Visiting filmmakers
2025 Filmmakers
The 2025 Bridge Student Film Festival will host two visiting filmmakers
Lisa Olivieri
Lisa Olivieri is an award-winning documentary filmmaker in the Boston area. Her first documentary, Blindsided has won numerous awards, including the Artistic Achievement Award in Directing from the qFLIX Film Festival/Worcester and the Jury Award for Best Documentary from The Women’s Film Festival/Philadelphia. Recovery City, her second documentary, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the Provincetown International Film Festival. Olivieri also teaches film and photography at Natick High School in Natick, MA.
Tim O'Donnell
Tim O’Donnell is an Emmy-nominated and award winning documentary filmmaker. His work has appeared on ESPN, NBC, PBS, OutsideTV, CNN Films, the Sundance Film Festival and events around the world. His film Not a War Story opened at #1 for all iTunes Documentaries and premiered at the Academy of Motion Pictures. His follow up feature Life Without Basketball opened at DOC NYC and premiered on SundanceNow. Lebron James, Casey Affleck and Marcus Luttrell have served as EP’s on Tim’s projects. HBO’s Mary Carillo said of Tim’s work, “The story is so beautiful, so lovingly told and so incredibly moving.”
colleen kelly poplin
Colleen Kelly Poplin is a Bridgewater State University Assistant Professor of Communication as well as a nonfiction filmmaker and sound artist dedicated to gender, race, and disability justice. Colleen works primarily as a single artist filmmaker, operating in all production roles including concept development, directing, creative producing, sound design, and cinematography. Her short films have been featured in gallery exhibitions and film festivals nationwide, and her audio projects have aired on various radio stations including WGBH, WBUR, and KUT. She has also produced work for PBS, BBC Radio, CBC Radio, and ESPN.
2024 Filmmakers
The 2024 Bridge Student Film Festival hosted a panel discussion “The Art of the Pitch” with BSU alum and faculty industry experts.
Photos from the 2024 Bridge Student Film Festival “Art of the Pitch” Panel Discussion. Photos by Ben Van Der Voet.
Noube Rateau
Noube Rateau has directed six award-winning documentaries. These documentaries have received first place honors from national film festivals in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Boston, and regional Emmy Award for Best Documentary. He is a proud graduate of BSU with a degree in Communication.
Thitu Muiruri
Thitu Muiruri is a filmmaker who uses visual storytelling to address social issues. Currently, Thitu works at her own company, Thitu Production, where she directs and produces documentaries & short films. Some of her productions include Black, Red N Green and 15 Years Later. She also works as a video producer for a small manufacturing company in Rockland, Massachusetts. Thitu holds B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Film, Video and Media Studies from BSU.
Dr. Christina Hodel
Dr. Christina Hodel is an award-winning American/French Polynesian filmmaker, screenwriter, film & television scholar, actress, and educator. She has written and directed several award-winning narrative films and documentaries. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at BSU where she teaches filmmaking and film studies.
2023 Filmmaker
gabrielle Rosson
Since 2019, Gabrielle Rosson has written, directed, and/or produced more than a dozen award-winning short films; directed three seasons of The Negotiators for the streaming network Reveel; and runs her own film company, GR Films, which assists in a variety of capacities on productions throughout New England.