Stanford University

Fresh on The New Yorker site: Ted Griswold’s (’20) portrait of lessons in masculinity that take place at a shooting range. FATHER AND GUN was Ted’s 1st year spring quarter film.

Looking forward to seeing films from our program under the stars at the beautiful Frost Auditorium -- exact schedule coming soon, but expect a selection of recent favorites by MFA students in Documentary Film (curated by current students!) and recent feature documentaries by MFA alums.

Three Short Films by first-year students in the MFA program in documentary film. LIve Q&A to follow! Tuesday, March 23 5 pm PST link to virtual screening here (only available at above date/time): https://vimeo.com/event/759931

Stray, a New York Times Critics' Pick, now in virtual cinemas, iTunes, Amazon, and all on-demand platforms! Stray was directed by alum Elizabeth Lo ('15). You can find out where to get tickets or rent here: www.straymovie.com

Watch the short film Huntsville Station, directed by MFA faculty and program director Jamie Meltzer and alum Chris Filippone (‘18) at the upcoming @doubleexposurefestival oct 14-18 #dxiff2020

Congrats to our alums -- Reid Davenport ('16), Elizabeth Lo ('15), Kristine Stolakis ('15) -- on being included in Doc NYC's 40 under 40 list!

Congrats to Aurora Brachman - Aurora’s spring quarter film just premiered on NY Times’ Op-Docs!!

Congrats Aurora Brachman ('21) for the premiere of the wonderful short film Club Quarantine (a Spring quarter film from the MFA Program), now playing as part of the NY Times' Op-Docs series.

Congrats to Erin Semine Kökdil (2018) whose thesis film Ale y Yose, a beautiful collaboration with two DREAMers is now streaming on PBS-- see link below!

Homegoing A film by Yeon Park @yeonpark__ During the coronavirus lockdown in the US, an immigrant couple from South Korea struggles to define where home is.

what she left a film by Michelle Mehrtens @mehrtensm In the tropical warmth of Miami, Florida, Kathryn struggles to reconcile her memories of Fernanda, her older sister who passed away a few years ago.

Beyond the Wire A films by Ted Griswold @ted.griswold4 Former Army Ranger Chris Pesqueira experiences freedom after 33 years at Soledad State Prison in California. As he takes his first steps back into society, he receives support from a community of formerly incarcerated veterans.

Ellie Wen's (2018) thesis film is now streaming on PBS' Truly CA. Check it out!

Amazing to see Elizabeth Lo's Stray and Kristine Stolakis' Pray Away featured in this round-up of the best films from SXSW and Tribeca.

Kristine Stolakis' ('15) powerful debut feature documentary, Pray Away, a selection of Tribeca 2020, just received this amazing review in The Hollywood Reporter: "Defectors from the religious right's gay "conversion" therapy programs speak out about the damage inflicted on themselves and countless LGBTQ youth in Kristine Stolakis' powerful doc"... "The film is measured yet forceful, never strident in making its point. It exposes the bitter truth about a morally and psychologi...cally unsound practice birthed out of a time when being gay was "a crime, a sin and a sickness" to use Bussee's words that now appears to be making a quiet resurgence in our supposedly more evolved age." Congrats Kristine Stolakis and the entire team -- including program alums Carla Gutiérrez ('04) as editor and Melissa Langer ('15) as cinematographer, can't wait to see this one on screens big and small!! See more

This festival season was to see feature film debuts from many of our recent grads. Elizabeth Lo's (MFA in Documentary Film, Class of 2015) debut feature, slated to premiere at Tribeca this year, just received a wonderful review in the Hollywood Reporter. It's a magnificent and sensitive film, and the review is positively ecstatic, comparing the central canine subject Zeytin to Greta Garbo, and offering gems like these: "Through a finely calibrated ebb and flow of insight and ...emotion, Lo offers a fresh perspective on life in the shadows the freedom as well as the neglect..." " illuminating, through its central canines' adventures, the economic and political divisions and the cultural hierarchies that define our time." Congrats Elizabeth Lo -- we're looking forward to when the film is widely available and screening at cinemas across the world! See more

This article outlines some of the heartbreaking challenges documentary filmmakers are now facing -- including many our own MFA grads with debut features that were slated to premiere at SXSW/ Tribeca/ Full Frame/ Hot Docs. Specific mention here of Kristine Rose's doc feature Pray Away. "...No one really knows what will happen in the next month or two, or six or seven. There is one thing for certain, though. As Submarine's Josh Braun says, "There are a number of films that are waiting in the wings to go on stage. But we don’t know when the stage will be available to them."