In 1997, the Media and Communication Arts department launched its MFA in Media Arts Production program at The City College of New York. This historic program is the first of its kind in the world's largest media market, offering masters-level film and video production training at an affordable and accessible public institution. Students who have been denied access to the storytelling tools of the new millennium can now have their voices heard. The program now enrolls 40 promising new filmmakers in the areas of documentary and fiction filmmaking.

Cityvisions is the annual capstone event at which the MFA students screen their work for the campus and the professional communities in New York. Now in its fourth year, Cityvisions has grown into a major two-day festival held in May at a Manhattan theater. In 2001, 17 separate films from our graduating class were shown in the areas of documentary and fiction. Cityvisions is a juried event with judges from the filmmaking profession awarding prizes to promising filmmakers in eight categories. Award sponsors include; Eastman Kodak, The Tape House, New Line Cinema, and others. Another highlight of the event is the keynote address by a well-known personality from the media arts community. In 1999, we selected the seminal documentarian, Albert Maysles, in 2000 the Brazilian director Bruno Baretto (Bossa Nova) and in 2001, Frederick Marx, the Producer of Hoop Dreams, addressed the festival. The 2001 Cityvisions was held at the Clearview 59th Street East Cinema and attracted an audience of over 1,200 people, including distributors, agents, film festival directors and cinema lovers from the CUNY community.

 

For additional information about Cityvisions and the MFA Media Arts Production program,email us.