Hannah Kerekes | Best Research Honor Thesis | $500
Hannah Kerekes is a double major in Cinema & Media Studies and History. She is from Los Angeles, California. Her favorite things about Penn CIMS are the sense of community, the expertise and passion of the faculty, and the preparation it provides for a career in entertainment.
Award commendation: "Hannah Kerekes's honor thesis, titled “Pretty in Purple and Pink: Women Filmmakers and Historical Film,” is well written and thoroughly researched, conceptually rich and compellingly argued. A study of the representation of women in historical films, Hannah’s thesis takes as its case studies Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006) Marie Kreutzer's Corsage (2022). She investigates the popular conception of the costume drama as a women's genre in order to reveal how these films might also, at times subversively, intervene in contemporary accounts of gendered subjectivity."
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Jack Nycz | Best Creative Honors Thesis | $500
Jack Nycz is a double major in English and Cinema & Media Studies, and is from Bucks County Pennsylvania. His favorite things about the Cinema & Media Studies department are the professional opportunities, Penn in Cannes program, and above all else, the people.
Award commendation: "The creative thesis award goes to Jack Nycz for his screenplay entitled Villian. The script deftly tells the story of Elle, a closeted teen, who due to placing an internalized importance on the act of coming out finds it difficult to maintain a relationship with her estranged friend turned girlfriend, Lily. Jack deftly deploys their reconnection and relationship to challenge the idea of what a queer narrative can or should be in a world that seeks to commercialize queerness around the singular act of coming out."
As Jack himself say: "In Villain, I attempt to create a new perspective around the act of coming out in the Queer teen film. Elle and Lily’s relationship is kept behind closed doors because of the two characters’ closeted sexualities. Although Lily is supportive of Elle taking the time she needs in order to feel ready to come out, their relationship is nonetheless stagnated by Elle’s refusal to “out” herself to her school out of fear of presumed social backlash from her peers… In the climactic final scene of Villain, Elle comes out to her school in the most public way possible: by directly addressing the student on stage at the (Communist themed) prom. However, the audience doesn’t seem to care at all while she’s speaking, creating a comedic effect through the juxtaposition of Elle’s sincerity and the audience’s indifference. Through this scene (and in the screenplay itself) I try to dismantle the power which has been attributed to the act of coming out, showing that it’s not necessarily as scary as most films make it out to be."
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Mohammed Diakite, C'24 & Erica Messics, C'24 | Best Screenplay | $250 each
Mohammed Diakité is from the Lehigh Valley but was raised in Northampton. He is finishing his degree in Political Science this year. There are so many thing he loves about CIMS that you can often hear him saying "I wish I was a CIMS major." One reason why he enjoyed CIMS courses so much was because of his professors, specifically Kathy Van Cleve. She has ignited a newfound love for film within him, making the fire burn even brighter as he prepares to graduate in a few weeks, while at the same time being the kindest and warmest soul in the room. Being a political science major, majority of his writing were mainly qualitative or research-based; which is why he always enjoyed the CIMS courses he took because it provided an outlet for him to write and think creatively. Some say he is a shy or reserved person so it was often hard walking into his CIMS classes and only recognizing a few people but through those classes, he was able to meet and learn from people very different from himself and now there are some he calls friends and he is grateful for that.
Award commendation: "SAINTS SUMMER by Mohammed Diakite.Is this a gangster movie, a kind of updated Quentin Tarantino Reservoir Dogs, headed by the enigmatic but deadly SAINT? Or is it a coming-of-age story about NIVO, the man who should end up triumphant but instead finished the film with him weaving through traffic, trying to catch up with SUMMER, the woman of his dreams who probably will always be just one car length ahead of him. Or maybe it’s a satire about crime movies, where high level and low level criminals seek “donuts” - even though no one in the film ever reveals what, in fact, constitutes this Holy Grail. (Maybe it’s money? Maybe it’s drugs? Maybe it’s just donuts?) A peripatetic character-driven story with landscapes as alive as a jumping night club, interspersed with moments of lovely serenity when Summer traipses through a city park or Nivo goes for his morning run. It’s an ambitious script that aims to capture the web of human relationships, good and bad and everything in between, against a backdrop of crime and love and really great breakfasts. Fantastic dialogue and even better scene setting - the script reveals a fantastic vivid movie… and also, a strong, original writer’s voice."
Erica Messics grew up in the small town of Palmerton, PA. Erica is an English major with a concentration in Creative Writing, and she pursues two minors in Philosophy and Cinema & Media Studies. Her favorite elements of Penn CIMS are the genius faculty, the internship opportunities, and the wide variety of stimulating courses.
Award commendation: "FREE CIGARETTES by Erica Messics. A road movie of sorts, led by all kinds of women: VIVIAN, a bereaved mid fifties widow who just discovered her husband left all his money to his first wife, a hardscrabble biker chick who truly does have a heart underneath her flame-throwing exterior. There’s Theresa - or Nana - the grandmother who seems fragile but turns out to be a strong as they come, and there’s Demi (think Brad Pitt as JD in Thelma and Louise) who comes in to spark a romance only to take off with the one thing her paramour treasures above all else: her pills. Who is the paramour? Our hero - our pill-addicted, marijuana-addicted, heartbroken lesbian niece of the main character, JANE. Jane ties this all together and by the end, we’re delighted at how far she has come (even if it ends at an AA meeting with her aunt, the bereaved, enraged Vivian). Superb dialogue, surprising twists, and held together by a struggling-but-heartfelt bond between Jane and her aunt - the kind of script that makes you smile as you dodge another fist at the biker bar or speed away from the creepy lawyer who wants to ruin everything."
