Viewing: May 02,2026
Join us Saturday, May 2nd at 7:00 p.m. for a special event screening of student films from the Ohio University School of Film!
Admission is FREE and open to the Public – Tickets are required
Come celebrate the excellent work of OHIO University School of Film’s Master of Fine Arts and HTC programs!
The Ohio University School of Film invites you to the 2026 MFA and HTC Thesis Showcase at the Athena Cinema on Saturday, May 2nd at 7:00 p.m. This annual event celebrates the culminating cinematic achievements of the 2026 graduating MFA and HTC class with films by Mohamed Essam Abouelenain, MJ Golzari, Zinn Rogers, Salome Sulaberidze, Gift Sukez Sukali, and Alaa Shameri.
About the films and filmmakers
The Guest List directed by Mohamed Essam Abouelenain – Narrative. Runtime: 7 min
Synopsis: On their wedding night, a couple’s perfect celebration unravels, exposing how fragile connection becomes when it’s built on spectacle rather than presence.
Reverie directed by MJ Golzari – Narrative. Runtime: 25 min
Synopsis: In a remote cabin, a dying woodcarver confronts his grief as reflections, memories, and longing slowly collapse into one irreversible presence.
Walk The Cat directed by Zinn Rogers – Narrative. Runtime: 13 min
Synopsis: Stuck with a cat he can’t keep, Ben walks across rural Athens searching for a new home for the cat.
1 Round Underground directed by Mohamed Essam Abouelenain – Narrative. Runtime: 18 min
Synopsis: Over the course of one long night, a disabled Arabian refugee in the U.S. uncovers his son’s hidden life in a brutal underground fight club, forcing him to confront the cost of survival and exile.
Birdies directed by Salome Sulaberidze – Experimental. Runtime: 16 min
Synopsis: In a forest of bird-children governed by silent rituals, a journey outward and back again disturbs the fragile order, as one boy resists return and another quietly watches the world change.
Mfumu directed by Gift Sukez Sukali – Narrative. Runtime: 25 min
Synopsis: Haunted by ancestral visions no one else can see, an African-American business analyst is forced to choose between corporate loyalty and ancient power, abandoning his identity to claim a forgotten throne and stop the very company he works for from unleashing a deadly Uranium deal.
Uncle Jimmy directed by Alaa Al Shameri – Narrative. Runtime: 25 min
Synopsis: In the shadow of a looming pandemic, a shared home becomes a closed world where fear redraws boundaries, reality blurs, and two lives drift apart, revealing how easily protection can become punishment.
