{"id":474975,"date":"2026-09-25T05:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/474975\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T05:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:04:08","slug":"5-usc-student-films-in-the-spotlight-at-pbs-fine-cut-film-festival-annenberg-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/474975\/","title":{"rendered":"5 USC student films in the spotlight at PBS\u2019 Fine Cut Film Festival \u2013 Annenberg Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five films directed by current and former USC students are among the 31 finalists selected for the 27th season of PBS SoCal\u2019s Fine Cut Festival of Films.<\/a> The series highlights student filmmakers from California and gives them an opportunity to have their films presented to a wider audience. <\/p>\n

According to PBS, the finalists were selected from 414 submissions by students representing more than 50 schools across California. The finalists will compete in documentary, animation and narrative categories in an effort to win more than $55,000 in donated prizes and filmmaking resources.<\/p>\n

The USC filmmakers include Anna O\u2019 Donnell, Mia Hagerty, Eduardo Maia, Trace Pope and Daniel Simon Zhang.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop When Your Ancestors Say So\u201d directed by Daniel Simon Zhang<\/p>\n

Before reaching television audiences, Zhang\u2019s short film received the Best Narrative award at the festival\u2019s in-person ceremony on September 22, according to him.<\/p>\n

The second-year masters of cinematic arts, film and television production student\u2019s five-minute film follows a young Chinese American man attempting to recreate a tomato-and-egg dish from memory as ghosts of his ancestors watch, judge and argue.<\/p>\n

Zhang said the story was inspired by his experiences growing up in a Chinese American household in the Chicago suburbs. The film examines the pressure that can accompany well-intentioned guidance from parents, relatives and mentors. <\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like there was a very potent image of your ancestors representing your family\u2019s values and the expectations that they hold for you, watching and monitoring how you\u2019re doing,\u201d Zhang said, adding that he hoped older generations would see that young people sometimes need space to make mistakes.<\/p>\n

Zhang said having his work shown to a wider audience allows him to show underrepresented communities and the cultural diversity within China through imaginative genres rather than sticking to conventional narratives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are aspects to these stories that not only pertain to that minority group, but can also touch on something that\u2019s more human and universal,\u201d Zhang said. \u201cThat is a story that everybody knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Zhang said there were aspects of the film he would now approach differently, the recognition was reassuring.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting into festivals is validation that at least the concept and aspects of the execution were good enough that people wanted to see it and believed that it needed to be showcased,\u201d Zhang said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Good Death\u201d directed by Mia Hagerty<\/p>\n

Hagerty won the Best Documentary award at the festival\u2019s public ceremony on September 22, according to an Instagram post<\/a> from Anna O\u2019 Donnell, another finalist and producer on the film, along with fellow USC-graduate Shubhra Dubey. <\/p>\n

In Hagerty\u2019s documentary short film, a hospice nurse helps terminally ill patients navigate end of life decisions as part of California\u2019s medical aid-in-dying process. <\/p>\n

Hagerty, who completed an MFA in film and television production from USC last spring, said the documentary came from her desire to better understand death after her mother died suddenly several years ago, a recurring theme in her student-produced films.<\/p>\n

While developing the documentary at USC, Hagerty spoke with end-of-life doulas before meeting Karen, a nurse who said she specializes in medical aid for dying. Their first phone conversation convinced Hagerty that Karen would be a compelling person to follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to enter the psychology of somebody who works with death every day,\u201d Hagerty said. \u201cWhat was that experience of death like for somebody that it becomes an everyday occurrence for them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRebound\u201d directed by Anna O\u2019 Donnell<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell, who graduated in December 2025 with an MFA in film and television production, said she drew from her own experience of being cut from her high school basketball team to create \u201cRebound,\u201d a drama about an athlete who must overcome her jealousy after her best friend earns a varsity position instead of her.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell said being cut from the team during her sophomore year felt like losing both a family and a part of her identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like being ripped from a community that you thought you could be part of for longer,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cI lost my teammates. We still had classes, but it\u2019s not the same as practicing with each other every day and doing games.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she used those feelings of isolation as the bedrock for her story\u2019s protagonist, a basketball player named Julia who expected to make the varsity team, but instead must watch from the sidelines as her best friend gets the spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor someone like Julia who was set on making varsity, that\u2019s one of the worst things that could ever happen,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cTack on the fact that your friend did make that team, and it\u2019s like an extra betrayal, even though your friend can\u2019t help that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annenberg Media requested to interview finalists Eduardo Maia, a USC film and television production graduate, and Trace Pope, a School of Cinematic Arts alum and adjunct professor in film and television production, but did not hear back in time for publication. <\/p>\n

According to PBS, Maia directed \u201cTalk Straight Duda,\u201d a film in which a gay man confronts his father about their complicated past relationship, while Pope directed \u201cSilence = Death,\u201d a drama short in which LGBTQ activists storm the National Institute of Health in protest over AIDS treatment options.<\/p>\n

The six-episode season of the Fine Cut Festival of Films premiered September 24 at 7 p.m. on PBS SoCal. The five USC films will appear in four of the season\u2019s weekly episodes. \u201cTalk Straight Duda\u201d is scheduled to air October 1, followed by \u201cRebound\u201d on October 8 and \u201cStop When Your Ancestors Say So\u201d on October 15. \u201cA Good Death\u201d and \u201cSilence = Death\u201d will both air October 22 in an episode titled \u201cDeath Personified.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edited by Miranda Huang<\/a> and Caitlin Roehmholdt<\/a>.<\/p>\n