Attend an SCA Information Session
Upcoming Events
In-Person SCA Graduate Information Session
July 1, 2025 - December 24, 2025, Varies
SCA Courtyard and Online
Join the SCA Admissions staff for an in-person or an online information session to learn more about applying to the SCA graduate programs for the Fall 2025 semester. Topics will include an overview of the school, programs and facilities, financial aid, Q&A with staff and more!
Meditation Session with Sophia the Robot
November 18, 2025 - November 24, 2025, 12-1 pm and 4-5 pm
SCA Gallery
Daily Meditation Session with Sophia the Robot
Artistically Enhanced AI for Humanizing Robots
November 18, 2025 - November 24, 2025, Daily 10 am - 6 pm
SCA Gallery near the Coffee Bean
Trial demonstrations, posters and exhibits in preparation for our final exhibit in December
SCA Community Check-In
November 19, 2025, 2-3:30 PM
SCI 106
The SCA Community Impact Council invites you to our Community Check-In on Wednesday, November 19, from 2:00 to 3:30 PM. This is an open space to share your thoughts about life at SCA. We want to hear from you about how we make SCA a more welcoming and supportive community and what helps you feel a sense of belonging here. You can share during the meeting or email us at impact@cinema.usc.edu if you would like to send feedback privately.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Where We Goin’? Power of Place: A Multimedia Experience
November 19, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Two short films celebrating excellence, belonging, and Black brilliance.
MANAS
November 19, 2025, 3:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
In the depths of the Amazon rainforest, 13-year-old Tielle grows up with dreams inspired by her older sister's escape. As she matures, the illusions she clings to begin to crumble, revealing a world of deep-rooted exploitation and abuse. Determined to protect her younger sister and reshape their future, she dares to challenge the forces that bind the women in her community, in a poignant exploration of resilience and resistance.
FREQUENCY OF HOPE
November 20, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
In Alaska’s rugged Mat-Su Valley, Erin Moore is a recovering addict and mother who lost her children, her voice, and nearly her life to addiction. Now she runs a beat-up rock-and-roll radio station, using the airwaves to speak honestly about recovery and second chances. As the station becomes a lifeline for others, Erin prepares for a different kind of stage — the Mrs. Alaska pageant — in a deeply personal attempt to reconnect with the family she lost. Frequency of Hope is a raw and redemptive portrait of a woman turning guilt into grace, shame into signal, and finding her way back home.
U.S. Job Market for Visa Holders
November 21, 2025, 2-3:30 PM
Virtual
Join the SCA Community Impact Council for a discussion of the U.S. job market for visa holders. Featuring:
Sophia Goring-Piard (Partner) and Eduardo Garcia (Associate) of the global legal services firm Fragomen, a leading global immigration law firm. They will present on trends among their corporate clients who are hiring international talent for the American media marketplace.
LA BOHÈME
November 23, 2025, 12:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
With its enchanting setting and spellbinding score, the world’s most popular opera is as timeless as it is heartbreaking. Franco Zeffirelli’s picture-perfect production brings 19th-century Paris to the Met stage as Puccini’s young friends and lovers navigate the joy and struggle of bohemian life. Sopranos Juliana Grigoryan, Angel Blue, and Aleksandra Kurzak trade off as the feeble seamstress Mimì, opposite tenors Freddie De Tommaso, Stephen Costello, Adam Smith, and Long Long as the ardent poet Rodolfo.
THE SECRET AGENT
November 24, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival but soon realizes that the city is not the safe haven he was expecting.
LA GRAZIA
December 1, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Mariano De Santis is the President of the Italian Republic. No connection to any real-life presidents; he is entirely a product of the author's imagination. A widower and a Catholic, he has a daughter, Dorotea, a legal scholar like himself. As his term draws to a close, amid uneventful days, two final duties arise: deciding on two delicate petitions for a presidential pardon. True moral dilemmas, which become tangled in ways that seem impossible to unravel, with his private life. Driven by doubt, he will have to decide. And, with a deep sense of responsibility, that is exactly what this remarkable Italian President will do.
DUST BUNNY
December 1, 2025, 2:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Ten-year-old Aurora has a mysterious neighbor (Mads Mikkelsen) who kills real-life monsters. He’s a hit man for hire. So, when Aurora needs help killing the monster she believes ate her entire family, she procures his services. Suspecting that her parents may have fallen victim to assassins gunning for him, Aurora’s neighbor guiltily takes the job. Now, to protect her, he’ll need to battle an onslaught of assassins - and accept that some monsters are real.
STRANGER EYES
December 2, 2025, 3:00 P.M.
The Michelle and Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre, RZC 119, Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, 3131 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
After the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter, a young couple receives strange videos and realizes someone has been filming their daily life — even their most intimate moments. The police sets up surveillance around their home to catch the voyeur, but the family starts to crumble as secrets unravel under the scrutiny of eyes watching them from all sides.
CHAMPIONS OF THE GOLDEN VALLEY
December 2, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
The Michelle and Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre, RZC 119, Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, 3131 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
After narrowly missing his chance to become Afghanistan's first Olympic skier, Alishah Farhang returns to the remote mountains of his homeland to inspire a vibrant new ski culture. Bringing together young athletes from rival villages with makeshift wooden skis and secondhand gear, he organizes a ski race like no other, uniting his community in a moment of joy, hope and triumph. When their world is suddenly upended, he and the athletes must call upon those lessons learned on the slopes to find their way forward.
