What's Current in

Film + Media

European Renaissance painting of Black woman blowing bubble gum in a gold frame on a blue wall with highlighted images of other Black Renaissance figures
Photo Credit
Courtesy UCSB MCC
Connecting the past to the present, the documentary "We Were Here" sparks conversations about representation, belonging and historical memory.

Europe’s hidden Black Africans of the Renaissance

Read Article

David Valentine sits on a ship
Photo Credit
Courtesy Photo

Professor David Valentine’s toxic waste discovery featured in LA Times documentary at SBIFF
A man with glasses sits on a train, gazing out the window with a contemplative expression. A woman leans her head on his shoulder, partially obscured, wearing glasses and a blue sweater. The train interior is softly lit, and other passengers can be seen in the blurred background.
Photo Credit
Courtesy
Film still from the documentary “Walk With Me” about Los Angeles designer Charlie Hess and his journey into early-onset Alzheimer’s.

UCSB research featured in Alzheimer’s documentary at SBIFF
An illustration of a bright red hand holding a 1950s era microphone
Photo Credit
Courtesy Carol Stabile
This illustration appeared on the cover of 'Red Channels,' a 1950s-era newsletter by an anti-Communist group that contained names of supposed subversives in the entertainment industry.

The long-term effects of the Hollywood blacklist
Beautiful Black woman sitting in a dark theater with a prop box of popcorn
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
UCSB lecturer and producer Wendy Eley Jackson spotlights advocacy in a compelling new documentary.

In the theater with Wendy Eley Jackson: ‘Facing the Falls’
Portrait of Leah Bleich
Photo Credit
Taylor Finlay
Director Leah Bleich brings her first feature to the campus where she got her start in filmmaking.

‘Back’ to the future: Alum Leah Bleich returns to campus with her first feature film
two scientists in green vests talking to each other
Photo Credit
Mapping Alzheimer's Productions
Colombian neuroscientist Francisco Lopera, left, and UCSB neuroscientist Kenneth S. Kosik

Mapping Alzheimer’s: UCSB’s Cristina Venegas follows a genetic puzzle tracing Alzheimer’s roots from Colombia
white man holding camera with many people behind him who are Black
Chris Jenkins filming in South Sudan

Film & media studies instructor awarded Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowship
people standing looking at wrap around image of world from space
Photo Credit
Courtesy

Immersive ocean health project premieres at UCSB’s AlloSphere as part of Getty PST ART
glitched mosaic of images and data
Photo Credit
Laila Shereen Sakr
VJ Um Amel, "Boys on the Gaza Beach," digital mosaic, 2014

Laila Shereen Sakr’s ‘Arabic Glitch’ explores data, activism and technoculture
a small group of student filmmakers gather footage on Santa Cruz island
Photo Credit
Ian Kellett
Student filmmakers (foreground, from left) Ryan Grant, Jade Ipina and Catherine Scanlon filming the sunset on Santa Cruz Island.

Coastal Media Project screens environmental documentaries at Pollock Theater
Black female news anchor on tube television set.
Photo Credit
Courtesy
Marilyn F. Solomon hosts her weekly prime-time program “News in Review,” 1981.

Marilyn F. Solomon’s television archives join UCSB Library’s film & television collection
classroom with student of color and a Black professor
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
“Everyone writes from the lens of their experience or where they allow their imagination,” says film & media studies lecturer Wendy Eley Jackson, pictured at far right.

UC Santa Barbara and Tuskegee University launch pilot program to advance Black cultural perspectives in TV writing
Subscribe to Film + Media