Cinematic Adventures at the Cross Roads
of Reality and Science Fiction
During these two weeks, students will dive into experiencing some of the best sci-fi films – from the classic METROPOLIS (1927) to the most recent sci-fi indies such as SLEEP DEALER (2008) and MOON (2009). They will distinguish and analyze issues that films raise, their story structures and shooting/editing techniques deciphering film language of each film. Students will then adapt a short sci-fi story for the screen and based on it, create a two-three minute trailer for an unreleased sci-fi film using only found footage. While working on their final projects, they will learn how to navigate through databases of the archival materials and master video editing software Final Cut Pro.
Alla Kovgan
Alla Kovgan is a Boston-based filmmaker, born in Moscow (Russia). Her films and films that she co-directed have been presented worldwide including at the Sundance, Rotterdam, Toronto, Melbourne, Durban, Oberhausen, Clemont-Ferrand, MOMA, Louvre, Centre Pompidou, PBS (US), ZDF (Germany) and numerous others. Alla’s most recent film NORA (2008), her collaboration with the Zimbabwean choreographer Nora Chipaumire and British filmmaker David Hinton, is an art film – Nora’s poetic biography. NORA has been an official selection of over 100 festivals, received 25 awards and will be broadcast on PBS and ARTE in 2010. Alla wrote, co-directed and edited an Emmy-nominated documentary “Traces of the Trade” (2007) and edited “My perestroika” (2010), which both premiered at Sundance and on P.O.V. (PBS). Since 1999, Alla has been involved into interdisciplinary collaborations – creating intermedia performances (with KINODANCE Company), dance films and documentaries about dance such as “Movement (R)evolution Africa” (with Joan Frosch). Alla’s projects have been supported by Open Society Institute, LEF Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Bank of America Celebrity Series, among others. Since 2000, she has taught and curated dance film and avant-garde cinema worldwide as the Programmer of St. Petersburg Dance Film Festival KINODANCE (Russia) and as a co-Curator of Balagan Film Series (Boston). In 2009, Alla was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship and a Brother Thomas Fellowship for artists working at a high level of excellence and creativity.
