I know this is late, but please give a round of applause for these fine student films

I’m running behind on everything these days, so forgive me for not posting this sooner. On December 11 at the Forum in the McCormick Tribune Center at Northwestern, three student projects made in my documentary class this past quarter, premiered to a full house.

It was an amazing evening and I couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments. Be sure to watch for these films to show up at a film festival near you:

Kathryn Reinvented

After Kathryn Boatright discovered her daughter had special needs that would require lifelong care, she turned away from a business career and became a registered nurse. But the business  side of her never went away. Now she’s an entrepreneur who has invented a product that can help parents track a child’s progress in the first year. As her app goes to market, can this single mom reinvent herself again and face the challenges that will test her in unexpected ways? By Clancy Calkins and Theresa Chong.

Chicago: A Craft Beer Story

If a bar were to serve one beer from every craft brewer in Chicagoland, it would need more than 30 taps. And the number keeps growing every year. Filmmakers Mandy Niad and Lorenzo Patrick take viewers on a tour of Chicago’s oldest and newest breweries and get a taste of their creations (with names like Flywheel and Krankshaft, Gatecrasher and Smittytown Tart). Along the way, they discover the spark that set off the explosion of craft beers in Illinois.

I Love Mondays

Every Monday, Cameron is taking steps to become who he believes he is meant to be. Throughout this personal journey, he allows filmmakers Ashley Lapin, Ivy Wang and Deniz Alpay to find out who Cameron truly is. On the outside, people may see a friendly candy store clerk or a kid going for rides on his long board. But they will need to take a closer look to see who he is on the inside.

Me, My #Selfie and Eye

Mom holding up the gift I gave my family this year: a collection of various instagram photos titled Me, My #Selfie and Eye

 

“Arab Idol” winner Mohammed Assaf tours USA, including Chicago

The Alhambra restaurant before the arrival of the audience to see Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf, winner of Arab Idol

Last Friday night, I helped New York Times video journalist Reem Makhoul on her story about Mohammed Assaf, a former wedding singer from Gaza who went on to win Arab Idol, and take the Arab world by storm. Now he’s touring America, wowing fans here.

Hundreds of those fans (many of them Palestinian-Americans) crowded into the Alhambra restaurant in Chicago, dining on kebab and dancing and singing to the opening acts, then leaping to their feet when Assaf took the stage at 11 pm.

Enjoy the video by Reem Makhoul, as well as the print story by Lindsay Crouse and photographs by Taylor Glascock

Record your Rime they said, and so I did

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

To complement a new production featuring Fiona Shaw, who is doing a staged performance of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner this month, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) asked Ben Cohen and Claire Frisbie to craft an animated version of a portion of the epic poem. Record Your Rime: A BAM Poetry Project asked folks to record their interpretation of a portion of the piece. According to BAM’s marketing projects coordinator, BAM received readings “from all over the world, from here in Brooklyn to Georgia to Antarctica, Malaysia, and more, from people ranging in age from 6 to 84.”

I submitted my own entry via the Poetry Foundation’s Record-a-Poem project, and my voice appears, amid a flurry of others in this 2-minute piece. The animation — with drawings by Nathan Gelgud and animation by Katie Positerry — is quite whimsical and fun.

Can you hear me among the other parched-mouthed, sea-swept sailors?