Wednesday, June 10, 2026 at 7 PM
6:00pm – Pre-Reception in James Bridges Lobby
7:00 pm – Showcase Begins
James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
Big stories. Bold visions. One unforgettable night.
The Thesis Showcase is the grand finale for our directors in the UCLA TFT MFA Production program— a cinematic celebration of their final films and years of fearless creativity. These thesis projects represent the culmination of each filmmaker’s voice, craft, and vision, brought to life on the big screen.
Come discover the storytellers who are ready to take the industry by storm—and catch their work here first.
Hosts: Olive Samuel Greenspan & Harsh Vardhan Singh
Distinguished Alumni Honoree: Arkesh Ajay
Arkesh Ajay is a Los Angeles-based writer-director of Indian origin. Most recently, he wrote and directed multiple episodes for the first season of the Netflix original series “Black Warrant” (2025). The show reached Netflix’s Global Top 10 and was named one of Variety’s 10 Best International Shows of the Year. He is currently writing the second season.
Arkesh has also written and developed a drama-comedy series with Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions. He has previously collaborated with FX, Color Force, and The Js on the development of a series and directed James Franco and Topher Grace in the anthology “Mississippi Requiem”, based on a story by William Faulkner, for Lee Caplin/Picture Entertainment.
Arkesh and Black Warrant have received multiple awards and nominations for direction and screenwriting, including the Filmfare Awards, Asian Academy Creative Awards, Indian Television Academy Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards India, Asian Television Awards, and the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards. He also received the Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Award for his feature “The Kitchen Chemist’s War.”
He is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television MFA Directing Program.
The Thesis Films
Jesus Slays! – dir. Jazmyne Black
Four counselors fight for their lives against a killer that stalks them amongst the grounds of the christian summer camp, Camp Genesis.
Rite of Passage – dir. Lissy Aschieries & Jake Aschieries
August, an aimless 30s-something who can’t get past the glory days of his childhood, returns to his hometown and finds that he is haunted by a monstrous presence from his past.
Bruised Lantana – dir. Trent Miller
A kid gifted in magic grows up with the wrong company. His friends convince him to rob a store.
טהרה Tahara – dir. Olive Samuel Greenspan
In advance of their top surgery, Bee gives a part of their living body the ritual it will not later receive in death. This short documentary is part of the upcoming feature film, Forty Years In The Desert.
Tell me about a complicated man – dir. María Paula Ávila Vera
There are no new beginnings for two Colombians in India who are trying to start a new life while escaping the worst thing a person can do.
A Study of Grey – dir. Michelle Li
Following the wandering mind of a young woman in the aftermath of killing her father.
Image Exile – dir. Wendy Tong
An image collector obsessed with low-resolution imagery begins to realize that, as AI restoration technology sweeps across the world, these “enhanced” images are losing their original emotional and historical traces — ultimately drawing her into a rebellion led by low-pixel images themselves.
Drift – dir. Yi Yu
Beginning with a scar that is exactly her age, Drift follows the director’s search into why pregnancy is chosen, and what that choice asks of a mother.
Maktoub – dir. Kunle Fasasi
After a long search for the right spouse, Ibrahim and Hawa must either succumb to—or overcome—the obstacles standing in the way of their blissful union.