Marta Savina was browsing through a bookstore in Florence, Italy, when she came across the story of Franca Viola. The UCLA directing alumna picked up a book about women who changed history – a subject that already interested her – and randomly opened it to the story of Viola, a Sicilian woman who was the first Italian woman to refuse what was called a “reparatory marriage” to her rapist, even though such marriages often took place in 20th-century Italy. Read more...

Photo: UCLA alumna Marta Savina directed a film based on the true story of Franca Viola, an Italian woman who refused to marry her rapist. She learned about Viola’s story in a bookstore in Florence, Italy. (Miriam Bribiesca/Photo editor)

An annual film festival founded by the International Student Film Association screened 19 films from 15 countries on campus Sunday. UCLA students, staff and alumni helped organize the second annual Los Angeles International Culture Film Festival, which screened 15 original submissions and four acquisitions of films first screened at other festivals. Read more...

Photo: UCLA students and professors viewed international films at the Los Angeles International Culture Film Festival on Sunday at UCLA. The films are about topics such as Marilyn Monroe, a telescope in Hawaii, a Tibetan buddhist monk and first-generation Australian-Lebanese boys. (Erin Rice/Daily Bruin)

Five theater, film and television alumni are the moving parts responsible for setting a 25-person film festival into motion. Monica Quinn, Adam Fried, Samantha Bowling, Brandi Feemster and Rafaella Biscayn first met during the School of Theater, Film and Television’s 2015-2016 Professional Program in Acting for the Camera. Read more...

Photo: Brandi Feemster, Adam Fried, Rafaella Biscayn, Samantha Bowling, Giancarlo Fusi, Monica Quinn, Vidhatri Bandi and Jason Ryan Lovett (left to right) all participated in creating the Moving Parts Film Festival. All, the majority of which are UCLA alumni, themed their films and the festival around social justice issues. (Amy Dixon/Daily Bruin)

This post was updated on April 11 at 3:22 p.m. Sining Xiang scored in the top 10 percent of China for his college entrance exams and studied electrical engineering at one of the top universities in China. Read more...

Photo: Film graduate student Si Ning Xiang studied engineering in China, worked in Silicon Valley for five years and then gave it up to attend the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. (Farida Saleh/Daily Bruin)