19, and a new script. With original music composed by Emily Erickson and sound design by current Columbia student Jacob Robinson, Jastrzembski…
Poetry Alumna Isabella DeSendi '17 was recently announced as a winner of the 2019 Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowships. DeSendi won in the "under 30" category for her book, Through the New Body. Selected by the poet Evie Shockley, Through the New Body is a collection of poems excised from DeSendi’s thesis, Enter Spirit. “In retrospect, it makes sense that these poems started with the spirit and moved into a new body where they are still learning to heal and love and begin again. At the risk of being too transparent, this chapbook is about sexual…
“Witty and honest and unflinchingly unsentimental,” is the verdict of the Kirkus Reviews of Adjunct Assistant Professor Lara Vapnyar's book, Divide Me By Zero, published October 15.“It’s almost impossible to put the book down without devouring it in one sitting.”
Wai Lau, a current student in the visual arts program, is currently featured in four group exhibits across the world, two in Hong Kong, and two in the U.S.
Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies Anelise Chen was recently selected for The National Book Foundations list of ‘5 under 35’, for her book So Many Olympic Exertions.
“Fierce, sometimes chaotic” wrote Stephanie Burt of The New York Times about Slingshot, a poetry collection by alumnus Cyrèe Jarelle Johnson ’19, out from Nightboat Books. These poems that “present themselves as homemade weapons,” Burt wrote, “take aim against authority figures, racism, malign parents, deal with body degradation, violence and pellucid queer intimacies.” These poems have a such a strong energy force field, poets such as Dorothea Lasky called the book a “timeless lyric” with “language so deeply exquisite that it pierces through you.”
Endlings, by playwriting alumna Celine Song ’14 is set to play at New York Theatre Workshop in the 2019/2020 season. Song’s play received its world premiere at the American Repertory Theatre. The multiplot story directed by Sammi Cannold, was selected for the 2018 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.
Searching for Mr. Rugoff, a documentary directed by professor Ira Deutchman, will have its world premiere at the DOC NYC Festival this November.
The Student Spotlight series aims to highlight the work of current MFA students, asking them to share thoughts on their practice by answering curated and peer-submitted questions.