University of North Texas graduate students working towards their Master of Fine Arts degrees in documentary film will present seven short original documentaries they've created in their second year of work. The free film screening will be at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, in RTFP 184. The students will be available for audience questions after the screening.

The process began during the students' first year with a course in documentary preproduction which led to shooting their films in the fall semester of their second year followed by postproduction in the spring semester. These students work in teams of four in which each person directs or produces one film, serves as director of photography/cinematography on a second documentary, assists in sound recording for a third film, and edits a fourth documentary.

The eight students in this year's workshop take creative control to produce documentaries that run 20-minutes or less. These documentary shorts will premiere at the May 3 screening in the RTVF Department and will then likely make appearances at film festivals and other screenings.

Documentaries from previous MFA screenings have been shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs in Toronto and other festivals around the world, as well as being shown on PBS television stations.

This semester's short documentaries are:

The Union Man, directed by Bobby Lewis, gives insight into a worker's struggle laboring at something that will often go unnoticed.

Undocumented Dreams, directed by Sara Masetti, chronicles the plight of Loren, an undocumented Latino who is a civil rights organizer with an engineering degree.

Hospice Nurses, directed by Jim Crawford, tells the story of those who dedicate their lives to caring for the elderly and giving them a comfortable home to live out their final days with dignity and care.

Tuition Rising, directed by Joe Brown, is a documentary that humanizes the student debt crisis and its effect on the current student population.

Hello China, directed by Ting Ting Li, shows a teacher's motivation to have her students learn the Chinese language, saying "I am preparing you for your future. Chinese is the future."

Angel, directed by Andrew Nelson, conveys the story and personal life of former world champion boxer, Angelica "Angel" Martinez.

Vermillion Cliffs, directed by Hanny Lee, presents a personal depiction of a day in the life on the red dusty cliffs.

For more information about the films or the screening, contact Melinda Levin at Melina.levin@unt.edu or 940-565-2537.