Check out these notable recent film and TV projects, all featuring the work of School of Visual Arts alumni and faculty.
The fall 2024 semester at the School of Visual Arts concludes next week, and the winter break offers a rare opportunity for the College’s students, faculty, and staff to unwind, recharge, and explore the incredible animations, films, and series crafted by alumni and faculty. Read on for some suggestions on watch over the holiday season.
Formerly a YouTube phenomenon, this adult animated comedy, created by Vivienne Medrano, a.k.a. VivziePop (BFA 2014 Animation), is now a marquee series on Amazon Prime Video. The show follows Charlie Morningstar, the princess of Hell, as she tries to run a rehab center for demons. (And watch SVA’s video profile of Medrano here.)
The X horror trilogy, written and directed by Ti West and executive-produced by Peter Phok (both BFA 2003 Film and Video) concluded this past summer with MaXXXine, in which the title character (Mia Goth) pursues her Hollywood dreams while running from a killer and her own past. The movie is streaming now on Max.
Short on time, even during the holidays? This nine-minute documentary from Art21 spotlights the work of acclaimed artist Amy Sillman (BFA 1979 Fine Arts), who describes her process as “getting from one trouble to the other trouble.”
Mariam Ghani (MFA 2002 Photography and Related Media) unveiled her latest film, a documentary about the cultural, scientific, and political ideas surrounding contagious illnesses, in August at the BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia and Tate Modern in London. Dis-Ease is streaming now on Mubi.
After a long festival circuit—and an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature—this dialog-free film, based on a graphic novel by SVA Pre-College Program faculty member Sara Varon (MFA 2002 Illustration as Visual Essay) premiered in U.S. theaters in June. Watch it on Hulu or Disney+.
Carlos Saldanha (MFA 1993 Computer Art) made his live-action directorial debut with this riff on the beloved children’s book by Crockett Johnson. Zachary Levi stars as the grown-up Harold, whose magical crayon brings drawings to life, and the film is now available on Netflix.
This Netflix documentary, directed by Bao Nguyen (MFA 2011 Social Documentary Film), tells the stories behind “We Are the World,” the 1985 pop hit, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, that brought together the era’s biggest stars to support the USA for Africa famine relief charity.
Elements of this article appear in the spring/summer 2024 and fall/winter 2024–25 issues of the Visual Arts Journal.