Tag: SXSW

SXSW Films We Want to Watch

Written by Tracy Fuller

This years film festival will highlight 132 features. The screenings are March 9th – 18th. The festival features 44 films from first-time filmmakers, 86 world premieres, plus 11 North American and 5 U.S. Premieres. Talk about a ton of movies to be screened! Imagine what it was like for the programming team, they had to watch 2,458 different films that were submitted personally by filmmakers.

Here are some films we suggest catching:

Jordan Peele’s The Last O.G. in Episodic

John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place

Kay Cannon’s Blockers in Headliners

Andrew Bujalski’s Support The Girls

Lynn Shelton’s Outside In in Narrative Spotlight

Alison Klayman’s Take Your Pills

Tommy Avallone’s The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From A Mythical Man in Documentary Spotlight

Spike Lee’s Pass Over in Festival Favorites.

Spike Lee will follow an increasing number of impressive speakers including Rian Johnson, Darren Aronofsky, and Barry Jenkins, in the nearby SXSW Conference.

Just in case you were wondering, you don’t necessarily have to have an SXSW Film badge to watch any of these films. According to the SXSW website, if seats still remain after the badges enter, single admission tickets will be sold for $15 starting 15 minutes before showtime. Tickets can be purchased from The Paramount Theatre, Vimeo Theater at the Austin Convention Center and ZACH Theatre.

The entire line-up and synopses below were presented by SXSW can be found here

MBPT Calls For SXSW Volunteers

Written by Tracy Fuller

Now that the spring semester is in full swing, Spring Break is looming on some minds. Whether traveling out of town or doing a staycation, Spring Break is typically the time for decompressing.

Conveniently, Spring Break falls during the live music capital of the world’s most famous festival, SXSW.  As many know, SXSW’s Festivals are divided into Interactive, Film, Music, Comedy and Gaming.

Typically SXSW’s Interactive covers a wide array of technology related panels with the potential to form connections for networking.

SXSW’s Film Festival is a mecca for global and national cinema releases. This year has an incredible 132 film features. This would be a good time for film lovers to get in and check out what is premiering. In fact, for any enrolled student, there is a substantial discount that you should probably take advantage of by going here.

ACC’s Music, Business, Performance + Technology (MBPT) department is calling for volunteers to assist in SXSW’s Music Festival. Many times, these volunteers have the opportunity to assist in stage operations throughout the festival. In fact, some previous ACC MBPT students have become Stage Managers due to their experiences as a volunteer. The volunteer call is general, so there are plenty of options for MBPT and other students

For more information please reach out to [email protected].

Realizing the Potential of College Advising Systems

Story by Jessica Youssefi, Reporter

To better address the issues, successes and future progress of community college education, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosted a panel discussion during the 2015 SXSW conference.

The “Unravelling the Advising Maze” panel on March 11 focused on how to better counsel and advise students during their time at community colleges.

Students and educators attended the panel which offered information on ways to fix glitches in the advising system during tense times for students, particularly during registration and finals when the need for advising is high.

The panel began with attendees participating and sharing their input in hypothetical situations. They were asked to fill out student forms about credit hours, transferable credits and how to find that information using only the tools provided. This activity showed the frustrations of students on a daily basis.

In order to address some of the key issues, the degree map was introduced. This tool has been implemented at Austin Community College and serves as a visual tracker allowing students to monitor their progress and see which courses are left until their degree is completed.

ACC student and panelist, Lisa Pham said the degree map is an essential tool of the advising department.

“ It’s a great way for students to see how far along they are and have a visual to see what they are accomplishing,” Pham said. “Having the advisor refer to the degree plan and checking up on you to see how you’re doing in your classes, shows that they care and they want to motivate you toward completing your education.”

The importance of the student/advisor relationship was further addressed by the panel. It described the advisor as often being a student’s best reference point when dealing with frustrations on a personal rather than academic level.

Lluvia Hernandez, a panelist and ACC student, credited a good relationship with her advisor as one of the reasons for her success.

“Once I found counselor Tim Self, who really cared about my success, I felt a lot better about school and taking certain classes,” Hernandez said. “On my end I was struggling a lot through personal and health issues and my advisor gave me the encouragement and guidance I needed — that extra push that was needed.”

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STUDENT OUTREACH — Dr. Jill Biden spends time at the 2015 South by Southwest Education summit with college-student reporters (left to right) Lauren Booker, Noor Alahmadi and Jessica Youssefi. Booker attends Georgia State University and both Alahmadi and Youssefi attend Austin Community College.

Community College Receives Increasing Attention

Story by Noor Alahmadi, Editor in Chief

Panelists focused on the increasing importance of community colleges at the South by Southwest Education summit held March 10 at the JW Marriott Austin.

The seminar on Re-Designing Higher Education for Student Success aimed to boost awareness on how schools can increase graduation rates and gave students a unique opportunity to share their own ideas and experiences about strengthening college opportunities.

“I went to the University of Massachusetts in Boston with a scholarship that I had believed would cover tuition,” Valerie Inniss, a student panelist said. “But it only covered two-thousand dollars with thirteen-thousand in hidden fees.”

Innis said had she known about all of the scholarship, advising and counseling options available to her at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, she would be in better financial shape and on a more clear-cut path to graduation. Ultimately she left the school to transfer to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

In addition to student panelists like Innis, education experts on the panel discussed alternatives such as online learning, reducing required credit hours and the importance of utilizing community college education.

Dr. Jill Biden, second lady of the United States, gave the keynote speech on the heels of the panel discussion. Biden is a community college teacher of 20 years and an educator of 30 years. In addition to stressing the importance of a college education, she expressed her love of teaching at community college and stressed its importance as a stepping stone for higher education.

“I think making community college free would make us better as a nation,” Biden said. “In the next ten years, two out of three job openings will require a college degree.”

Gavin Payne, director of the United States Program Advocacy and Communications for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke about his organization’s role in promoting community colleges.

“We have a challenge as a foundation. When someone says college, they think of a four-year institution.” Payne said. “There are a lot of ways to get there and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to make these paths more accessible to students.”

 

Dr. Jill Biden and students
STUDENT OUTREACH — Dr. Jill Biden spends time at the 2015 South by Southwest Education summit with college-student reporters (left to right) Lauren Booker, Noor Alahmadi and Jessica Youssefi. Booker attends Georgia State University and both Alahmadi and Youssefi attend Austin Community College.