Queensborough Student Makes it to the Big Screen!
Burnt Out, written, voiced, and directed by Lucy Eliscu at Queensborough Community College, has been selected by the Student World Impact Film Festival, (SWIFF) in the Short Film category. SWIFF is the premier student film festival that attracts submissions from more than 5,000 aspiring filmmakers from more than 100 countries each year. Of those, just three hundred films were selected. A virtual week-long film screening and awards ceremony will be held the week of November 13-18, 2022.
Eliscu completed Burnt Out during the 2021 fall semester in her media production class at Queensborough.
“I am over the moon right now!” she exclaimed and noted that she could not have succeeded without the support of Queensborough Professor Eileen White, Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts.
White, who teaches film theory, production, and history, lauded Eliscu’s eye for an exceptional story and compelling narrative. “Her work conveys an essential commonality of shared experience, filtered through her singular way of seeing. The limitations the pandemic imposed on filmmakers never stopped her from producing visually stunning work that always entertained and moved audiences.”
“We are thrilled to hear of Lucy’s triumph!” said Dr. Christine Mangino, President of Queensborough Community College. “Her incredible success is a tribute to her talent and hard work, and I am grateful to her outstanding mentors who supported and encouraged her all the way. It is this level of personalized student attention that instills the self-confidence students need to realize their aspirations and goals-- that sets Queensborough apart. And these qualities are affirmed in a recent study that ranks Queensborough number 1 in New York State for Best Education and Value.”
"The impact our young Media Production major is making in the lives of our students is remarkable,” said C. Julian Jiménez, Professor and Chairperson, Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts. “Professor White has curated a program that is not only enriching the education of Queensborough's students' path to a bachelor's degree but is also readily preparing them to join the workforce immediately. We are so proud of Lucy Eliscu's tremendous accomplishment."
Eliscu, who grew-up in Bayside, now lives in Floral Park on the Queens-Long Island border. There she works full-time as a substitute-paraprofessional, assisting in day-to-day activities in the NYC public school system.
Eliscu transferred to Queensborough in the fall of 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Because of the College’s flexible schedule, she was allowed to take asynchronous courses and continue her job.
She initially majored in Art & Design, but it was Introduction to Digital Media and Production that changed her life.
“My vision for Burnt Out was born in that class. I was inspired to create a diary based on footage I collected on my phone over a year. I took on all roles as narrator, producer, and director.”
She transferred to Queens College in the spring of 2022 where she is planning to earn her BA in Media Studies in the spring of 2023.
“I will always have a tender place in my heart for Queensborough. I cannot say enough about my professors’ support and belief in me, especially during such a challenging time. A lot of what I express through my film has a dark edge but my films’ ultimate message, that life is good, comes from the goodness of my professors, the goodness of Queensborough.”
Eliscu’s summer break(s) is over and two academic years are about to begin.
“You would think because I work in a school, and I go to a school that I plan to pursue a career in teaching. She shook her head, “No, I am a filmmaker, and my future pursuits will be through the lens of a screenwriter.”
Contact: Alice Doyle
Communications and Public Relations Manager
Adoyle@qcc.cuny.edu
718-281-5591
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