RIT Shorts Broadcast on WXXI

Event Image
A 2D animation of a character with a shocked look on their face.

The fourth installment of RIT Shorts — a biannual spotlight of films made by RIT School of Film and Animation students that airs on WXXI-TV in Rochester — is set to broadcast across three dates in January. The four featured films are centered on disability themes and are broadcasting as part of WXXI's Dialogue on Disability initiative

Lineup

  • I Want to be Alone by Piper Charron
  • Ghost Sandwich by Lymon Thorn
  • Xobrettahc by Robert Welton
  • Oneness by Kaela Mangiaracina

Broadcast dates

  • 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15 (WXXI-TV and the WXXI-TV Live Stream)
  • 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 (WXXI-WORLD)
  • 5:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 (WXXI-TV)
  • 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18 (WXXI-TV)

Featured films

I Want to Be Alone by Piper Charron
Follows Lisa as she struggles to complete a late-night commute after her headphones run out of battery. Each area of the city brings new and increasingly chaotic stimuli that she must cope with to reach her rooftop garden sanctuary. These stimuli manifest increasingly abstractly, building in visual and sonic texture and intensity as she traverses the city.

Ghost Sandwich by Lymon Thorn
When a deaf woman drops and shatters her phone, her one accessibility aid, she uses different means of visual communication. Unfortunately, everyone else happens to be haunted by specters that she will never perceive – and to make matters worse, they won’t listen to anyone who can’t use a ghost to talk. *Featured image is from this film

Xobrettahc by Robert Welton
Taking place in an animation class, students are asked to propose ideas for story pitches. They each blurt a series of words pertaining to their main concept as Trebora, a student who isn’t prepared to share, moves shapes inside her imagination in an effort to visualize their plans. She lucks out when time runs out before her turn but continues to struggle at home. Finally, after a fit of frustration, she draws an expressionistic but solid creature. As Trebora describes her idea in the following class, we see the other students’ concepts fleshed out as their own animals.

Oneness by Kaela Mangiaracina
In this film is about being in the process of making one of the biggest decisions of her life, a Deaf girl attempts to figure out where she fits among the hearing and Deaf worlds. Fun fact: The lead actress in this film is Jacqueline Pransky, who is now a teacher at Rochester School for the Deaf.


Contact
Linda Moroney
Event Snapshot
When and Where
January 15, 2026
8:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Room/Location: WXXI-TV and WXXI-TV Live Stream
January 17, 2026
5:30 pm - 6:15 pm
Room/Location: WXX-TV
January 17, 2026
11:30 pm - 12:15 am
Room/Location: WXXI-TV
January 18, 2026
3:00 pm - 3:45 pm
Room/Location: WXXI-TV
January 17, 2026
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm
Room/Location: WXXI-WORLD
Who

Open to the Public

Interpreter Requested?

No

Topics
community outreach
games, film, and digital media
student experience