International Student and Scholar Services Archives - ��Ƶ

A Reel Adventure

Jamilah Simmons — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 21:55:14 +0000

Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, ’24 came to the United States to study film, first at the College of Staten Island (CUNY) before transferring to ��Ƶ.

She brings a unique cultural lens to her storytelling and, in short time, has developed an impressive portfolio that bridges continents and genres. From documenting to capturing , and even working behind the scenes on a Vogue Singapore shoot, Horiuchi’s work reflects a deep curiosity about identity, art, and the unseen forces that shape us.

Her 13-minute senior thesis film, The Visit (see trailer below), is inspired by a Japanese folk tale about mischievous monsters and has captivated film festival juries, earning the 2024 National Board of Review Student Grant Award and Best Student Film at the Jersey Shore Film Festival, along with official selections at the Greenpoint Film Festival and NewFilmmakers NY.

We spoke with Horiuchi about the culture shock she experienced when she moved to Brooklyn, the support she got from her peers and professors, and what she wants you to feel when you watch her work.

What made you want to study in America?

When I was in high school, I already knew that I wanted to study filmmaking. I grew up loving art in general, but gradually, I fell in love with movies. I wanted to go to college in Japan for filmmaking, but there weren’t many film schools. Then I saw a TV program about an American college class where the professor taught filmmaking and film analysis. That made me think that coming to the United States would give me better opportunities, so I chose New York City.

How did you develop your passion for film?

My mom worked for a TV company as a writer, so I was exposed to media early on. Both my parents worked outside the home, so I spent a lot of time by myself. I started watching a lot of movies, including Hollywood films like Christopher Nolan’s work. That’s how my love for filmmaking developed.

I think it was natural for me to fall in love with film. I remember always wanting to be an artist as a child—first a dancer, then a painter. Because both my parents worked outside the home, I spent a lot of time alone watching movies. I fell in love with them, and behind-the-scenes footage made me wonder if I could work with such cool, talented people. Unlike other art forms, filmmaking is collaborative, and that really fascinated me.

What did your parents think about your coming to New York by yourself, and what was the adjustment like?

They were worried but supportive. They both love American culture—music, cinema—so they were excited about the idea of me studying film in New York.

It was my first time living away from my family. The culture was very different, and the diversity was overwhelming. In Japan, people have similar cultural backgrounds, but here, people have very different experiences. That was a big shift.

When I first got here and enrolled at CSI, I lived in a dorm with two great roommates—one from Japan and one from Brooklyn. They became like my family. We had movie nights and went out in Manhattan together.

What were your first impressions of ��Ƶ?

I loved the structure, campus, the diversity, and the welcoming atmosphere. The professors and students in the film program were very supportive. When I made my thesis film, my classmates and crew members were incredibly encouraging. Even when there were gaps in knowledge, no one judged me. They provided constructive feedback and encouraged me to grow. There was a healthy sense of collaboration, not competition.

Your thesis film, The Visit, looks like you’ve been doing this for years. It’s shot so beautifully. Did you have any experience before ��Ƶ?

No, I had zero filmmaking experience before ��Ƶ. I was into illustration and ballet, but I had never used a camera or written narratives before. The structured curriculum really helped me.

While working on it, did you feel like it was going to be special?

What kept me going was my excitement about the project. I wasn’t focused on awards—I just wanted to create something meaningful that would move people.

How did you fund the production?

Just like a lot of other student films, my project was an unpaid opportunity for the crew and cast, while I covered the meals on set. It was part of what pushed me to do a really good job with the film. I wanted to return the favor and give them something they could put in their portfolio. I did win a ��Ƶ Alumni Association Award, which covered submission fees for two festivals.

What was the most valuable lesson you learned here?

To be nice to people. Filmmaking is collaborative—you spend 12-hour days on set. If you’re not kind and reliable, people won’t want to work with you again. The people you meet in college are likely to be your future collaborators in the industry.

What emotions do you try to evoke in your films?

I want to create the feelings I had as a child reading books and watching movies. I love Japanese authors who blend sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery with bittersweet emotions. The Visit falls into that kind of fantastical genre.

It’s a tough industry. Do you think about that?

Yes, filmmaking is unstable, especially as a freelancer. But as long as I don’t stop creating, I’ll be happy. I don’t make films or art to make money—I make them because it brings me joy. My mentor always says, “Keep making something you feel passionate about, and the money will follow eventually.” I believe that’s true.

What would you say to someone considering ��Ƶ for film?

The professors and classmates are incredibly supportive. If you’re serious about filmmaking and want a collaborative environment, ��Ƶ is a great choice.

