UCR Media and Cultural Studies

06/16/2026

“End-of-the-quarter” interview and short film by Juliette Cruz, a 2nd year undergraduate student here at UCR 🎥

Juliette shares her story as a filmmaker, her influences and what inspired her to create her film, “Break”.

In MCS 009 “Music in Movies”, she learned about the process of creating a film score and collaborated with PhD mathematics student and tenor saxophonist, Seth Berman.

Together they recorded an arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” for her final project, “Break”, a short film about the struggle of finding balance between school and social life.

Enjoy and have a safe, restful summer vacation! ☀️

06/13/2026

Wishing all of our wonderful graduates the best on your future endeavors and looking forward to seeing what you all do next! 🎓🎉

Hope to stay in touch with our MCS alumni! If there are ever any projects you would like us to support, please reach out and send it to us. We are happy to continue supporting you however we can 😊

💌 Message us here or email us at [email protected]

06/11/2026

Congratulations again to our MCS Award winners as well as all of our wonderful graduates from the Class of 2026 🏆🎓👏

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to our MCS grad ceremony yesterday to celebrate! 🎉

🌟our MCS Award winners 🌟
Best Paper - Crystal Salazar Hernandez
Best Poster - Caitlyn Campbell, Theo Ruiz, Megan Southern, and Michael Shattuck
Best Pitch Deck and Sizzle Reel - Phillip Chung
Best Short Film - Elias Martigon

06/01/2026

✨SUBMISSIONS DUE TONIGHT!! 🎥🏆✨

Calling all student filmmakers and creatives! MCS invites all undergraduate students that have been enrolled in MCS courses to submit student-made films and posters for our Best Short Film, Best Pitch Deck and Sizzle Reel and Best Poster awards that will be announced at the MCS Graduation Ceremony on June 9th🎓

Swipe through for more information on how to submit your film! ⬅️

📩 Please send your poster submissions to Prof. John Jennings ([email protected]) and film submissions to Prof. Ruhi Khan ([email protected])

05/28/2026

05/28/2026

✨CONGRATS CLASS OF 2026 🎓🎉✨

On Tuesday, June 9th from 11:30AM to 2:30 PM at UCR Campus in INTS 1113, we would like to warmly invite you and your loved ones to come celebrate our MCS graduates with us at our MCS Graduation Ceremony 👩‍🎓🧑‍🎓🏆

Awards will be presented for the film and poster submissions from our students and food and refreshments will be provided 😊

05/27/2026

✨SUBMISSIONS DUE THIS FRI (5/29)🎥🏆✨

Calling all student filmmakers! MCS is currently accepting submissions of student-made films for our Best Short Film Award that will be announced at the MCS Graduation Ceremony on June 9th 🎓

Swipe through for more information on how to submit your film! ⬅️

05/26/2026

Screening, Conversation & Workshop with Filmmaker Raed El Rafei
Friday, May 29 10:30 a.m.
INTS 1128

The conversation will be moderated by UCR Professors Christophe Katrib (Theatre, Film, and Digital Production) and Courtney R. Baker (Department of English).

Later at 3 p.m., Raed El Rafei will lead a two-hour workshop for UCR students.

Presented by

Cosponsors: Middle Eastern Student Center (MESC), LGBT Resource Center, Department of English, Media and Cultural Studies, Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS), UCR ARTS, Center for Ideas and Society (CIS), Political Science, Comparative Literature & Languages.

05/08/2026

Join us THIS Friday for UCR ARTS AAPI Film Series! Free Admission!

Generations of artists call Robert A. Nakamura “The Godfather of Asian American film,” but his son, Tad, calls him Dad. As the filmmaking son of a filmmaking legend, Tad uses the lessons his dad taught him to decipher the legacy of an aging man who was a child survivor of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans, a successful photographer who gave it up to tell his own story, an activist at the dawn of a social movement—and a father whose struggles have won his son freedoms that eluded Japanese Americans of his generation. As Parkinson’s Disease clouds his memory, Tad sets out to retrieve his story—and in the process discovers his own. The two have made films together, with Robert always by Tad’s side. THIRD ACT is most likely the last.

The screening will be followed by a discussion and Q&A with filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura.

🔗 Visit thttps://ucrarts.ucr.edu/films/third-act/ to reserve your free tickets now!

Image: Photographer – Robert A. Nakamura, Courtesy of THIRD ACT, ©Robert A. Nakamura

05/07/2026

Affiliated with our 49th annual Writers Week festival, please join us on Thu., May 7, at 5 p.m. for a screening of the film "Mija."

Location: INTS 1128
Free and open to the public

Full schedule: writersweek.ucr.edu/schedule2026