A promotional flyer for Manhattan University’s Sixth Borough Film Festival. @MANHATTANEDU / INSTAGRAM
Maddie Rosado, Managing / News Editor
After much anticipation, Manhattan University (MU) hosted its first-ever Sixth Borough Film Festival (SBFF) from April 10 to 12, turning Kelly Commons and Hayden Hall into a three-day showcase of student and international films.
The festival featured a diverse range of student-produced work across genres, including narrative films, documentaries, animation and horror. Screenings began at noon on Friday, April 10, with students welcoming guests throughout the day. Audiences rotated through a variety of showcases, with popcorn adding to the theater-style atmosphere. Screenings resumed the following day at the same time, continuing the festival’s momentum.
In total, 102 films from 27 countries were screened over the three-day event. With such a wide international reach, Michael Grabowski, Ph.D., a professor in the Communication, Sound and Media Arts Department at MU and host of the SBFF, reflected on the efforts that went into making the festival possible.
“This really was a student-run film festival,” Grabowski said. “Students were organized into teams. They were responsible for everything, from programming to social media and press to operations.”
Grabowski’s student-driven approach extended into the festival’s marketing and digital presence. Mia Porritt, social media director for the SBFF and a senior communication major, said her role centered on shaping the festival’s outreach and overall brand.
“Grabowski gave me the freedom to be creative, and I really appreciated that trust,” Porritt said. “I really wanted to make the content feel fun and appealing to college students, but also professional enough to attract people who are genuinely interested in film. My goal was to appeal to a wide audience, keeping it clean and polished, while still making it engaging and informative.”
Porritt emphasized that this creative control allowed her to define how the festival was presented online.
“I had a lot of independence in how I approached the visuals and overall branding, which allowed me to really shape the identity of the festival’s social media,” Porritt said.
Grabowski noted that this level of independence was intentional, as uplifting students was central to the festival’s mission.
“My goal was to allow the students to make key decisions for the festival,” Grabowski said. “I really wanted them to have ownership over the festival.”
In addition to social media efforts, outreach was further expanded through post-production work, including the creation of the SBFF trailer. Jason Tiziano Silva, a senior communication major with a concentration in media production and filmmaker, led the trailer’s editing and other post-production operations for the festival.
“When I was asked by Grabowski to handle post-production for the festival, which included the SBFF trailer, I felt honored, ” Silva said.
Silva went on to explain that he was surprised by the overwhelming response to the trailer, which garnered millions of views on Instagram.
“I didn’t expect it to get that much attention,” Silva said. “It went from thousands to millions of views, which was insane to me. As a kid, I always wanted my work to reach a lot of people, even just a thousand. So seeing something I worked on reach millions, it really meant a lot.”
Beyond Silva’s work behind the scenes, he also directed his own film, “The Company We Keep,” which was featured in the festival’s horror showcase.
“The movie is about the main character facing his internal demons, but also a literal demon at the same time,” Silva said. “I was really nervous because I directed it and edited it. When you’re that involved, you see every imperfection. But when I saw the audience reacting, laughing at certain moments and even getting jump-scared, it made me feel a lot better.”
Other filmmakers shared similar reactions to the audience engagement. Sam Ogunremi, a Canadian filmmaker and winner of Best Horror for “Nebuchadnezzar,” described the impact of seeing viewers respond in real time.
“The audience was really engaged and quiet, paying attention to the details,” Ogunremi said. “Then at a key moment near the end, I could see people physically react — they jolted. That was exactly the effect I was hoping for.”
Ogunremi’s film stood out for its unique concept, blending satire with thriller elements.
“I thought about what would be fun to satirize, and a talk show came to mind,” Ogunremi said. “From there, it came together quickly, the idea of a protagonist working behind the scenes and this larger-than-life, almost maniacal talk show host as the antagonist.”
Ogunremi added that the film explores deeper social themes through its narrative.
“One of the main ideas is how easily a kind of totalitarian environment can form without people realizing it,” Ogunremi said. “The protagonist doesn’t notice anything at first, but once she becomes more aware, she has a choice — either confront what’s happening, or ignore it.”
Ogunremi’s concept resonated with audiences at MU, which is what ultimately earned “Nebuchadnezzar” the award for Best Horror at the festival’s capstone ceremony. The festival concluded with a luncheon and awards ceremony on Sunday, April 12, honoring participants and their work.
A special addition to the ceremony was the presentation of the inaugural Vanguard Award to Daphne Rubin-Vega, honoring her invaluable and visionary contributions to film, theatre, television and music. MU presented the milestone award in recognition of her expansive artistic career and cultural impact.
“The award ceremony was really a celebration of a successful festival,” Grabowski said. “It was really touching to hear [the filmmakers’] acceptance speeches.”
For Grabowski, the most meaningful takeaway was the sense of pride and ownership demonstrated by his students.
“What was the most rewarding for me was to hear the students who presented the awards talk about how thankful they were that the university trusted them to make this happen,” Grabowski said. “It really showed me that true ownership just took over the festival. And I think they had a right to be very proud at the award ceremony for the good job that they did.”
Silva emphasized that sentiment, noting the collaborative effort behind the festival’s success.
“It was a huge team effort between students and Grabowski,” Silva said. “Without him, there wouldn’t be a festival, but without us, there wouldn’t be one either. Everyone contributed, and it created a really meaningful experience.”