RIT Shorts Watch Party and WXXI Broadcasts

Event Image
An animated fish and bird look at each other.

The third 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 late August. The featured films for this edition are by Deanna Moorehead ’25 MFA, Vinh Nguyen ’25 MFA, and Kenneth Reynolds ’25. 

An RIT watch party is set for 8-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28 in Wegmans Theater (MAGIC Spell Studios). All are welcome! *Doors open at 7:45. 

Broadcast dates (on WXXI-TV and the WXXI-TV Live Stream)

  • 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28 (RIT watch party in Wegmans Theater starts a little before 8)
  • 10:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29
  • 3:30 p.m. Aug. 31

Featured films

A Fish and a Bird by Deanna Moorehead

“A fish and a bird may fall in love but where would they make their home?" is a proverb that long predates this film. It poses the question: can two creatures built to thrive in different conditions maintain a relationship? Abstracted further: is love enough? A Fish & A Bird offers an answer to this question, by way of depicting the tragic romance of the titular animals as an all-out operetta. They serenade each other through the obfuscating surface of the water, and in the mysteriousness of the other each finds something with which to be enamored. When the boundary of land and sea strains the relationship, the fish is moved to change herself to better-suit her paramour. When she breaks the surface and they see each other plainly for the first time, their relationship is irrevocably altered.

Featured image: from A Fish & A Bird

I Had To by Vinh Nguyen

An exploration of the generational gap of the diaspora of the Vietnam war and its ripple effect on my life.

Encyclopedia Galactica by Kenneth Reynolds

In ancient days, humans would look at the stars and dream of an endless future; every point of light emblematic of a new horizon to cross, a new frontier to conquer, a destiny to claim. But this future would not come to pass. Instead, the future would see the human race gone, our pan-galactic society torn apart by the strains of expansion. The planets settled during humanity’s diaspora lay abandoned, with all traces of our presence eroding into ruin and dust; an ancient cosmic ecosystem swallowing our collective remains. And despite our absence, those hopeful, naive dreams of that now-ancient era still echo across the galaxy, for any who choose to intercept them. Encyclopedia Galactica is a mixed-media film about these forgotten worlds, and a glimpse into the galaxy that humanity has left behind.


Contact
Linda Moroney
Event Snapshot
When and Where
August 28, 2025
7:45 pm - 8:30 pm
Room/Location: Wegmans Theater
Who

Open to the Public

Interpreter Requested?

No

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