Fellows are at the heart of the Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts. Each year, the Center provides funding and access to professional production equipment to a growing community of creatives across UC San Diego, including students, faculty, and staff.

Our fellows take the opportunity and run with it, challenging conventions and bringing their own ideas, practices, and perspectives to work that extends far beyond the Center. They make films, experiment with new forms, conduct research, and build careers as artists and thinkers worth watching.

The 2026 Fellowship Forum brings that work and the people behind it into focus, giving the campus and broader community a chance to experience the creative process. 

Featuring undergraduate and graduate students, recent alumni, and current faculty, this year's projects move between coming-of-age stories, historical memory, experimental media, and the blurred lines between documentary and fiction.

The afternoon features three 45-minute sessions of film clips and candid conversations with fellows, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the ideas, inspirations, and discoveries shaping their projects. Join us afterward for a celebratory reception with light refreshments.