2008 International Student Profiles

Lebanon

Adonis
Adonis is currently a student at the Universite Saint Joseph (Institut D’etudes sceniques et audiovisuelles) who has been a Chief Editor for a TV news show and an executive producer for short movies and documentaries.  She was born in Beirut, and after college, she hopes to enroll in a masters degree program in television production, and eventually a Ph.D. in Cinematography with a research emphasis on mass media, popular culture and the film industry.  She considers multiculturalism as her favorite theme of life.  In addition to her studies, she enjoys folkloric dancing, scuba diving and is a member of an organization for children against cancer. 

Sarah
Born in Beirut, Sarah is a student at the Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts who has produced numerous video projects and is also an animator, illustrator  and painter.  Her work has been in exhibitions and she has also served as a set designer and executive director of a theater performance in Beirut.  After graduation, Sarah plans to enroll in a masters program specializing in new media art with the goal one day of creating an animated film about Beirut. 

Naji
A citizen of Lebanon, Naji was born in Germany, and is a student at Notre Dame University, Louaize who is majoring in communication arts with an emphasis on radio, television and film.  He is also a freelance editor and has been an intern at Al Sumaria TV in Lebanon.  After graduation, Naji plans to pursue a Masters degree in Fine Arts, and hopes eventually to work on films with a special emphasis on scriptwriting and directing.  He would also like to teach and pass on what he has learned to the next generation of filmmakers.  Naji is an active member of the Lebanese Red Cross and is in charge of media and public relations in his village. 

Egypt

Aida
Aida is studying at the Academy of Arts, Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo, and she has directed numerous short films and documentaries in Arabic and English.  She has also worked on several films in different capacities including as a first assistant director and a continuity supervisor.  She has also received additional training through workshops in German. 

After graduation, she plans to pursue a graduate degree in filmmaking with the eventual goal of being a director.   Aida is particularly interested in Egyptian poetry, human rights issues, and enjoys dancing and playing music. 

Alaa
Alaa was born in Kuwait, is a citizen of Egypt and lives in Cairo where she attends the Academy of Arts, Higher Institute of Cinema where this year she will direct her first short movie.  Her future plans are to be a film director.  Alaa also has a degree in English Literature, and her interests include Formula One car racing, attending live concerts, movies.  She is also a member on a handball team. 

Hossam
Hossam is also a student at the Academy of Arts, Higher Institute of Cinema who is specializing in editing.  He has edited four short movies and two documentaries.  After graduation, he would like to increase his knowledge in editing in an academic setting and eventually working professionally in the Egyptian cinema industry.  He is interested in finding bridges between the West and the East, and believes that this program will help him develop the artistic language to build those bridges.  He enjoys reading, listening to music, dancing, singing and acting. 

France

Nora
Nora is a graduate student from the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris. She is now working at the Festival de Cannes. She has been a screenwriter, stage manager, festival coordinator and production assistant. She is also involved in several associations including one she created in 2004 to promote Eastern European culture abroad. Nora always plays several roles in the cultural events she sets. Last year she organized a contemporary art exhibition for which she shot a "making-off" released on DVD and some experimental movies that got exhibited as well. She often conceives posters for the cultural events she contributes to, as she has been drawing since childhood. While in the Lycée (she spent her Terminale in London), Nora wrote music for students short movies. She has a strong interest in Polish cinema and graphics (she has lived one year in Cracow and speaks Polish fluently). She has now completed several internships in the cinema domain, and plans to enter a film school next year.  

Eline
Eline attends Lettres Superieures at Henri Poincaré High School with a major in Film Studies after receiving her Baccalaureate as a cinema major where she wrote several scripts and produced two short films.  She hopes to attend La Sorbonne for graduate studies. Eline is an avid filmgoer who belongs to a cinema association and attends the cinema up to three times a week. 

She has attended several film festivals including Cannes last year.  In the future she is considering being a film reviewer or scriptwriter. 

Bastien
Bastien attended Ecole Normale Superieure de Lettres in Lyon where he received his Baccalaureate with high Distinction and is now in his first year in the Film Study major.  He has produced a short film, created a theater group with friends and is interested in several aspects of cinema, including production, distribution, theory and esthetics. 

The Philippines

Arby
Arby was born in Manila and is currently a student at Far Eastern University where he has received awards for cinematography and sound in the films he has made.  He has directed and shot several short films, both narrative and documentaries, and served an internship at the national film center.  He has participated in several workshops in screenwriting, video seminars, and various forums.  He is the head, Creative Committee of the university’s film society and has a special interest in cinematography, lighting and sound.  After graduation, he plans to pursue a master’s degree in filmmaking at the University of the Philippines. 

