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Cinema & Media Studies

A post-Oscars chat with Kathy DeMarco Van Cleve

In the latest episode of Penn Today’s ‘Office Hours’ podcast series, a casual chat with Kathy DeMarco Van Cleve, senior lecturer in Cinema and Media Studies.
Old film projector
Documenting refugees
Six people sitting on a stage during discussion.

A documentary film by Penn junior Sonari Chidi,“Shattering Refuge,” premiered at Penn, followed by a panel discussion at Perry World House on the depiction of refugees and immigrants in the media. From right, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, Michel Gabaudan, Chidi, Sozi Tulante, Fatemeh Shams, and Emma Restrepo. 

Documenting refugees

A documentary film by Penn junior Sonari Chidi and a panel discussion at Perry World House focused on the depiction of refugees and immigrants in the media.
Oscar insights
Meta Mazaj speaking at podium.

Global cinema is the focus of Mazaj’s research.  

Oscar insights

At the Lightbulb Cafe, cinema studies senior lecturer Meta Mazaj speaks about the globalization of cinema and her Oscar picks in anticipation of the 91st Academy Awards.
Risk and healthy behavior in the American adaptation of a telenovela
teenager watcing tv with popcorn on a couch looking surprised

Risk and healthy behavior in the American adaptation of a telenovela

Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center compare the CW Network show “Jane the Virgin” and the original Spanish-language telenovela “Juana la Virgen” and find an increase in risky adolescent behavior in the adaptation.

Penn Today Staff

Sex and violence were pumped up to “Americanize” Jane the Virgin, study finds

Sex and violence were pumped up to “Americanize” Jane the Virgin, study finds

A new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that “Jane the Virgin,” like many other English-language adaptations of telenovelas, was augmented to feature more sex and violence than the original version in order to appeal to American audiences. These changes “could in turn adversely affect its adolescent Hispanic audiences,” wrote the report’s co-authors, Darien Perez Ryan and Patrick E. Jamieson.

And the Oscar goes to…a Penn sophomore
Student sitting at a table next to a window.

Penn sophomore Claire Sliney is a co-executive producer of one of five films nominated for an Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category. The 91st Academy Award ceremony is Feb. 24. 

And the Oscar goes to…a Penn sophomore

Claire Sliney is a co-executive producer of one of five films nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary Short Subject category. “Period. End of Sentence.” explores the stigma of menstruation for girls in India and Sliney’s work to address the issue.