For the third consecutive year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has lent its support to the School of Film/Video at California Institute of the Arts. A $10,000 grant from the Academy funds the 2013-14 visiting artist program which brings prominent filmmakers to CalArts’ campus. In addition to screening their work, these acclaimed filmmakers offer hands-on workshops and provide CalArts’ film students the opportunity to receive one-on-one instruction from leaders in the filmmaking community.

“These visiting artists are an essential component of our students’ education–providing real-world interaction and facilitating rigorous dialog about the latest developments in contemporary art making,” said School of Film/Video Dean Steve Anker. “The individualized attention they provide enables students to explore each filmmaker’s unique perspective and develop and refine their own distinctive artistic voices. This is one of the reasons why our students graduate from CalArts ready to excel whether they choose to work as independent artists or within the film industry.”

This spring, CalArts will host visiting artists Lourdes Portillo, Deborah Stratman, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Luther Price on campus. Mexico-born and Chicana identified, Lourdes Portillo makes films focused on the search for Latino identity; her work was included in the 1993 Whitney Biennial and she has received both an NEA grant and Guggenheim Fellowship. Deborah Stratman is a Chicago-based filmmaker interested in landscapes and systems; her films have screened at numerous festivals, including Sundance, the Viennale, Ann Arbor and Rotterdam. She is the recipient Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships.

Filmmaker Lucien Castaing-Taylor is the Director of the Sensory Ethnology Lab and the Film Study Lab at Harvard University; he is a recent recipient of the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship and an International Film Critics Award. Boston-based filmmaker Luther Price alters found footage to create 16mm films; his work was featured prominently in the 2012 Whitney Biennial. Each artist will participate in a hands-on workshop with undergraduate and graduate students in the Program in Film and Video, providing students invaluable opportunities to learn from each of these filmmakers’ distinctive approaches to the moving image. In addition, experimental documentary filmmaker Lynne Sachs conducted critiques in January.

The School of Film/Video at CalArts is singularly devoted to filmmaking as a personal, independent art form. Visiting artists are an essential component of the student experience, serving to broaden the debate about the latest developments in contemporary artmaking. The visiting artist program introduces students to filmmakers with diverse ranges of backgrounds, experiences, and artmaking strategies. The individualized attention provided by these visiting filmmakers during hands-on workshops enables students to gain an in-depth understanding of each filmmakers’ unique perspective and creative strategies, and develop and refine their own distinctive artistic voices.