‘Independent’ Quartet Make Emerson History Covering Cannes
As editor-in-chief of The Independent, the student-led online magazine covering independent film, Hannah Brueske ’26 received an enticing email in March from the head of Cannes Classics.
Cannes was looking to create a relationship with Emerson that would bring students to France to cover the renowned Cannes Film Festival in May – and hopefully make it an annual trip.
With little time to spare, Brueske worked with Emerson academic leaders, including Journalism Associate Professor and faculty advisor for The Independent Tim Riley, Journalism Department Chair Lu Ann Reeb, and Visual & Media Arts Chair Shaun Clarke, to get the College’s backing.
Reeb said the students’ pitch was convincing, because they’d be covering stories important to the mission of The Independent Magazine.
“The value of this experience came to life immediately when the team of Journalism and VMA students filed stories daily from the Cannes Film Festival and a final festival recap,” Reeb said. “This important response to how our students define their experiential work is what sets Emerson apart, I think.”
Last month, Brueske and three other Independent staff/students covered the festival. Brueske said the group learned a lot from the experience, particularly when compared to classes in which they have longer deadlines to work on articles, get feedback, edit, and perfect their work.
“But that’s not the reality of journalism, especially when people want to get hands on it quickly,” said Brueske. “It was a great exercise [in] doing the best you can in the moment, and still being happy with it.”
Read Cannes Recap: The Independent’s Film Rankings
Brueske said the group wanted to provide broad coverage of different films.
“We split up as much as possible to see different films. We wanted to create content as we were going and not wait for later,” said Brueske, recalling covering the documentary My Mom Jayne with Managing Editor Casey Miller ’26. “We wanted to be one of the first people to write about it. After the screening, we wrote, wrote, and wrote, and published a few hours later.”
Miller relished the exclusivity of seeing films before the rest of the world, particularly international film and repertory screenings.
“I am a huge fan of international cinema, so seeing some of the best in the world at the festival was an immense privilege,” said Miller.
Ashley Davis ’26, staff editor for The Independent, said she was primarily focused on reviews and several objective informative pieces.
“I had a multitude of goals at Cannes: reviews, rankings, predictions, interviews, and editing my peers’ pieces, and I am happy to say that I fulfilled most of those goals,” said Davis, who, after the festival, managed to secure an interview with a director whose film she saw at Cannes.
Sandra Sheedy ’27, head of art and photography for The Independent, said the group talked a lot about letting go of perfection and focused on pushing content out in a timely manner.
“I’m very meticulous about the way things look. But I couldn’t take weeks and weeks to get Instagram reels out,” said Sheedy. “I had to get content out while we were there within the timeline before the festival ended.”
They learned that choosing what films to see was not as easy as, say, ordering tickets online at your local movie theater. They encountered extraordinary competition in getting tickets.
“My goal was as simple as booking every ticket I could and going to as many screenings as possible, and then trying to find angles for the films and events I attended for stories,” said Miller. “It was less of a selection, more of a taking-it-all-in.”
Brueske enjoyed the competitiveness of the festival, and the passion of participants, both of festival-goers and filmmakers.
“This was a cinephile’s [dream] meeting. It was fun to be in environment in which people were over-passionate about something we love,” said Brueske.
Brueske said that for her, Miller, Sheedy, and Davis, the trip was a culmination of an incredible year, the first year The Independent was an official student organization. She hopes that students hear about their trip to Cannes, and it makes them want to join the staff.
“We were lucky to be first, and don’t want to be the last. It was really amazing to start something,” said Brueske.
Davis added that The Independent has an eclectic staff from different departments, including Writing, Literature and Publishing; Journalism; and Visual and Media Arts.
“If you’re anyone with an interest in the arts, we’d love to hear your pitch,” said Davis. “Cannes is only the beginning—we’re not only intended to make Cannes an annual trip for four members of The Independent’s writing staff, but to find other events which The Independent can establish relationships with to continue to publish relevant and interesting international stories on independent art forms.”
Categories
