The Minerva Media Festival is a significant event that celebrates the creative work of Media Studies students at UNCG. It showcases a diverse collection of media, including thought-provoking documentaries and innovative narrative shorts, all created within this semester. The Fall 2025 festival was held on December 10th at Jarrell Hall at UNCG, and many students and their families attended to watch the media projects. At the end, an award ceremony was held, and the Minerva Award was presented to seven films.
Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the patron of arts and strategy, is central to UNC Greensboro’s identity—she appears on the university seal as a symbol of intellectual rigor and creative excellence. For Media Studies, invoking Minerva underscores our commitment to thoughtful storytelling, innovation, and ethical responsibility. Highlighting these values in student media celebrates not only technical mastery but also the deeper ideals of community, introspection, and cultural impact that define our discipline.
Each awarded film in the Media Studies Minerva Media Festival reflects many of the core attributes associated with Minerva, the Roman Goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and her patronage of arts, trade, and strategy.
Film Summaries
Ruler of Everything (Addie Tsumas): Honors audacious humor and wit as tools for challenging norms through strategic disruption.
Liz’s Dreams are a fucking lie (Liz Ferrelli): Explores the tension between ambition and reality, promoting balance and reasoned judgment.
Esports Arena_Gaming and Esports(Teague Dillon, Daniel May, Maya Welch, Hamze Younis): Celebrates strategic collaboration and inclusive community-building in competitive spaces.
Dream Diary (Alana Gill): Navigates surreal dreamscapes with philosophical depth and clarity, balancing chaos and order.
Tonight (Kareem Callaway, Dylan DiYeso, and Company): Showcases playful innovation and artistic mastery in virtual environments for immersive spectacle.
Sports are Dreams (Sergio Guerra): Elevates storytelling that fuses passion, purpose, and professional formation in sports media.
As a Kid People Always Asked… (Bee Harwell): Confronts systemic injustice and memorializes lost potential through ethical narrative craft.
