The Canisius College Video Institute recently earned a number of national awards for four student-produced films.
East Side: A Community of Hope, Where the Crow Will Be Forever, Edward Austin Kent: 1854-1912, and Andy’s Spectrum of Hope earned 2013 Telly Awards, adding to the Video Institute’s already impressive reputation.
East Side: A Community of Hope, produced by Erik Taheri (DMA/CSC ’14) and Rich Lunghino (DMA ’13) under the direction of Barbara Irwin, Ph.D., professor of communication studies and co-director of the Video Institute, received two Bronze Telly Awards Awards in the Social Issues and Student Categories. The film focuses on the East Side of Buffalo and the faith-based initiatives taken to revitalize a community that has been ravaged by violence and poverty.
Where the Crow Will Be Forever, produced by Ashley Fike (COM ’13) and Lauren Mosier (DMA ’13) under Irwin’s direction, earned a Bronze Telly Award in the Student Non-Broadcast Category. The documentary explores the history of the Crow tribe, life on the reservation, and why the Crow have chosen to stay.
Edward Austin Kent: 1854-1912 won a Bronze Telly Award in the History/Biography Category. This film, produced by Taheri and Lunghino under the direction of Jamie O’Neil, director of the Digital Media Arts program and co-director of the Video Institute, premiered in April 2012 at the Buffalo History Museum on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and focuses on the life of the renowned Buffalo architect.
Andy’s Spectrum of Hope, produced by Michael Belfatto (DMA ’12) and Kurt Vogt (DMA ’12) under O’Neil’s direction, won two Silver Telly Awards in the Student Non-Broadcast and Social Responsibility Categories. The film, featuring a Sweet Home High School student with autism, also won a Bronze Telly Award in the Motivational Category.
The Telly Awards are a New York City-based organization that seeks to honor local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as video and film productions. The Silver Telly is the highest honor presented.
The award-winning Canisius College Video Institute provides students with opportunities to put their classroom lessons to work on projects that enrich their learning and benefit the greater community. Students produce social documentaries and service-oriented videos – all connected by the theme of social justice – to promote discourse on ethical, social and cultural issues relevant to the world today. It provides students with a context for real-world learning and for doing social justice.
The Video Institute is co-directed by Barbara J. Irwin, PhD, professor of communication studies, and Jamie O’Neil, associate professor of digital media arts and director of the Digital Media Arts Program.
Submitted by: Barbara J. Irwin, PhD, professor, communication studies