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
December 3, 2025, 3:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Spanning three decades, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends — writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley. Originally produced on Broadway in 1981, then becoming an inventive cult-classic ahead of its time, Merrily We Roll Along features some of Stephen Sondheim’s most celebrated and personal songs.
THE TALE OF SILYAN
December 3, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
From the Oscar-nominated director of HONEYLAND comes a poignant and visually arresting story set in the heart of rural Macedonia. Nikola, a farmer grappling with the harsh realities of new government policies, finds himself unable to sell his land or crops. When his family leaves in search of a better life abroad, Nikola takes a job as a landfill attendant, where he encounters the injured white stork Silyan. As he nurses the bird back to health, an unlikely bond forms between man and animal. The result is a deeply moving film that touches on climate change, economic migration, resilience and the quiet power of connection.
MAGELLAN
December 4, 2025, 2:00 P.M.
The Michelle and Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre, RZC 119, Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, 3131 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
At the dawn of the modern era, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan navigated a fleet of ships to Southeast Asia, attempting the first voyage across the vast Pacific Ocean. On reaching the Malay Archipelago, the crew pushed to the brink of madness in the harshness of the high seas and overwhelming natural beauty of the islands, Magellan's obsession leads to a rebellion and reckoning with the consequences of power. A vast, globe-spanning epic from Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz (Norte, the End of History), MAGELLAN presents the colonization of the Philippines as a primal, shocking encounter with the unknown and a radical retelling of European narratives of discovery and exploration.
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY (1993)
December 5, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Oscar®-winners Anthony Hopkins (1993, The Silence of the Lambs) and Emma Thompson (1992, Howards End) reunite with the acclaimed Merchant Ivory filmmaking team for this extraordinary and moving story of blind devotion and repressed love. Hopkins stars as Stevens, the perfect English butler - an ideal carried by him to fanatical lengths - as he serves his master, Lord Darlington, beautifully played by James Fox (The Servant). Darlington, like many other members of the British establishment in the 1930s, is duped by the Nazis into trying to establish a rapport between themselves and the British government. Thompson stars as the estate's housekeeper, a high-spirited, strong-minded young woman who watches the goings-on upstairs with horror. Despite her apprehensions, she and Stevens gradually fall in love, though neither will admit it, and only give vent to their charged feelings via fierce arguments. Marvelously acted by a supporting cast that includes Christopher Reeve and Hugh Grant.
The Actor's Director Workshop
December 6, 2025, 11:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M.
The Michelle and Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre, RZC 119, Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, 3131 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
There is that rare breed of Director that just “knows” how to get the best out of the actor -- giving them a sense of freedom, inspiring courage, and bringing clarity. The opportunity in collaborative storytelling is finding ways to bring out the best in each other. Discover the most important aspect of filmmaking and performance -- the communication between directors and actors.
A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1986)
December 7, 2025, 2:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
A Room With a View captured the attention of the world upon its release, bringing the novel by E.M. Forster to dazzling life in the Florentine countryside and in the well-appointed homes of the English Edwardian upper classes. A comedy of manners with a quick wit and impeccable comic timing, A Room With A View is also a portrait of the quiet solitude that lies beneath Forster's characters, and of the need for human connection in a world of rigid convention. The young Englishwoman Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter), arrives in Florence on a Baedecker-style grand tour with her aunt Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith). Through a series of events involving English expatriates Miss Eleanor Lavish, an unflappable novelist (Judi Dench), and the Emersons, a free-thinking father and son (Denholm Elliot and Julian Sands), Lucy's life is changed forever under a loggia in Florence and in the Tuscan countryside.
MR. & MRS. BRIDGE (1990)
December 7, 2025, 5:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward give "the performances of their careers" (Judith Crist) in Merchant Ivory's adaptation of Evan S. Connell's two novels Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge, artfully combined into one screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Walter and India Bridge (Newman and Woodward) are a Midwestern American couple struggling to keep up with the changing world around them in 1930s America. Mr. Bridge, a stout-hearted, staunch paterfamilias, quietly lords over his children -- Ruth (Kyra Sedgwick), Carolyn (Margaret Welsh), and Douglas (Robert Sean Leonard) -- and his wife, who is warm and kind but lacks the independence to forge an identity apart from her husband. As the music, the mores, and the politics of Kansas City are transformed in front of them, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge attempt to keep up with the drama of a changing society within their own family: Ruth wants to go to New York and become an actress; Carolyn is determined to marry a man whom her father deems unsuitable; Douglas is embarrassed by his mother's attentions and rebukes her attempts at intimacy.
MISTRESS DISPELLER
December 8, 2025, 3:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a “mistress dispeller” who is hired to maintain the bonds of marriage — and break up affairs — by any means necessary. Offering strikingly intimate access to private dramas usually hidden behind closed doors, Mistress Dispeller follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis. Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.
NO OTHER CHOICE
December 9, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
From director Park Chan-wook and based on Donald E. Westlake's novel THE AX, the story follows Man-su on his desperate hunt for a new job after his abrupt layoff from the paper company he served for 25 years.
IML-499: Wanna Make Your Own DIY Music Video?
January 14, 2026 - May 6, 2026, 4:00 P.M. - 6:50 P.M. on Wednesdays
USC School of Cinematic Arts
Taught by Professors Evan Hughes and Michael Bodie. No D-Clearance Needed!
IML-460: AI and Creativity
January 15, 2026 - May 7, 2026, 10:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. on Thursdays
USC School of Cinematic Arts
This hands-on exploration of AI introduces new tools and creative techniques while also examining the myriad controversies related to this paradigm-changing technology in a theory/practice format.