Three University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Telecommunication alumni were recently recognized for their work at two prestigious Florida film festivals – the Palm Beach International Film Festival and the Gasparilla International Film Festival.

Matthew Baquero, B.S. Telecommunication 2017, and Elias Zouak, B.S. Telecommunication 2017, received the Vanilla Ice Music Video Award for “Till They’re Back” at the Palm Beach International Film Festival’s Student Showcase. The Showcase is the largest statewide film competition and awards show for Florida student filmmakers. Baquero wrote, recorded and performed the lyrics and music and Zouak appeared in the music video. The work was created for a final project in Telecommunication Associate Professor Tim Sorel and Telecommunication Lecturer Iman Zawahry’s Electronic Media Production class.

Emily Miller, B.S. Telecommunication 2017, directed a short film that was an official selection for the Short Films category in the Gasparilla International Film Festival in Tampa. “The Estates,” is an eight-minute piece focusing on a neighborhood where children run competitive businesses. A savvy gumball tycoon tries to rise above her rival, head of the underground firework cartel, to become the most powerful kid in the neighborhood.

Miller’s work, created in Zawahry’s inaugural Narrative Collaborative Filmmaking class, was the only film in the category that was not produced by a student in a Master of Fine Arts program or film school. Miller, now a resident of Los Angeles, was flown by the Festival to attend the screening with the film actors LJ Ruth and Isabelle Meyer.

Posted: April 25, 2018
Category: Alumni News, College News
Tagged as: Elias Zouak, Emily Miller, Gasparilla International Film Festival, Iman Zawahry, Matthew Baquero, Palm Beach International Film Festival, Tim Sorel