In this edition of The Five, SVA graduates push creative boundaries through eco-conscious design, immersive art, and powerful, personal filmmaking on an international stage.
A still from Renoir, a film by Chie Hayakawa (BFA 2001 Photography) featured in Tokyo Weekender.
A still from Renoir, a film by Chie Hayakawa (BFA 2001 Photography) featured in Tokyo Weekender.
In this edition of “The Five,” SVA alumni are focused on the environment and sustainability across animation, immersive installations, and design, and two international filmmakers are on the rise, telling important stories inspired by their own histories.
1. Filipina filmmaker Meryl Chan (BFA 2025 Animation) was recently featured in PhilStar, talking about her thesis film Dive and Trek and other projects she created during her time at SVA. Chan reflects on her experience at the College, saying, “It felt like learning an entirely new language of creation.” She also touches on the emergence of AI in animation and her post-college plans, which include continuing to make art that focuses on environmental awareness.
2. Chie Hayakawa (BFA 2001 Photography), a director just nominated for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for the new semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film Renoir, recently talked to Tokyo Weekender about turning grief into art. “My personal experience of living with a father who had cancer affected my perception of death, solidarity, and human dignity,” Hayakawa says. “For me, making Renoir was like a journey to find myself. I gained a new perspective on my childhood.”
An image from the new brand identity campaign for Cellsense, a biomaterial company developing next-generation solutions for sustainable fashion, created by MFA 2023 Design alumni Hyunji Jun and Yoon Bee Baek.
An image from the new brand identity campaign for Cellsense, a biomaterial company developing next-generation solutions for sustainable fashion, created by MFA 2023 Design alumni Hyunji Jun and Yoon Bee Baek.
3. New York-based new-media artist and educator Jessica Reisch’s (MFA 2024 Computer Arts) latest project, “The Lake Erie Listening Project,” will be underway and on view at the Lake Erie FEED Media Art Center this summer, thanks to her residency with OPENFEED. Focusing on soundscapes of various typically unheard underwater environments, Reisch’s work combines audio recordings and immersive installations.
4. Variety highlighted Not My Name, a drama-thriller from Juan Paulo Laserna (BFA 2014 Film and Video) among the wide-ranging lineup of fiction feature projects at this year’s Bogotá Audiovisual Market. “Both visually powerful and grounded in lived experience,” Laserna says of his film, “Haunting memory and a timely reflection on how violence warped our families, our sense of truth and our childhoods.”
5. Two MFA 2023 Design alumni, Hyunji Jun and Yoon Bee Baek, just unveiled a new brand identity for Cellsense, a biomaterial company developing next-generation solutions for sustainable fashion. With sustainability in mind, the duo dreamt up everything from visuals to text for the brand’s app and interface. “Cellsense represents a new generation of material innovation,” says Jun in 121 Clicks.
A still from Not My Name, a film by Juan Paulo Laserna (BFA 2014 Film and Video).
A still from Not My Name, a film by Juan Paulo Laserna (BFA 2014 Film and Video).