USJ Master students present mini-documentary projects

A small screening ceremony was held at Creative Macau on Monday night, where ten post-graduate students from the University of Saint Joseph presented their mini-documentary projects, alongside five of their course’s lecturers. The documentary submissions formed a single-day exhibition, titled “The Future is Now”.

“The documentaries have the theme of presenting Macau’s cultural heritage,” said one the students, who also acted as one of the ceremony’s presenters. “Our work depicts the footprints of the USJ campus, Macau heritage, the Macau Tower and local entertainment.”

The ten contributors to the exhibition are students of the Masters of Communication and Media program, under the USJ Faculty of Creative Industries. Their works encompass the areas of audiovisual arts, multimedia, infographics and media law.

One such project covered the diversity of religious beliefs in Macau. The documentary-maker interviewed about half a dozen young people and inquired on their thoughts on an afterlife. All of the respondents said that they believed in life after death, but their respective views were influenced by a combination of Christian and Buddhist traditions.

Before the screenings commenced, five professors or lecturers involved in the course’s eight modules gave a short speech toasting the students and their respective projects.

“I would like to congratulate all of your for completing the first step in the master program,” said Professor Álvaro Barbosa. “It is the only time that you can really expose your work. This [exhibition] is something original; that is not very common. It is a good opportunity to find a better way of bringing our work to the community.”

Tomé Quadros, a senior lecturer responsible for audiovisual media production, described the exhibition as “a wonderful opportunity [for the students] to screen their work and [highlight] the fundamentals that they have learned on their course.”

“It’s an opportunity for the public to provide some feedback,” he added.

Carlos Sena Caires, responsible for the infographic multimedia element of the course, claimed “it was a very challenging module; the first one here in Macau.”

“When we thought about creating something new, we were planning a topic that deals with society but – apparently – has nothing to do with law. But this creation started with an attempt to create an internal network: putting people together,” complemented Francisco Leandro, a professor of law who leads the media and society module. He said it was his first time combining the disciplines.

Finally, José Manuel Simões, the coordinator for the Department of Communication and Media, congratulated the students and said that, since 2008, he “has never had such a great group of students.”

“We have created projects that Macau has never imagined before. They are truly innovative and give an insight into the community and into the future,” he said. DB