<p class="p1">Hello, my name is Frank Adam Fortino. I am in my fourth and final year at Antioch College, and on track to graduate with a Liberal Arts bachelor's degree in art focused in media studies. I have spent my college career thus far, as well as my past three co-ops studying the art that is film and video making; from its history to actually creating works myself.</p>
<p class="p1">I have worked for filmmakers such as Rea Tajiri (Philadelphia) and Ken Burns (Walpole, New Hampshire) who have helped me gain better understandings of the documentary form, as well as story telling in general. I have travelled to far places (Andros Island in the Bahamas) with film equipment I had to sneak in my pants to carry it aboard an overweight plane.</p>
<p class="p1">I have studied and worked with found footage, animation, and essayistic forms. I have researched the links between avant-garde and conventional filmmaking (comparing Maya Derren to Christopher Nolan and <i>Sherlock Jr.</i> to <i>Un Chien Andalou</i>) and have grown very fond of experimental tactics used to convey stories through film and video.</p>
<p class="p1">To highlight my passion and excitement for film, I will be organizing and hosting a film festival called <i>30(ish) Frames Per Second: A Yellow Springs Film Festival</i> (www.30ishfilmfest.com) in June of 2017. For the festival, we will be celebrating works with essayistic qualities that deal with social justice issues in some capacity.</p>
<p class="p1">Along with my ever-growing fascination for movies and media, I have a strong connection to the ideal of living off of the food I grow myself, in a home that is self-sustaining, and harmless to the environment. To realize this, for my final co-op I have travelled to West Ireland to glasraí farms to live and work with a family who has very similar ideals to my own. They are teaching my how to farm, and live sustainably, and in return, I use the skills they teach me on their farm. Along with immersing myself in a culture different from my own, I am learning skills that will follow me beyond the classroom, and into the way I want to live my life.</p>