
January 16, 2024
Emerging filmmakers at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) learn theory as well as experiencing first-hand, the writing, planning, shooting, editing and screening of an original film to a live audience.

This immersion in the start-to-finish aspects of filmmaking culminates each semester at a student film festival with a red-carpet vibe. Most recently, on December 10 the BMCC Cinema Arts Club presented the Fall 2023 BMCC Film Festival in Theater Two at the College’s 199 Chambers Street campus.
Documentary filmmaker and Media Arts and Technology Professor Anastassios (Tassos) Rigopoulos guided the event’s student organizers.
“Even though the festival took place on a very rainy Sunday, the audience turnout was quite satisfactory and viewers responded warmly to the students’ work,” said Professor Rigopoulos.
Three esteemed film professionals donated their time as judges for the festival.

Acclaimed cinematographer Eliana Alvarez Martinez has traveled extensively in her work, and is known for projects including a film about the small community of Cabo Pulmo in Mexico, where fishermen stopped fishing and focused on environmental protection, resulting in a remarkable transformation of the area. Eliana has also worked with the BBC to uncover unique stories and perspectives.
“The student film festival at BMCC provides a setting in which the students can feel truly rewarded for their hard work,” she says. “Even more importantly, it acquaints students with the high standards they will be expected to uphold in a professional setting, such as meeting film submission deadlines, and paying attention to the details that judges notice and are part of their criteria for an award-winning film.”
Other judges included George Elias Stephanopoulos, an independent producer and TV/film attorney who serves as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Vox Media Studios, an award-winning nonfiction production and distribution studio for multiple TV and streaming platforms.
Finally, festival judge DeWitt Davis is an associate programmer at Metrograph and short film programmer at DOC NYC, an annual documentary film festival in New York City. He has worked for multiple North American film festivals in the technical and programming teams, as well as having worked in film restoration and taught classes in motion picture film for Kodak.

Recent alumni who garnered accolades at BMCC student film festivals include Carla Franchesca Robles, Renzo Esposito and Jeremiah Chaparro. Each has gone on to win awards at national and international film festivals for their documentaries that tackle economic injustice, the inhumanity of war, immigrant rights and other important issues.
The most recent student filmmakers recognized in a BMCC festival are as follows:
ACTING
Katya Pylova* for “Dutch Oven”

ANIMATION
Winner: “Brothers,” by Steven Vargas
Honorable Mentions: 3D Animation Final Project by Jessie Guerrero; “Surgery,” by Emily Montanez and “Ham’s Café,” by Rebecca Rivera
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: “Hollow-Ween,” by Roberto Cohetero Flores
CLIENT-BASED FILM
Winner: “A Dog’s Mission,” by Maribel Gomez
DIRECTING
Winner: “What Really Matters,” by Ana Galvis
Honorable Mention: “Brothers,” by Steven Vargas
DOCUMENTARY
Winner: “Brushing Dreams,” by Daiane Quicine
Honorable Mention: “Hollow-Ween,” by Roberto Cohetero Flores

EDITING
Winner: “Musical Seeds,” by Becky Lamming
Honorable Mention: “What Really Matters,” by Ana Galvis
EXPERIMENTAL FILM, MONTAGE OR MUSIC VIDEO
Winner: “What Really Matters,” by Ana Galvis
FICTION
Winner: “Dutch Oven,” by Michael Schnick
THE MVRP FOUNDATION RISING STAR AWARD
Jerome Gayman
The Rising Star Award is presented at each BMCC Film Festival in memory of the late Michael Vincent Rosen Pipitone, who was a BMCC student.

SCREENPLAY
Winner: “Dutch Oven,” by Michael Schnick
Honorable Mention: “Humanity’s Quest for Improvement,” by Steve Holloway
SOUND
Winner: “Demon Battle,” by Eyron Feliciano
Honorable Mentions: “We Will Find You,” by Jacob Pohorelsky and “McDonald’s Commercial,” by Michael Schnick
“BMCC has opened doors for me to become a highly skilled filmmaker.”
Video Arts and Technology major Sofia Galvis, who won Best Director, Best Experimental Film and received Honorable Mention for Editing, says she chose BMCC “because of its outstanding program in film and television.”
Moreover, she says, “BMCC has consistently opened doors for me to become a highly skilled filmmaker. I genuinely believe that the programs and classes offered meet exceptionally high standards, preparing me for a successful future in the audiovisual industry.”
Her film involved five months of pre-production, filming and recording. “Every scene was thoughtfully planned, each shot was premeditated,” she says. “This project was executed with love, patience, passion and above all, an eye for quality.”
Galvis adds that sharing the film festival awards with her family back in Colombia, “was truly rewarding.”
“BMCC professors care more about their students, hands down.”
Video Arts and Technology major Michael Schnick took home a win in both the Fiction and Best Screenplay categories for his film “Dutch Oven,” which featured Katya Pylova, who won Best Actor. In addition, Schnick entered a McDonald’s commercial in the festival, and it garnered Honorable Mention for sound.
“I think ‘Dutch Oven’ won Best Fiction because it’s a unique concept,” he says. “It was great to be able to share my film with an audience on the big screen. It has drama, comedy and suspense, but it’s about farts. Yes, farts.”
As for why he chose BMCC, “I knew they had a good film program,” he says. “I also take film classes at The New School, and while I can say The New School might have more funding, as far as equipment goes, the BMCC professors care more about their students, hands down. It’s like night and day.”
“I feel like I’ve found a great community here at BMCC.”
Roberto Cohetero Flores, also majoring in Video Arts and Technology, chose BMCC because of its reputation for having good media arts programs, he says.
His film “Hollow-Ween” won Best Cinematography and an honorable mention in the category Documentary.
“I feel that my film was selected for these awards because of the authentic feel and visuals of Halloween,” he says. “Following my younger cousin throughout our neighborhood to capture a kid’s excitement at getting as much candy as possible was my intention, as well as to include other kids and show how differently they respond to trick or treating.”
He adds that the festival “was a great experience—seeing everyone’s works, being impressed, and inspired. I feel like I’ve found a great community here at BMCC.”
*not a BMCC student
Photo credit: Student volunteer and Video Arts and Technology major Valeriya Fadeyeva
Learn more about the BMCC Media Arts and Technology department, which provides three programs: Animation and Motion Graphics, Multimedia Programming and Design, and Video Arts and Technology.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
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BMCC Cinema Arts Club presents Fall 2023 BMCC Film Festival in Theater Two at 199 Chambers Street campus, Dec. 10
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Acclaimed cinematographers and film professionals Eliana Alvarez Martinez, George Elias Stephanopoulos and DeWitt Davis donate their time as judges, selecting winners’ films in categories including documentary, fiction, experimental, animation and client-based films
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According to student filmmaker Michael Schnick, “I feel like I’ve found a great community here at BMCC.”