Helen
Helen is a student at Miriam College in Quezon City, majoring in communication arts.  She has written, directed and edited three projects and she has a special interest in film production, acting in theater and she co-wrote a stage play for a theater group.  This year, she received a school award for “best in television production” and “best in journalism.”  She is also the editor-in-chief of the online Communication Arts and Advertising’s department newsletter, and is on the varsity badminton team.  After graduation, she intends to pursue graduate studies in film production, broadcasting and theater production. 

Jet
Jet is a student at Far Eastern University in Manila in the Department of Mass Communications where he has acted in, written, edited and directed several screenplays and theater productions, including being awarded honors for his work as a director, actor and writer.  He has participated in a screenwriting workshop and workshops led by leading Filipino filmmakers.  He is the vice president of the university’s film society and the president/executive director of its theater guild, and is a musician (guitar, bass, drums) and a photographer.  He also serves as an intern at the Independent Filmmakers of the Philippines.

Mexico

Veronica
Born in Mexico City, Veronica is currently a student at the Universidad Iberoamericana, and she has already been quite successful with her writing and directing.  She has collaborated on two scripts that have been bought by a production company in Mexico City;  she wrote, directed, photographed, and animated a short film, and she was involved in the production of a documentary about the Acteal Massacre in Chiapas several years ago.  Veronica has worked as a translator for the Spanish versions of Glamour and GQ magazines and she provides translations for film subtitling.  She is an avid photographer and also practices meditation and yoga.  After graduation, she hopes to pursue a master’s degree in film and screenwriting either in the U.S., England or Japan. 


Ana
Ana attends the Centro Capacitacion Cinematográfica and the Universidad Autónoma Metroplitana where she is studying psychology which she says is a key tool for scriptwriting.  Ana has directed, acted in and written several plays for several years, beginning in high school and continuing through the university.  She is a member of Life Quality Project International, a group focused on well-being through courses and medical help.  Her special interests include gestalt psychology, music, classic physics, absurd drama, comic strips, poetry, short stories, cooking, studying the works of important filmmakers, theatre and concerts. She is also involved in African percussion, flamenco dance and paper mache crafts. 


Ana Victoria
Ana Victoria is a student at Universidad de Monterrey majoring in Mass Media, and has also taken several production courses at The Film Workshops-Monterrey.  After graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in filmmaking. She currently hosts a weekly radio show about cinema history and has participated in the production of several short films.  Ana’s special interests include news reporting, acting, creative writing, cooking, voluntary teaching and working on humanitarian aid projects, including missionary work in Kenya with the Maasai.

United States

Dylan
Dylan will be a senior at the University of Oklahoma where he is a double major in Political Science and Film and Video Studies.  He is the co-creator and writer and producer of a local sitcom television series, CUSTER AND JULIUS that runs on the local cable station.  He has lived in Oklahoma City most of his life but has traveled in the U.S., and one time to Aruba in the Caribbean.  He is an avid soccer player, and his career goal lies in comic television screenwriting and film production.  Dylan is part Native American, admires director Tim Burton, and this will be his first visit to Los Angeles. 



Emily
Emily will be a senior at Elon University in North Carolina.  Majoring in Cinema Communications, Emily has directed several student documentaries and has been a camera operator, art director and audio director on others.  Born in Ohio, she and her family moved to German when she was four and spent the next ten years living there and going to school.  Among her interests are soccer, indoor rock climbing, photography and theater.  Emily is fluent in German and has intermediate Spanish language skills.  If given the opportunity, she would like to study film with director Guillermo del Toro.


Damir
Damir will be a junior at University of California, Berkeley with a double major in physics and film studies.  He has taken several film classes including Silent Cinema, Sound Cinema, and Japanese Cinema as well as production.  After graduation, he hopes to attend graduate school in film production.  Damir was born in Bosnia, is fluent is Serbo-Croatian, and “conversationally fluent” in Spanish.  His interests include reading, writing, camping and saving money for a camera.  He admires Japanese director Uasujiro Ozu because of the topics he selects and the sincerity within his work. 


Alexandra
Alexandra will enter her senior year at Wake Forest University with a double major in History and Film Studies and a minor in Italian.  In addition to her schoolwork, Alexandra is the president and CEO of Wake Forest’s television station, has written and directed several programs for the station, and is the founder and executive director of the university’s film festival.  She says she speaks Italian proficiently as well as Spanish.  She’s traveled internationally and spent a college semester and part of a summer in Italy.  She considers film and television writer Aaron Sorkin as a person with whom she would like to study. 


Diana
Diana will be a senior at the University of California, Berkeley with a double major in Political Science and Film.  She has a Latino background and grew up in El Paso, Texas speaking Spanish and English. She also speaks basic German and is teaching herself Arabic.  She has been involved in several student films as a director, writer, editor, cinematographer, and producer, and has taken classes in acting, screenwriting, improvisation, film history, and advanced digital filmmaking. She enjoys dance, volleyball, painting, writing, surfing, travel and several other activities.  She hopes to continue her education into graduate school.  Diana admires director Michel Ghondry for his films and music videos.