On August 2nd, the Class of 2025 successfully graduated from the MFA in Film, Television and Digital Media at the historic Tara Theater in Atlanta, GA. The cohort of 17 MFA graduates walked across stage for the program’s Convocation and got the chance to showcase their graduate thesis projects.
Professor Shandra McDonald, Interim Co-Director of the program, opened the convocation with Professor Sanghoon Lee to congratulate the graduates on their achievements.
Scott Votaw, Executive Director of Georgia Film Academy, spoke as the convocation speaker. He encouraged the graduates going out into the world to keep pursuing their passions.
After the convocation, all 13 thesis films of Class of 2025 were screened. The Writer/Director students wrote the screenplays and directed the films, and the Writer/Producer students produced the thesis films.
Promise Robinson’s “Sunhearts” shows a teenage girl, in the absence of a loved one, who must go on a journey to not only find her voice, but what gives her strength.
Austin Yeomans’ “Leaky” tells the story of a grieving police officer who seeks to connect with his childhood memories of fishing after a work incident, but something sinister lurks beneath the surface….
Xinhui Ma’s “Tethered” features a girl haunted by childhood abuse. She turns to memory-cleansing technology, hoping to build a future with her fiancé by erasing her traumatic past.
Leo White’s “Laplace” focuses on Corrin, stranded on a rapidly failing ship, pursuing the Laplace Source — an adaptive intelligence that could resurrect her crewmate, but at a cost.
Dylan Miller’s “Pyre” takes us to a remote 17th-century village, where a suspected witch and an inquisitor engage in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Andrew Sloth’s “Tenderloin” dives into a beloved puppet star Tenderloin getting accused of a political assassination.
Jesse Scale’s “Aberth,” produced by Elizabeth Mitchell, follows a squire accused of killing the king, who is given two choices: face execution, or find and kill his master, the true killer.
Zachary Calhoun’s “Saving Grace,” produced by Darren Johnson, shows a self righteous preacher who discovers the sin of one of the members within his congregation and decides to take matters into his own hands.
Sophie Schieve’s “A Traveler’s Tryst” focuses on a wandering teenager who stumbles into Greek Mythology.
Andres Beeco’s “Beryllium” dives into the height of the Apollo Program. A bold engineer risks his career to build a nuclear Space Shuttle, propelling humanity beyond our moon.
Skyla Montgomery’s “Beyond the Games” focuses on a young man in the shadow of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He finds himself swept into the city’s ruthless efforts to hide its homeless population.
Jane Negreira’s “Encierro,” produced by David White, tells the story of a woman haunted by eerie sounds and her mother’s voice. She journeys through nightmarish realms, battling societal expectations to reclaim her identity and break free.
Christopher Lewis’ “The Damned Thing,” produced by Estevan Valdes, shows a coroner’s inquest into a bizarre death which uncovers evidence of an enigmatic creature.
The thesis films featured a wide range of genres, characters, and style. Family, friends, and cast and crew members all enjoyed the screenings and cheered on the graduates.
Their time at the MFA program has prepared the newest graduates for the next steps of their careers. Congratulations, Class of 2025!
Photos by: Zachary DelaGarza