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Open Kitchen Luncheon Celebrates Campus Diversity Through Global Cuisine

Susan Landers — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 19:10:07 +0000

As part of the U.S. Department of State celebration of International Education Week, the Office of International Student and Scholar Services (ISS), together with the ��Ƶ Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences and the ��Ƶ Health and Nutrition Science Club hosted an Open Kitchen luncheon on November 15 in Roosevelt Hall to celebrate diversity in global cuisine.

Students and faculty sampled cuisine from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, Russia, Jamaica, and France, among others. “Events like this can help broaden cultural awareness among our campus population,” said Director of International Student and Scholar Services Keisha Wilson. “This is our first world cuisine event but students enjoyed themselves, so hopefully we’ll do more.”

Participants were encouraged to choose a dish that took less than an hour to prepare and bring their ingredients to the Food Science Laboratory to cook. As the Health and Nutrition Club adviser, Adjunct Lecturer Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky M.P.H., a doctoral candidate on public health at the CUNY Graduate Center/School of Public Health and Health Policy, oversaw preparations.

A key part of the Division of Enrollment Management, the ISS assists international students and scholars with visa and immigration processes and compliance, provides referrals to both on- and off-campus resources, and serves as an advocate for international students.

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NYC Cultural Immersion Preps International Students for Global Professions

Susan Landers — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 10:49:40 +0000

Andrea Tzili Apango is one of just six women in a class of 26 students majoring in engineering and technology at Universidad Politécnica de Puebla in Mexico. She is keenly aware of her status as a minority in the STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) discipline. But instead of feeling defeated, she has a plan for thriving within this fast-growing field.

“When students attempt to obtain jobs or internships in the industry, employers assume that the men are more knowledgeable and prepared than women,” says Apango, who, unlike her two older brothers, is following in her father’s footsteps to become an engineer. “The primary reason I applied to the Secretary of Education for the State of Puebla – ��Ƶ, City University of New York (SEP-��Ƶ/CUNY) Program is because I believe learning English can help remove some of the obstacles I face as a woman in this job market by giving me an additional, valuable skill that distinguishes me from the competition.”

The new 30-day program, paid for through a scholarship funded by the Secretariat of Education of the Mexican State of Puebla and Governor Rafael Moreno Valle, provided top students from colleges and universities in Puebla the select experience of visiting ��Ƶ to participate in an English-language immersion course and receive a firsthand understanding of the culture and history of Brooklyn and other parts of New York City.

“It isn’t primarily about the resources being brought to us through the implementation of this program, but rather the human component that we add,” says Jesús Pérez, director of the ��Ƶ Center for Academic Advisement and Student Success (CAASS) and executive director of the CUNY Working Task Force on Strengthening Educational Opportunities for the Mexican and Mexican Americans. Pérez played a critical role in coordinating with the various CUNY and ��Ƶ units to ensure the program’s success. “It’s about building bridges and cooperation. We are reconnecting to countries that are our neighbors. Strong neighbors make great allies.”

For the first week, students studied on the main ��Ƶ campus before spending two weeks at 25 Broadway, the college’s satellite location in Manhattan’s Wall Street district. Learning in the economic center of commerce was a big deal to Pablo Piña Acosta, a student at Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Acatlán de Osorio studying electronic engineering. He said the program allowed him to experience what has been a lifelong dream: to visit the United States. He had attempted an academic career 15 years earlier, but he says he was not mature enough at the time to devote the kind of time and effort necessary to become a prosperous student. He appreciates the second chance he is currently enjoying.

“In Mexico, the biggest opportunities, the best wages come when you have a degree,” says Acosta, who began learning English by watching American films and listening to American music. He worked extremely hard his second go round and, as a result, qualified for the scholarship that allowed him to participate in the program where he says his English has vastly improved. “I can understand what you’re saying and you can understand what I’m saying. I’m putting into practice all of my skills, trying to improve all the time. Every single second I spend here, I’m listening. I don’t want to waste this opportunity ��Ƶ has given to me.”

Lucas G. Rubin, assistant dean for academic programs and chief administrative officer at 25 Broadway, whose faculty instructed the students from Puebla, says there are very practical reasons for these students to participate in the program.

“Quite a few multinational corporations have invested in Puebla—Kraft, Pepsi and Volkswagen, for example. And the corporations use English as the international language of commerce,” says Rubin. “Puebla is very interested in having their residents become more competitive for jobs. Our program is an international career development program giving them those English language skills.”

