Cinema and Digital Media

A short film about a serial bike thief slinking around the streets of Davis doesn’t seamlessly transition into meditations on how technology may hinder modern life, but no two films at the 2026 Film Festival at UC Davis could be thought of as alike, save for their resolve to serve as recognizable representations of our present-day world. 

Three recent Department of Cinema and Digital Media majors from the class of 2025 have launched their own videography and video production company and have hit the ground running. David Kouyoumdjian, Jihae Dong, and Ziyun Zhang formed 175 Productions LLC (AKA. 175 Productions) in March 2025 and have already built up an impressive list of clients.

Three recent Department of Cinema and Digital Media majors from the class of 2025 have launched their own videography and video production company and have hit the ground running. David Kouyoumdjian, Jihae Dong, and Ziyun Zhang formed 175 Productions LLC (AKA. 175 Productions) in March 2025 and have already built up an impressive list of clients.

The West coast premiere of Professor Julie Wyman’s documentary The Tallest Dwarf will be part of the San Francisco International Film Festival with screenings on April 26 and 27.

For any anthropologist, fieldwork represents both a professional obligation and a rite of passage. For Professor Fiamma Montezemolo, as for Fred Murdock, the protagonist of Borges’ El Etnógrafo (1969), this rite of passage is a break and a crossing: a break from anthropology’s traditional forms of expression and a crossing into the realm of visual art. 

Filmmakers and professors Glenda Drew (of Design) and Jesse Drew (of Cinema and Digital Media) have completed a project decades in the making — a documentary about the roots of American Country Music titled Open Country. It tells a longer arc of country music that is not rooted in ‘God and Country’ but in working class people telling their stories, seeking freedom from government interference and a good, dignified life.

Filmmakers and professors Glenda Drew (of Design) and Jesse Drew (of Cinema and Digital Media) have completed a project decades in the making — a documentary about the roots of American Country Music titled Open Country.

Lynn Hershman Leeson will be honored at the 2023 Mill Valley Film Festival as a recipient of the Mind the Gap Award for her visionary contributions to the arts and lifetime achievements on October 8.

Lynn Hershman Leeson will be honored at the 2023 Mill Valley Film Festival as a recipient of the Mind the Gap Award for her visionary contributions to the arts and lifetime achievements on October 8.

Recent alumna Sarah Sy (B.A., design and cinema and digital media, ‘23) has received a scholarship through The Gotham EDU Film and Media Career Development Program. The six-week summer program covers development, pitching, marketing, distribution, and more. Sy’s funding is supported through The Questlove iHeart Scholarship.

Recently Sy’s film “Customer Service” won several awards at Film Fest at UC Davis.

On May 17, Pratt Institute bestowed an honorary degree on professor emerita Lynn Hershman Leeson in recognition of her prescient work as a new media artist and filmmaker.

In conjunction with the ten year anniversary of Verge’s groundbreaking at 625 S Street in Sacramento, the Verge will present “The First 10yrs,” an inaugural biennial exhibition of works produced during the first ten years of Verge’s Resident Artist Studio Program (RASP). “The First 10yrs” will open Saturday, April 8 with an opening reception from 5-8 pm.

Assistant Professor of Cinema and Digital Media Lishan Az has been named an Emerging Artist at The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco for the 2023–24 season. Lishan’s work is titled Eugene’s Cove, and will be on view December 13, 2023, until March 3, 2024.

Professor Fiamma Montezemolo was awarded the Italian Council 11 prize for Contemporary Art granted by the Ministry of Culture in Italy, in collaboration with ON, NERO Publishers. 

Associate Professor Julie Wyman has recently received a number of honors over the summer.