Now in Production:

OVERCOMING GRAVITY

JULY 7 - 24, 2026

Can we engage in filmmaking as an inclusive art practice, open to all—one that nurtures safe spaces for playful and imaginative community collaboration? Can movie magic become a form of empowerment, personal expression, and freedom to do the impossible?

Using smartphones, old projectors, paper cut-outs, props found on curbs, and other readily accessible tools, Teens with a Movie Camera produces short movies that embrace our collective freedom to imagine, dream, and create together as active participants in shaping our world—regardless of age or resources.

CURIOUS CREATURES

Curious creatures with superpowers are visiting Teens with a Movie Camera this summer — exploring Syracuse, making friends with Earthlings, and hoping to learn new things about human life on Planet Earth…

PROJECT INSPIRATIONS

As we work to overcome gravity, we will learn about two women with local roots in Syracuse who did exactly that, through hard work and a belief in their ability to achieve the seemingly impossible.....

OUR TEAM: SUMMER 2026

Mišo Suchý stands in a dark red-orange room, holding a phone light to illuminate a teen silhouette

MIŠO SUCHY

Program Director +
Creative Producer

Professor, Syracuse University
VPA Film Program

Mišo Suchý (he/him) is an Associate Professor with nearly 30 years of filmmaking and teaching experience. Mišo’s films have screened internationally, including retrospectives at film festivals in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. His work was part of a retrospective of Slovak Documentary Cinema organized by Centre Pompidou, Paris, France. Working with his students, Mišo created a community based film, Giving Voice, about singing for an inclusive society. Mišo has taught master film classes & media workshops in Slovakia (where he’s originally from). At SU, he developed the “zero budget” independent personal filmmaking course: In Our Own Backyards and the course smARTphone for ARTists.

LIDA SUCHY

Program Co-Director +
Creative Producer

Professor, Onondaga Community College
Photographer & Guggenheim Fellow

Lida Suchy (she/her) is a first-generation American, born into a refugee family. A Fulbright Scholar, Guggenheim Fellow, & NYFA Fellow, she has exhibited internationally and throughout the USA. Lida taught at RIT, Hartwick, and has led workshops in the USA, Italy, and Ukraine. Currently, she teaches at OCC. Previously, she worked with Nottingham High School students on a media & performance art project, Reflections from Nottingham High, exhibited at ArtRage and later installed at SU’s School of Education. Excerpts were also on view at Syracuse City Hall. Lida’s VOICES OF DIVERSITY and most recently, PORTRAIT OF A VILLAGE, were exhibited at ArtRage in Syracuse.

EVAN BODE

Program Co-Director / Co-Lead,
Video Editor + Web Manager

M.F.A. Alumnus, Class of 2023
SU VPA Film Program

Evan Bode (any pronouns) is an award-winning filmmaker, animator, editor, composer, and arts educator whose work has screened at major festivals across the U.S. and around the world. Evan’s first student film, Thine Own Self, won the Gotham Institute’s Student Showcase, a success featured in Filmmaker Magazine. Their latest film, Prison and Time, co-created with writer Marvin Wade in association with Project Mend, was featured in The New York Times as part of NYT's Emmy Award-winning "Op-Docs" series. Bode graduated with an M.F.A. in Film from Syracuse University in 2023, where he earned a Chancellor's Citation for Excellence in Graduate Research and taught courses in animation, documentary, narrative fiction, and experimental film, as well as SU’s Summer Pre-College Film intensive.

SHOKOOFEH
JABBARI

SU VPA Film Program
M.F.A. Candidate

Shokoofeh Jabbari is a filmmaker, animator, poet, writer, collage artist, and educator whose work brings together cinema, literature, and art. Born and raised in Iran, she draws on her heritage and global experiences to create thoughtful, expressive pieces. She holds an M.F.A. in filmmaking from Syracuse University, an M.A. in dramatic literature from Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, a B.A. in cinema, and an associate degree in graphic design. As an instructor at Syracuse University, she teaches and mentors students in film and media arts. In Iran, she taught performing arts and art history, helping students find their creative voices. Jabbari’s work explores identity, memory, womanhood, and the feeling of being between worlds. She uses literature, collage, experimental film, animation, VR, installation, and performance to create gentle, beautiful spaces where stories and memories come together.