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Miette Gourlay, C'25 & Weike Li, C'25 | Best Undergraduate Essay | $250 each
Miette Gourlay is from New York City and is double-majoring in Health & Societies and Cinema & Media Studies. Her favorite parts of the CIMS program have been the interdisciplinary nature of the classes, the great conversations she has had with her professors, and the freedom to tailor projects to her own creative/academic interests.
Award commendation: "Miette Gourlay's excellent essay provides a refreshing take on Filippino director Kidlat Tahimik's classic film Perfumed Nightmare. Through the original concept of "upcycled cinema," the essay offers heartfelt recognition to the agency of Third World filmmakers in their negotiation of Western technology, colonialism, and national identity."
Weike Li is a junior at Penn studying Cinema & Media Studies and English. He comes from Chongqing, China. He likes to sleep, dream, and write about sleep and dream (and occasionally, about love). Regarding CIMS, he loves the constant dark chocolate supply, the Cannes posters around the office, and the tuna sandwich provided during the weekly colloquia and speaker events.
Award commendation: "Skillfully combining generic analysis and close representational analysis, Weike Li argues that the film Five Golden Flowers should not be simply read as socialist work upstaging personal desire, but rather the romantic excesses in the film defy totalizing ideological frameworks. With careful attention to the film’ set design, cinematography, and editing, the essay explains that Five Golden Flowers successfully appropriates the genres of the road film, romantic comedy, and especially the musical. Such a combination of genres allows the film to go beyond the constraints of socialist cinema and Mao’s directives to instead emphasize the importance of the love affair in holding audience attention and empathy. The deft interpretations in this brilliant paper leave its readers with the enigmatic question: are audiences of Five Golden Flowers moved because of the film’s socialist message or are they moved because of the corporeal vigor amplified by the musical genre?”
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Chih-Ning Kuo, CW'23 | Best Undergraduate Creative Project | $500
Chih-Ning Kuo was born and raised in Hong Kong, where she developed a love for dim sum and Wong Kar Wai films. She pursued a dual degree in the College of Arts and Sciences (majoring in Cinema Studies) and The Wharton School (concentrating in Marketing). Her three favorite things about Penn CIMS are 1. watching 28 phenomenal films from all over the world at Penn in Cannes, 2. meeting an inspiring community of cinephiles through the Gregory Film Culture program, 3. and the unbridled support from professors, who make time for students beyond 'office hours'.
Award commendation: "Chih Ning Kuo’s “Women in Transit” is a masterfully conceived and stunningly executed graphic essay on the art of alternative personal histories through the genre of memoir films. It traces the often-unacknowledged role of women artists through the history of early cinema, before turning to memoir film as a documentary genre that allowed women filmmakers to express their agency under various constraints. Kuo then takes a closer look at three women directors’ films--Agnes Varda’s Beaches of Agnes, Anne Hui’s Song of the Exile, and Yang Yonghi’s Dear Pyongyang—to argue that personal narrative as used in these memoir films is an important genre both for highlighting marginalized voices and reframing mainstream approaches to history and cinematic narrative. Kuo’s graphic illustrations bring to life each of these directors’ approach to cinema and Kuo’s own argument and art. Every single page is a beautifully drawn work of art—but this graphic essay has not one, not two, not three, but THIRTY pages! An achievement that should canonize Kuo among the women artists she writes about."
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Heather Shieh, W'24 | Best Undergraduate Service | $500
Heather Shieh is from Melbourne, Australia, and is studying Business Analytics at Wharton while minoring in Cinema & Media Studies. Her three favorite things about CIMS are Penn in Cannes, the exceptional CIMS faculty, and the access to abundant professional opportunities in entertainment.
Award commendation: "Heather Shieh managed many aspects of our CIMS office and made the work of faculty and staff in our program extremely enjoyable and gratifying. She literally revels in any challenge that is offered to her and, no matter how chaotic and messy things get, Heather is always a model of cheerfulness, neatness, and decorum."
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Yuxuan Zhou, Master of Liberal Arts | Best Graduate Essay | $500
Yuxuan Zhou is a social media influencer, drawing research inspiration from her professional experiences. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Liberal Arts at Penn, blending practical insights with academic learning. Her three favorite things about Penn CIMS: My academic interest started at CIMS; My favorite professors at Penn are all part of CIMS; Lovely courses and events(plus the free lunch)!
Award commendation: "Yuxuan Zhou has written a persuasive and well-reasoned reflection on the impact of digital intermediaries called Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs) on the influencer industry in China. Drawing on the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and providing a careful and concise literature review that clearly situates the essay's contributions, Zhou has produced a piece of scholarly writing that is well-researched, impeccably informed and attentive to the material at hand."
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JS Wu, PhD in English | Timothy Corrigan Dissertation Award | $1,000
JS Wu is an artist and scholar thinking about race and new media. They are graduating with PhD in English with a Certificate in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2024. Their dissertation is titled "The Animating Inbetween: Producing Race in Popular Animation." They were born in Michigan but consider Philadelphia their home. They have also found a home in the CIMS department, where the generosity and open-mindedness of the faculty and the creativity and brilliance of the students continue to inspire their own work.
Award commendation: "JS Wu’s dissertation, “The Animated Inbetween: Producing Race in Popular Animation,” is a thoughtfully-considered, beautifully-written, insightful, and creative dissertation that illuminates the critical potential of thinking at the intersection of Cinema and Media Studies, Black Studies, Asian American Studies, East Asian Studies, and English Literature. The project calls its readers to shift the focus of their attention in the direction of frames that have been largely ignored, and in doing so, asks them to change how they think. Its originality and importance have been justly rewarded with a tenure-track job at the University of Pittsburgh. Congratulations JS!"
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