film

Comic pulls no punches to get a laugh

Comic pulls no punches to get a laugh Whether on stage as a stand-up comic or now with ‘Pollo Punch,’ a first short film in the Miami Film Festival, alumnus Mike Menendez loves to make you laugh.   Michael R. Malone 4-9-2025 This story originally appeared in News@TheU. If Mike Menendez’s first comedy open mic were a boxing match, it would have been an opening round TKO. “I bombed so hard. There was so much silence. I was on stage looking for a life raft, so I [...]

2025-04-10T15:23:48-04:00April 10, 2025|Motion Pictures, School of Communication|

The future of the Fourth Estate

The future of the Fourth Estate Student filmmaker’s world premiere at the Miami Film Festival aspires to rehabilitate journalism as a vital institution of democracy. An newroom image from the documentary, "News Without a Newsroom." Michael R. Malone 4-8-2025 This story originally appeared in News@TheU. Though she’s a relatively young filmmaker, Oana Martisca espouses a self-described “old school” mindset about journalism, one that recognizes the difference between professionally trained and values-imbued news-making and the amateurish alternatives. That mindset is influenced to a large degree by her experience [...]

2025-04-09T09:39:44-04:00April 9, 2025|Motion Pictures, School of Communication|

United Black Students and UTrailblazers Canes Black History Film Festival

The School of Communication is pleased to announce the second annual United Black Students and UTrailblazers Canes Black History Film Festival. We seek short films that reflect on University of Miami’s rich Black History. We welcome short films on any aspect of Black History (including Black diasporic history) as well as films from any genre, including, but not limited to documentary, news, comedy, experimental, and drama. Thematically, we invite short films that reflect on Blackness, broadly construed. We are particularly interested in films that are based on contents in the [...]

Call for submissions – Canes Black History Film Festival

The School of Communication is pleased to announce the second annual United Black Students and UTrailblazers Canes Black History Film Festival. We seek short films that reflect on University of Miami’s rich Black History. We welcome short films on any aspect of Black History (including Black diasporic history) as well as films from any genre, including, but not limited to documentary, news, comedy, experimental, and drama. Thematically, we invite short films that reflect on Blackness, broadly construed. We are particularly interested in films that are based on contents in the [...]

Film ‘Aguadilla’ Depicts Migrants’ Tumultuous Journeys to Puerto Rico

By Caroline Val Professor Tom Musca and a crew of School of Communication students and alumni spent the summer producing a feature-length film inspired by the stories of Dominican immigrants who flee to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, seeking better opportunities. As Tom Musca sat on the balcony of a longtime friend’s home, with the town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico in the distance, he suddenly noticed a rustling in the trees beneath them. When he inquired about the commotion to his friend Noel Quiñones, a pilot and film colleague, the gentleman coolly [...]

2023-09-22T14:57:28-04:00September 22, 2023|Motion Pictures|

The 40th Annual Miami Film Festival Glitters with Support from the School of Communication

By Karina Valdes The 40th annual Miami Film Festival (MFF) is rolling out the red carpet from March 3-12, showcasing films created by a diverse set of filmmakers from across the world. The festival unites Miami’s local filmmakers and cinema-loving residents with world-wide industry professionals and films from a variety of genres in theaters and events throughout the city. The University of Miami School of Communication is set to host screenings and is sponsoring the University of Miami Documentary Achievement Award. Professor Tom Musca’s latest film, “Dying to Direct,” is [...]

2023-02-23T15:38:17-05:00February 23, 2023|Motion Pictures|