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Kennedy Center Student Film Festival Awards

A glimpse into study abroad programs through winning video submissions.

Suffering from the COVID-19 cabin fever? The Kennedy Center’s International Study Programs offer new and exciting experiential learning across the globe! The November 2022 Kennedy Center film festival showcased student produced films on the prompt “If you don’t go, you’ll never know,” hoping to inspire and excite students into applying for future international study opportunities.

Students who returned from international study programs in 2022 created and submitted videos to the competition that highlighted their international experiences. As a judge, ISP Coordinator Aaron Rose was impressed by the creativity and technical skills students demonstrated through the competition. “We had some good filmmakers, and I was very impressed by their ability to tell a story.”

Rose hopes that overall, students interested in doing a study abroad notice the meaningful relationships formed on international study programs through the films. “I was really interested that so many students talked about relationship building and getting to know people better. It wasn’t just art, food, or academics. Most students talked about relationship building,” Rose says.

Even if academics aren’t what the videos focus on, the programs’ courses are rigorous and often fulfill general and major classes while simultaneously providing valuable work and résumé-building experiences. “We would love for more people to be able to go and experience study abroads because then they would know more about the world,” Rose says.

Student Morgan Topham (Marketing ’25) created one of the winning videos highlighting her experience at the BYU London Centre Spring 2022 program. Her video shows a girl barely missing her train, watching all the memories and landmarks of London pass by on train cars as they leave the platform.

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Left to right: Julia Bryan, Whitney Kingsolver, Morgan Topham, Regan Hoppe, Isabelle Marsden, Lauren Walker
Photo by Lauren Walker

Topham loved her London program and noted that her view of culture and the world broadened, especially through her British literature and sociology courses. Even though she was only in London for seven weeks, the UK became a second home to her. “I didn’t know another place could feel like home and that I could really feel so comfortable and happy being there. I felt like I left a part of myself in a completely different country,” she says.

Think you've got what it takes to be a winner? The Kennedy Center encourages students going on international study programs to participate in the 2023 film festival. This year, the theme focuses on the aims of a BYU education, asking how students’ study abroad programs were spiritually strengthening, intellectually enlarging, character building, or leading to lifelong learning or service. Cash prizes will be awarded to the filmmakers with the most creative and technically skilled videos.

Check out the BYUstoriesabroad YouTube channel to see Morgan’s and other winners’ videos or the Film Festival website to learn more about next year’s prompt.