The students not only learn English, but experience what life is like in the United States through the lens of New York City. They visit museums, tour historical sites in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and are guided by their instructors on how to connect what they observe during these field trips to the work they are doing in the classroom.

“These are students who would not have been able to visit our campus without the financial assistance this program provides,” says Terrence Cheng, associate provost for academic affairs. “And, in turn, our campus, and our own academic environment would not have been enriched by the presence of these students if we weren’t able to bring them here.”

Forging these international relationships has been a cornerstone of Karen L. Gould’s presidency. On July 9, she, along with the Consul General of Mexico Sandra Fuentes-Berain and Jaime Lucero of the Jaime Lucero Mexican Studies Institute, attended a dinner reception held in honor of Apango and Acosta and the other 28 students from Puebla.

“Our idea was to start expanding the summer semester, once we had begun to develop partners in different parts of the world, so that we could invite students here for the opportunity to live, learn, and discover New York City,” President Gould said to the attendees. “Brooklyn, in particular, is the primary place of immigrants to the United States. ��Ƶ students were born in over 150 different countries and speak over 105 different languages. ��Ƶ is a welcoming place for diversity of all kinds. And not only is it welcoming, but it provides valuable opportunities for multicultural experiences and global literacy.”

On their last field trip, the students visited the Statue of Liberty and reflected on the idea of a country whose entrance is welcoming and receptive. “I told the students: ‘This spirit of Lady Liberty, of human connectedness, goes back centuries. Carry that home with you,'” says Pérez.

The next day, students graduated from the program in a ceremony held in the ��Ƶ Student Center. On July 31, they returned to Mexico as ambassadors for all they had learned, discovered, and benefited from as guests of Brooklyn and students of ��Ƶ.

The SEP-��Ƶ/CUNY Program is the result of collaboration between CUNY and the Mexican state of Puebla. It was facilitated through the diligence and teamwork of the agencies and individuals mentioned previously, as well as the Mexican consulate; Frederick P. Schaffer, CUNY general counsel and senior vice chancellor for legal affairs; Jay Hershenson, CUNY senior vice chancellor for university relations and secretary of the Board of Trustees; Julia Wrigley, CUNY interim executive vice chancellor and university provost; Andrew Sillen ’74, vice president for institutional advancement, ��Ƶ Foundation; Lillian O’Reilly, acting vice president of enrollment management, ��Ƶ; Keisha Simon, director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, ��Ƶ; Alan Gilbert, chief financial officer and associate vice president for budget and planning, ��Ƶ; Courtenay Barton, associate director of stewardship for the ��Ƶ Foundation; Beatrice Tony-Jean, special projects assistant for the Office of the Associate Provost for Academic Programs, ��Ƶ; and Ronald Jackson, dean of students in the Division of Student Affairs, ��Ƶ.

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Brooklyn International: Through a Wider Lens

Susan Landers — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 18:40:26 +0000

November is CUNY Month and International Education Month at ��Ƶ. This six-part series focuses on ��Ƶ’s global engagement, from visiting professors, to international students and internships.

Morgann Gicquel is laser focused in his 8:30 a.m. cinematography workshop class despite the fact that he was burning the midnight oil the night before, only grabbing dinner at 1:00 a.m. over an old episode of The Sopranos. He has been keeping late hours recently because he is putting together a set for a film he is shooting.

Gicquel (pronounced jee-kel) is an exchange student from France, one determined to make the most of the two semesters he will spend at ��Ƶ. So as the cinematography professor, William Hornsby, talks cookies, inkies, babies, and tweenies—all different types of lights—Gicquel takes copious notes and even measures some of the light emissions the professor demonstrates using a small tool on his desk.

“This professor is my favorite,” Gicquel says, “because he is lively and he knows his stuff.”

An aspiring director, Gicquel is working on a master’s degree in film and production. He sought out ��Ƶ because he wanted to learn his craft on 16mm film stock, an all but forsaken medium that only a handful of colleges and universities still use to teach their students. It’s also a medium, unlike the digital formats that are de rigueur today, that is not as forgiving of less than ideal lighting and shot set-up.

“That’s the main reason I wanted to come to ��Ƶ,” Gicquel explains. “Film is a discipline. I wanted to learn the fundamentals.”

Gicquel is one of more than 400 international students enrolled in the college this semester, which is up from just over 300 students last year. His trip was facilitated by an organization known by its French acronym, , a consortium of universities in France, the United States, and anglophone Canada that promote cultural and academic exchange. Because of that program and other institutional partnerships, ��Ƶ has more undergraduate international students from France than from any other country, though South Korea is a close second, followed by Russia, China, Japan, and Turkey. On the graduate level, the college hosts the most international students from India, followed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea.

