The Visual Arts Program at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts will present a screening of 32 short student films created in the fall 2022 semester courses “Documentary Filmmaking I” taught by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, “Digital Animation” taught by Tim Szetela, and “Narrative Filmmaking I and II” taught by Moon Molson. The documentary films will be screened on Wednesday, February 22, followed by animated and narrative films on Thursday, February 23. Both screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. in the James Stewart Film Theater, located on the first floor of 185 Nassau Street. Refreshments will be served on both evenings. The events are free and open to the public; no tickets are required. The Film Theater is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week prior to the event date.
Perlmutt’s documentary filmmaking course introduces students to the art, craft, and theory behind attempts to answer the question: what relationships have the necessary friction to generate compelling films? Through productions, readings, screenings, and discussions, students entered the world of non-fiction filmmaking and analyzed documentary filmmaking as an aesthetic practice and a means of social discourse. As directors, the students also examined the formal, social, and political concerns that animate their own lives and practiced translating those concerns to the screen.
A still from a short documentary film created by Princeton student Rosangela Lopez ’25. Photo credit: Courtesy of Rosangela Lopez
Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt most recently directed the Emmy-nominated historical documentary Massacre at the Stadium (Netflix, 2019). He directed, produced, and edited Havana Motor Club (Samuel Goldwyn Films, 2016), which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival and screened as part of the exhibition Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture at the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao. His other documentary film work includes Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel, Lumo, Control Room, Valentino: The Last Emperor, Les Vulnerables, Invisible Killers: Ebola, Man V. Volcano, and other projects. Perlmutt’s commercial work has included directing and editing over 30 spots for Estée Lauder, Gucci, BULGARI, Rag & Bone, Samsung, H&M, Vogue, Chloe, Tods, Jimmy Choo, Kohl’s, Carrera, San Pellegrino, Loréal, Guess, and Interview Magazine. He has served as a correspondent for UNICEF and has made films for NGOs including The Chopra Center, HelpAge International, UNIFEM, the New York Academy of Medicine, Every Mother Counts, and HEAL Africa. Perlmutt is a member of the Director’s Guild of America, the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, one of Filmmaker Magazine‘s “25 New Faces of Indie Film,” and a recipient of two Sundance Institute/Sloan Foundation grants. Prior to Princeton, he taught filmmaking at Columbia University, William Paterson University, and for organizations in Africa.
In Molson’s introductory and advanced narrative filmmaking courses, students received an introduction to narrative and avant-garde narrative film production. “Narrative Filmmaking I” taught the basic tools for storytelling with digital media by providing technical instruction in camera operation, nonlinear editing, and sound design paired with the conceptual frameworks of shot design, visual composition, film grammar, and cinema syntax. “Narrative Filmmaking II” expanded on those basic techniques and skills, also exploring the conceptual frameworks of point of view (narrative stance), master shot technique, performance, and blocking.
Molson’s short films have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, screened at over 250 international film festivals, and have received more than 100 awards worldwide, including the Grand Jury Prizes at Palm Springs, South by Southwest (SXSW), and the Student Academy Awards. His screenplay Johnny Ace was a finalist for Best Screenplay at the 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival, and his most recent screenplay, Hyper/Space, won top honors at the 2022 Urbanworld Film Festival in October. He has attended the 2008 Sundance Screenwriters & Directors Labs, the 2008 Film Independent (FIND) Directors Labs, the 2015 Warner Brothers Television Directors’ Workshop, and 2016 FOX Global Directors Initiative as a Fox Director Fellow. Molson was named a 2017 Pew Foundation Fellow, a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow in Film-Video, and was one of Filmmaker Magazine‘s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in summer 2007. He has received grants from the San Francisco Film Society, The Jerome Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and the Sundance Institute.
In Tim Szetela’s “Digital Animation” course, students worked with a variety of timed-based collage, composition, visualization, and storytelling techniques while learning the fundamental technology of 2D animation. Students explored the connective space between sound, image, and motion possible in animated films and produced a range of short, animated films throughout the course.
A still from an animated film created by Princeton student Jemima Williams ’23. Photo courtesy Jemima Williams.
Szetela is a designer, animator and digital artist who makes moving images, games, and assorted interfaces to visualize location, language, and other patterns. Rewordable, the game he co-designed using computational linguistics, was published by Penguin Random House. His short films have screened at numerous international animation festivals, including Anima Mundi, Annecy, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films. He has shown work at the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City, the Museum of Fine Arts and Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, as well as a variety of digital art, game, and technology festivals and exhibitions. Szetela has taught digital animation and data drawing courses in the Program in Visual Arts since 2017. This fall at Princeton he organized Games &&, a symposium featuring artists, designers, and researchers who explore and experiment with the tools and techniques of game design and development.
The screenings feature work by undergraduate students Aabid Ismail, Aaysh Sharma, Allen Delgado, Anlon Zhu, Claira Fucetola, Delaan Nedd, Douglas Robins, Elvis Le, Ethan Williams, Faisal Fakhro, Helen Zhao, Hope Littwin, Isabella Racioppi, Ivy Wang, James Kontulis, Jeanie Chang, Jemima Williams, Joey Nartker, Kasey Shashaty, Kathy Li, Lauren Gardner, Lauren Olson, Nathalie Barnes, Paige Morton, Rosangela Lopez, Sammy Doniger, Shannen Prindle, Sophie Main, Stella Amyot, Tyler Vu, Wasif Sami, and William Travis.
All visitors to Princeton University are expected to be either fully vaccinated, have recently received and be prepared to show proof of a negative COVID test (via PCR within 72 hours or via rapid antigen within 8 hours of the scheduled visit), or agree to wear a face covering when indoors and around others.
Visit the Lewis Center website to learn more about this event, the Program in Visual Arts, and the more than 100 public performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts, and lectures presented each year by the Lewis Center for the Arts, most of them free.
