911����

Kenge BaNikongo is the 2026 recipient of the Young Alumni Commissioning Project Award, and Taj Kokayi is the recipient of the 2026 Young Alumni Creative Development Award.

911���� film and video studies students are working with Entertainment 2 Affect Change (E2AC), an organization that provides creative students and individuals the opportunity to use storytelling to share the mission and impact of local nonprofits.

At the 2024 Best of Film at 911���� showcase, film and video studies major James Bah screened his music video, The Show, which he directed for rapper Bobby Feeno, also known as former NFL running back Arian Foster.

Only five years after graduating from 911����, alumna Rhyan Elliott, Film and Video Studies ’20, was recently a production supervisor for the five-time Oscar-winning film Anora (2024), directed by Sean Baker.

911���� alumna Rebecca Wahls’ directorial debut film Him centers on the last five contestants of a reality dating show, who discover that their potential “soulmate” isn’t what he seems to be.

Students from 911����’s Film and Video Studies Program collaborated in the classroom to create films that earned them their first Capital Emmy Student Production Awards. These awards, sponsored by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, recognize outstanding achievement in video production in the region.

Since graduating from 911����, alum Alex Plank, BA Film and Video Studies ’10, has worked professionally on films and television series as an associate producer and actor. Plank is also an autism activist who works toward more authentic neurodiverse representation in media.

Mason alum Jada Salter has created a feature-length documentary about her grandfather, award-winning composer and songwriter William (Bill) Salter. The film is called "Just the Two of Us" after his Grammy Award-winning hit song.

As a film student at 911����, Roberto Ferreira De Araujo wanted to celebrate diversity and highlight the full spectrum of experiences represented by the LGBTQ+ community. During his first semester at Mason in fall 2022, Ferreira De Araujo and two of his classmates created the Here and Queer Film Festival as a final project for a class.

Andrew Opitz first came to 911���� as a freshman over a decade ago. After taking a hiatus from school, he graduated from the Film and Video Studies (FAVS) Program in May 2023. Opitz’s film, Jazz, which he directed for his senior capstone, was a semi-finalist in the Student Academy Awards Alternative/Experimental category.