2022 UFVA Graduate Student Fellows
Carlo Ang
Carlo Ang is a filmmaker based in Boston. As a lifelong skateboarder and self-taught videographer and editor, his passion for filmmaking was originally influenced by the skate videos he watched while growing up in the Bay Area. Inspired by their distinct and humorous style, his creative approach is lighthearted, playful, and authentic. Carlo is currently pursuing his MFA in Film and Media Art at Emerson College. Before deciding to return to school in 2021, he spent a decade living in New York City and honing his professional video skills at Warby Parker, where he was solely responsible for directing, filming, and editing the brand’s digital video content. His short documentary Nancy will screen on Thursday at 3:45.
Brendan Bubion
Brendan Bubion has a passion for telling stories in local communities that often go untold or unseen. He has produced and created short documentaries about community organizations. His previous films include “Con Su Pluma en Su Mano,” about the life and work of LA Times journalist Gustavo Arellano. He graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Film and Television with Honors and taught filmmaking at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. He recently completed his MFA in Documentary Filmmaking at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University. His thesis film, combining archival images and animation, explores the traumatic experiences of Japanese-Americans who were wrongly sent to incarceration camps during World War II through the perspective of two young girls. His short documentary Reverent Pride will screen at 3:45 on Thursday.
L Cedeño Miller
L Cedeño Miller (they/them pronouns) is an independent film and video producer based in DC. They are an MFA candidate in Film and Media Arts at American University, and recently worked as a graduate research associate at the Center for Media and Social Impact. L is also a language justice organizer, and Spanish-English interpreter and translator. In 2021, they were awarded a Trans Justice Funding Project grant, and organized a virtual freedom school to train BIPOC queer and trans interpreters. L previously worked as a community organizer with the DC Center for the LGBT Community, and was awarded a 2018 Diverse City Fund grant to create BIPOC queer healing spaces in DC. L is now part of the Diverse City Fund grant-making team, and is Brown Girls Doc Mafia member. They thrive working on sets for local productions, and love producing affirming, joyful content.
Connor O’Keefe
Connor Lee O’Keefe (he/him) is a trans documentary filmmaker, editor, and educator born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. His work uses nonfiction filmmaking as a tool for creating queer worlds and fostering empathy and connection. His career began in Chicago, IL, where he attended DePaul University. While earning his BFA, he worked as a videographer and editor alongside nonprofit organizations such as Kartemquin Films, Kindling Group, and Vidya in Mumbai. He recently graduated from Stanford University’s Documentary MFA program, where he directed four short nonfiction films. His spring film IMAGINE A BODY is a poetic expression of the physical and spiritual changes interviewees experienced while taking testosterone. It premiered in The New Yorker Documentary Video Series in June of 2022. His thesis is a portrait film and documentary musical that follows the Brazilian immigrant and trans pop artist Jaime Jobin as he searches for his voice. Throughout his career, Connor has taught filmmaking to students from a variety of backgrounds and age groups. He hopes to use nonfiction film to provide tools for students to express themselves and engage with the world.
Chunxiao “Clio” Yang
Clio Yang (she/her) writes and makes films that capture outsiders’ experiences at the intersection of identities, languages, and cultures through a sensitive lens. Born and raised in Jinan, China, she contemplates aspirations and dilemmas propelling her constant migration, which informs her fictional and nonfictional works greatly. Projects she worked on have been screened at Florida Film Festival, Athena Film Festival, South East European Film Festival, and so on. Clio graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University with a Film Studies BA. She is currently a film MFA candidate at University of Central Florida, where she is making her feature-length personal essay film “And They Saved My Sorry Ass.” It is being screened at 1:30 on Tuesday.