News Item
"Patch" featured Professor Maria Luskay and students in the Media, Communications and Visual Arts department in "Pace Students Film Aftermath Of Hawaii Volcano Eruption"
Students in Pace University's Media, Communications and Visual Arts department premiered their latest documentary on the aftermath of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano earlier this month at the Jacob Burns Film Center.
"Living on the Edge in Paradise" was the result of work by a team of 20 students and two professors who traveled to Hilo, Hawaii March 17 – 23 to conduct interviews and capture footage for the documentary. The film highlights the stories of those affected by the eruptions of Kilauea and the Hawaiian culture's relationship with volcanos which are part of the way of life on the Islands.
Each year, Pace University's award-winning communications class produces a documentary on an environmentally and culturally relevant subject.
"The question at the core of this documentary is how does this affect life in Hawaii?" said Maria Luskay, EdD, professor and program director, Master of Arts in Media and Communication Arts. "We portray the real Hawaii to the world."
On May 7 a reception and screening was held at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville and attended by students, faculty and the community, as well as Pace University President Marvin Krislov.
"This is Pace University at its finest, doing what we do best: giving students a real world, hands-on education with the tools they need to jump into the careers of their choice,'' said Krislov.
The student film producers are part of the BA in Communications and/or the MA in Media, Communications and Visual Arts (MCVA). The Producing the Documentary course, offered by the MCVA program in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences at Pace, is highly regarded for preparing students for careers in media, journalism, communications, public relations, advertising, video production and film. The Hawaii documentary is the 16th student-produced documentary from Pace's Producing the Documentary course.
Last year, 18 Pace graduate students went to Puerto Rico to film the destruction of Hurricane Maria, the most powerful storm to make landfall on the island in 85 years. Other Pace documentaries have received accolades in various film festivals including the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival (October 2018), Miami Independent Film Festival (June 2018), Spotlight Documentary Film Awards (June 2018), and Best Short Competition (June 2018). The Puerto Rico documentary can be viewed here.
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