With a view toward bringing varying perspectives to the classroom and campus culture, the college seeks out students from around the globe who in turn find a homey environment on the campus as well as in the surrounding multi-ethnic neighborhoods.

Gicquel, who sports blue, thin-rimmed glasses and a very full head of wavy brown hair, actually feels more comfortable in his craft here than back home, where he says film directing is not taken as seriously.

He laments that at his college back in France students hardly get to practice making films. During the first year of his master’s program back home, his classmates booed him when he said that writing and directing are two different artistries. “I thought, maybe I’m not cut out for this,” he recalls. “It wasn’t a happy environment to learn in.”

He is debating where he would like to make his career but America has some strong points in its favor. “I feel more validated as a filmmaker here,” he says. What he does miss about home is that “in Paris, you can chill out in the city with practically no one at night and discover the architecture and feel like you own the city,” he says. “It’s pretty handy when you have to shoot a film or take pictures.”

Asked what he thinks he brings to the campus here, Gicquel says he is full of colorful perspectives that many students here have not considered. “I can definitely bring meters, which is a safer and more efficient way to calculate things than feet and pounds and whatnot,” he teases. Jokes aside, Gicquel says he will go home with a lot of new skills and perspective in his field—and the comfort in knowing he picked the right country and the right college in which to grow.

“I definitely fell into the right place,” he says.

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The Whole World on One Campus

Susan Landers — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 21:04:12 +0000

For many international students at ��Ƶ, commencement was more significant than it might seem — most of them mastered the art of speaking and writing English in just a few years and were proudly holding their American diplomas while posing for pictures with their families, many of whom had traveled for days in order to attend the commencement.

“I still remember the first night when I arrived at JFK and here I am graduating from college and ready for my career,” said Jin Lee, an international student from South Korea. “It feels so good!”

Lee came to New York five years ago to study English. After a year spent taking ESL classes, Lee enrolled in the Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences. On May 31, Lee and her family, who came on a 14-hour flight from Seoul, celebrated her biggest achievement — a diploma from an American university.

According to the International Student and Scholar Services, at least 60 international students graduated in June. Most of them applied for optional practical training (OPT), which allows them to remain in the country for one year to work in their field of study.

“It is truly a journey for these students,” said Shirma Cunningham, who advises international students, reminds them about deadlines for specific documents, and assists in obtaining benefits for which they are eligible to apply. “Many of them are away from their families and need somebody they can talk to and trust.”

The distance between their families and their new life in New York is, indeed, one of many challenges international students have to face. Lee didn’t see her parents for four years. She missed all of the birthdays and holidays, but more importantly, she didn’t know that her parents were sick.

“They didn’t tell me because they didn’t want to worry me,” she said, adding that another problem she faced while studying in the United States was the change in the learning style.

“In Korea, most of the study is focused on class lectures and textbooks, but here I had to learn from class discussions and group work,” she said. “I always thought that my classmates didn’t have the patience to listen to my poor English. But after a while I realized that the student body at ��Ƶ is very diverse, and that language is not a barrier for friendship or learning.”

In fact, the college’s student body represents 136 countries and speaks nearly 100 languages.

Orhan Top, an international student from Turkey, found the group work helpful. As a former student of industrial engineering with a bachelor’s degree from Uludag University in Turkey, Top knew a lot about subjects that his classmates found extremely difficult. That is why he conducted group study sessions in the library, helping his friends understand calculus, algebra, econometrics and microeconomics.

“Some of my classmates told me that they wouldn’t have graduated if it weren’t for me,” Top said just a day after receiving his master’s degree in global business and finance. “But they didn’t realize how much they helped me. I could speak English with them.”

Top came to New York five years ago and enrolled in a language school in Manhattan with the intention to improve his English-language skills.

“I had a cultural shock. I felt like I came from a different planet,” he said. “Speaking a different language is like driving a car — once you learn the basics you can do the rest.”

Now, Top can proudly present his degree from ��Ƶ.

“I made it! ” he exclaimed. “I got a degree in a foreign language, in a foreign country. I made it!”

Top is maintaining his student visa by using the OPT option to work as a business adviser at the Small Business Center, a program in the School of Business, but he hopes to extend his stay in the States by being sponsored by an employer. If it doesn’t happen, Top will have to return to Turkey.

Lee will also use the OPT option — she hopes to get a paid internship or a job with a one-year contract. By the next summer, when her OPT expires, Lee will travel back to South Korea.

“I adapted to the life in New York, but Korea is in my heart,” Lee said.