Diogenes Film Festival: Celebrating PUC’s Visual Arts Department

On May 28, Pacific Union College’s Visual Arts Department hosted its annual Diogenes Film Festival at the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena. With PUC Professor of Film Melissa Henry Pratt and Film Instructor Nephtali Marin as the hosts, 15 films were showcased to a full house of faculty, staff, and the PUC community. The night was filled with laughter, heart, and, of course, popcorn. With three awards presented, three PUC students, one alumna, and a student from PUC Preparatory received awards for their work.

“Diogenes is our graduation. It’s our Oscars,” said Marin. “It’s a big moment for us. A time to celebrate.” As their professor, Marin had the privilege of watching his students grow throughout the projects, from the rough to the final cuts. “They all worked so hard, and each had their own challenges, and each turned out completely different,” he said.

Senior Kateryna Popravkina received the Audience Choice Award for her film Albedo. As an audience favorite, her film also left an impression at the 2025 Sonscreen Film Festival, an event hosted by the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which had funded Albedo last year through a pitch competition.

Junior Samuel Birky and senior Jonathan Murdick won the Orson’s Disciple, a recognition for their immense assistance in others’ projects. While Murdick is a business major, he has shared his interest in film with the visual arts department and, for the past few years, has been a wonderful help to film students as they piece together their projects, even creating his own work.

For students who are not in the visual arts program and attend Diogenes, a hope for the visual arts faculty is to inspire them to join the film department, whether by helping behind the scenes, portraying a character in a project, or even pursuing a minor in film. They are invited and welcome to find their place in the department and know that they are accepted in Fisher Hall.

The visual arts department also awarded PUC Preparatory student Ben Muhic the title of Filmmaker of the Future. Through PUC’s College Early program, he enrolled in the department’s cinematic storytelling class and gained early exposure to college coursework.

From the class of 2023, Melody Park received the Honored Alumni Award and was specially recognized for her hand-drawn animation film The Bard of the Mountain Valley, which she began creating in 2021 and completed this year. With such immense talent and impressive patience in creating this project, Park’s film elicited the strongest reaction from the audience. Former PUC Film Professor Tim de la Torre was a part of Park’s creative process and held a 10-minute Q&A with Park. By showcasing Park’s film, the visual arts faculty hope to continue featuring and honoring alumni to stay connected and promote their work.

PUC’s Visual Arts is known as a tight-knit department, a special attribute. As a creatively passionate group, students and faculty are constantly collaborating, supporting each other’s visions to bring them to the big screen. Marin appreciates the “sense of belonging and community” within the film department. “The visual arts department is very unified, which is what I have always loved about the department,” he shared. “We’re our own school; we have this special place where we can be comfortable and honest and go through hard things together.”

Marin expressed his pride in his students' resilience in navigating obstacles while continuing to support their department. “It’s been a tough year globally and personally. AI and visual arts, everything feels heavy, so I’m proud of them for continuing to show up for each other, even when things get hard, and showing up for themselves, and continuing to enjoy creating. That’s what I’m most proud of,” he said.

As each student and faculty member played a part in these projects in one way or another, Marin hopes his students witnessed and felt the unity within their department during the Diogenes Film Festival. No matter the outcome of the night, whether they win an award or not, or feature their film or not, he wants them to appreciate the work they’ve completed and be proud of themselves.