A University Writing course at the George Washington University–Not Another Home Movie (NAHM)–held its first small screening in December 2023 as the class of roughly 20 student filmmakers shared their final projects with one another.
Now, NAHM is going global as this spring it will host a film festival open to content creators from around the world. Held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Feb. 20 in Jack Morton Auditorium, the inaugural NAHM Film Festival is a hybrid event that will show finalists’ 3- to 5-minute films that tell a family story–similar to a memoir–with at least one home video clip included.
The regular deadline for submission is Nov. 28, while the late deadline is Dec. 18. Open since June 1, the festival has already received nearly 400 submissions. GW students, especially those who have taken the NAHM course, will be prominently featured as at least 20 student films will be included in February’s festival. The University Writing Program is sponsoring the festival, while the newly renamed Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity is also a partner.
Lecturer Hanan Daqqa, whose NAHM curriculum offered expanded room for creativity in the required University Writing course for first-year GW students, has long had a vision for redefining home video as short, deeply personal and experimental films for a social-media generation. She is excited for the film festival to showcase what she believes is a narrative art form where anybody with a video recorder can be the artist if they are open and willing.
“The films that stand out most are the ones rooted in vulnerability,” Daqqa said. “To tell a truly good story, you have to open up and confront your own life. Most filmmakers tell stories about others—but what we’re doing requires looking inward and transforming that into art.
“Ultimately, I think what we’re doing is democratizing storytelling.”
There will be three major awards handed out the evening of Feb. 20 for those who most thoroughly execute this creative approach, as chosen by selected judges. The first is the Best Art Form Award, for a filmmaker who is innovative and breaks rules in a meaningful way. It comes with an $800 gift certificate from a local camera store.
The second is the Best Storytelling Award, which focuses on strong, creative narratives. Francis Ford Coppola’s All Movie Hotel is sponsoring that prize, and it includes a two-night stay at their post-production hotel and a networking opportunity with other filmmakers.
Finally there’s the Opportunity Award, which will honor films—both from the United States and abroad—that highlight empowerment or breaking barriers. The Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity will both sponsor and be part of the selection process for this award.
All the winners will be chosen by a selection committee, which will include industry and alumni film curators, cinematographers and student filmmakers.
Junior finance and international business major Romy Cerra took Daqqa’s NAHM course in spring 2024 and created one of the 20 GW-made films that will be part of the NAHM Film Festival. His project, which he called “Understanding Emotional Concealment After Trauma,” centered around his father’s upbringing, and it gave them a chance to talk, reflect and connect together, which he found deeply valuable and opened his eyes to this type of storytelling.
“It made me realize how meaningful everyday memories can become when you slow down and turn them into a story,” Cerra said. “Overall, it taught me how personal projects can also be a kind of research, helping you understand people you love in a new way.”
That is exactly what Daqqa wants students to get out of her class, and she believes this is “only the beginning” of a new genre of personal, experimental and emotionally honest films. She is thrilled that GW has offered her a place to do that, both in her course and now through the festival.
“I’m really happy to have [the festival] here at GW,” Daqqa said. “Because here is where this all started.”
