Film News

The Legacy of Milos Forman

In 1978, esteemed director Milos Forman ​and his​ ​Screenwriting​ mentor​ Frank Daniel​ ​were appointed co-chairs of the Film Program. Under their leadership, the program flourished and became the world-renowned institution of film education that it is today. In many ways, Forman was the "creative founder" of Columbia Film, having shaped and refined its ​commitment to narrative​ filmmaking anchored in strong screenplays. He ​gave it​ a character as distinct as his own​—original, passionate​, ​intelligent​, and international.

News

Film Independent’s Next Generation: Project Involve welcomes 30 new fellows for 2019, including Columbia film alumni Apoorva Charan ’18, Rammy Park ’11, current film student Johnson Cheng, and poetry alumna Stephanie Adams-Santos ’09.

Producing alumnus and faculty mumber, Shrihari Sathe '09, won the Producers Award at the Spirit Awards Filmmakers Grant 2019. The 22nd annual Awards were presented at the Nominee Brunch on Saturday, January 5, 2019 in West Hollywood. The purpose of this award is  to honor emerging producers who, "despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films,” as stated on the Film Independent website. As a recipient of this award, Sathe has become a Film Independent Fellow and received an unrestricted…

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, a screenplay written by alumni David Light '02 and Joseph Raso '04 that premiered last year, was nominated for a Humanitas Prize for Children's Teleplay.

Aralık (Lacuna), a feature film written by current student Selman Nacar has been awarded a grant of 100,000 TL from the Malatya Film Platform. The Official Selections were announced at the 8th Malatya International Film Festival in Istanbul, Turkey.

At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, two films by Alumni were nominated, Green Book, directed and co-written by writing alumnus Peter Farrelly '86 and Ralph Breaks the Internet co-directed and co-written by film alumnus Phil Johnston '04.

Current Student, Ryan Patrick Lonergan's feature film, Kill the Monsters, premiered in June at Frameline, the largest LGBTQ film festival in the world. 

Two alumni were recognized at the MedFilm Festival in Rome.

Costa Brava Lebanon, a feature film project co-written & directed by alumni Mounia Akl '17 and co-written by Clara Roquet '16, participated in the TorinoFilmLab's Feature Lab, where it won a 4 TFL Co-Production Award and Grant of € 200,000.

Film Alumni Barbara Cigarroa ‘18Chantel Clark ‘18Mounia Akl ‘17Clara Roquet ‘16 and current student Nehir Tuna have been selected for the extremely competitive Screenwriters Lab at the Sundance Institute.

Thirty-seven School of the Arts filmmakers, including writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, and post-supervisors, will showcase at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 24 to February 3.

Alumnus George Sikharulidze '17 was selected for the Cannes Film Festival's Cinéfondation residency, which runs through February 2019.

Informer, a series written by alumni Rory Haines ‘11 and Sohrab Noshirvani '12, is now airing on BBC One, and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

The Blue List

Columbia University Blue List Script Competition connects the Film Program’s most talented recent graduates with leading professionals in the world of film and television. The Blue List represents the most esteemed, un-produced screenplays and television pilots written by Film & Playwriting graduates of the Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

Student Series

Headshot of Angeline Dimambro
Life After Film School

by Angeline Dimambro

This series catches up with Columbia filmmakers who have recently graduated to discuss what they’re doing now and their goals for the future.

Headshot of Carlos Barragan
This is Who We Are

by Carlos Barragán

A series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making.

Headshot of Felix van Kann
Columbia Filmmakers Connect

by Felix van Kann

Features the new mentorship program that connects recent alumni with industry professionals. 

Aisha Amin
Weekend Watchlist

by Aisha Amin

Features Columbia Film Professors, discussing their best film and TV recommendations for aspiring filmmakers.

Frozen poster

Writer and co-director: Jennifer Lee '05

Superbad poster

Writer-director: Greg Mottola '91

Zero Dark Thirty poster

Writer, director, producer: Kathryn Bigelow '79

Logan poster

Co-writer and director: James Mangold '99

Yellowjackets poster

Co-creator, executive producer, writer: Ashley Lyle '07

Shirkers poster

Writer-director: Sandi Tan '00