HEZEKIAH
FLECK SIMS

SU VPA Film Program
B.F.A. Alumnus

Hezekiah Fleck Sims (he/him) approaches artistic work as a radical, spiritual practice of movement and world-building, rooted in a deep sense of love and responsibility and a belief in the interconnectedness of all things. He believes that this work, emerging from open observation and listening, can stimulate thought and imagination and engage alternate ways of thinking or seeing, and is thus necessary for the building of a better world. Media he works in include filmmaking, photography, dance, and music composition. His process is exploratory and playful, with a foundation in the discipline and physicality of his classical training in ballet and music, for a tactile, embodied approach. In film, he aims to engage on both intellectual and emotional levels, with a mix of drama, humor, stylization, and the absurd. His filmic style is rooted in movement, and shares an observational character with his still photography, careful to portray subjects with respect. In addition to his artistic practice, he also dances, teaches, and does other work with Amherst Ballet Theatre Company, a dance school committed to technically rigorous, accessible and inclusive teaching.

CLARA
KELLEY

SU VPA Film Student
Junior Undergrad

Clara Kelley is a filmmaker and writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania currently pursuing a B.F.A. in Film, History, and Writing. Her creative work features deeply personal stories that expose the painful loss of innocence, highlighting the abuse and secrecy that is often perpetuated in family dynamics. With a desire to show complex characters, Clara often tells a story across multiple mediums, as seen in her 2025 written memoir and experimental film "The Extinction of Fireflies" was well as her 2026 short film "MO GHRÁ" and short story "Hail Mary." In addition to her own work, Clara is also an advocate for children's education, working as an SU Literacy Corps Tutor and founding The Good Memory Project, a photography initiative to help students learn the basics of composition. Her educational goals focus on teaching empathy, amplifying young voices, and helping others use their imagination.

OKSANA
KAZMINA

SU VPA Art Video
M.F.A. Alumnus

Oksana Kazmina is an artist, filmmaker, and educator. She is also a participant in the cine-movement “Freefilmers,” which was originally founded in Mariupol, Ukraine. Kazmina works at the intersection of performance art, moving image, and critical media theory. Her main focus is the relationship between modern body and media, the mediality of experience, the embodied memory. Since 2015, Kazmina has been working on her debut feature, “Underwater,” which evolved into an online exhibition www.dokvira.cam. Just before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kazmina developed a series of walks-lectures “Contemporary History of Ukraine” and a bio-art project, “Dead/ly Landscapes or I Myself Should Become All Places I Loved.” Currently, Kazmina is conducting research on the relationship between ritual, cybernetics, and moving image, focusing on the work of Kyiv-born avant-garde artist and filmmaker Maya Deren.

Featured Visiting Artist:

CAMERON JOY GRAY

SU VPA Film Program Alumnus

Beinecke Scholar, McNair Scholar, University Scholar

Cameron Joy Gray is a dual-language educator and documentary & narrative filmmaker from Washington, DC, who is dedicated to creating more equitable spaces in education and telling stories that promote cultural understanding. Her films have screened at places like the March On! Film Festival in Washington, DC and the Syracuse International Film Festival in Syracuse, NY, concentrating on topics such as racial identity, personal histories, and language. Cameron holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts in Film from Temple University, where she was a University Fellow. At SU, Cameron was among twelve 2022 Syracuse University Scholars, the highest undergraduate honor the University bestows, as well as winning the highly prestigious Beinecke Scholarship. Cameron is currently working on a feature-length documentary about medical students of color in Philadelphia (selected by Kickstarter as a "Project We Love"), and works with District of Columbia Public Schools as a Multilingual Learner Teacher.

THANK YOU to our Supporters:

Central New York
Community Foundation

CNY Arts

National Endowment for the Arts

Syracuse Symposium / Syracuse University Humanities Center

Girls, Inc.

PRG Foundation, Inc.

Engaged Humanities Network

Urban Video Project / Light Work

North Side Learning Center

Narratio

The SOURCE

Syracuse University College of Visual & Performing Arts

Syracuse University
Physics Department

Nottingham High School

ArtRage Gallery

Dolls4Peace

Say Yes Syracuse

Bird Library

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