Upcoming Events
02
APR
Ethiopian Passover
Photography by Peter Decherney
Sunday, April 2 | 7:00 – 9:00 PM
14Y Gallery and 14Y Theater
7:00 – 7:45 PM | Gallery
8:00 – 9:00 PM | 25-minute film screening of Dreaming of Jerusalem followed by a panel discussion
Forthcoming Work
SUMMER 2023
Bottled: How Coke Became African
Book by Sara Byala, forthcoming from Hurst Press. With research assistance from six students in the Huntsman program and two in SAS.
2023
Learning Filmmaking Fundamentals with FilmAid Kenya
Online course available through Coursera for Refugees made entirely by Penn undergraduates in collaboration with FilmAid Kenya students.
2024
Endless Exodus: The Jewish Experience in Ethiopia
Book by Peter Decherney, forthcoming from Penn Press
Work in Progress
Jews Across Africa
Book in progress by Peter Decherney and Sara Byala.
After the Flood and Draught
A feature-length documentary film to be shot over the course of three years by Penn students and faculty examining the growing impact of climate change migration in East Africa.
Kalobeyei Stories
A series of short documentaries and virtual reality films about cosmopolitanism and other developments in the experimental Kalobeyei refugee settlement.
Branding Coke in Africa
Book in progress by Peter Decherney and Sara Byala.
PGDI in the Media
NOVEMBER 2020
The Heart of Puerto Rico at 2020 New Orleans Film Festival
A multi-part virtual reality docuseries, The Heart of Puerto Rico features fifteen Puerto Rican artists and explores colonialism, the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and the power of the Puerto Rican people through painting, dance, music, sculpture, skateboarding, puppetry, and voguing. Episodes featured: Anomalia, Poncili, Jose, Mariaen
JUNE 9, 2020
“Reality replaces virtual reality”
What was supposed to be a cinema and media studies course to create virtual reality films on the Philadelphia Museum of Art collections became individual films by the students about the realities and connections to the pieces they researched.
MAY 27, 2019
“Virtual Reality Comes to the Classroom”
The possibilities for creating new ways of learning are wide-ranging, but so are the challenges.
NOVEMBER 19, 2018
“Making a difference in Puerto Rico through VR filmmaking”
Students film virtual reality videos of artists reacting to Hurricane Maria in summer abroad program funded by a Making a Difference in Diverse Communities grant.
OCTOBER 11, 2017
“A Journey of Discovery in Kenya”
SEPTEMBER 19, 2016
“Penn Student Returns Home to Study Energy Innovation in Africa”
