REsolutions: Narratives in Focus is a student-led, research-driven humanities conference that invites Ransom Everglades Upper School students to explore how film and visual storytelling illuminate the evolving dynamics of culture, identity, and power. Rooted in inclusion, curiosity, and intellectual rigor, the conference brings together student scholars to examine how cinematic narratives both reflect and shape the human experience. This year’s theme, “Changing Currents,” encourages students to investigate how identity is formed, portrayed, and contested on screen and in the stories that surround it.

 

The evening will begin with a gallery walk featuring student-created research poster boards. Families will be able to move through the space, speak with students as they stand by their work, and hear them explain the questions they pursued, the frameworks they used (historical, cultural, ethical, and aesthetic), and the conclusions they reached.

Awards will recognize exceptional student poster boards and presentations in categories such as: (1) Most Creative Analysis; (2) Best Analysis of Cultural Complexity; (3) Best Analysis of Mise-en-Scène (Set Design); (4) Best Cinematography Analysis; and (5) Best Comparative Analysis.

 

Following the gallery walk, the community will transition to the live finals of the REsolutions Film Analysis Competition, where finalist students will deliver concise, high-level arguments that integrate close reading of film with clear claims about meaning, perspective, and social context. The evening will also feature a culminating Screenwriting Workshop “Talk Back,” where our audience will be able to be in conversation with Dr. Corinne Rhyner and RE students from the Screenwriting Workshop course about their film that is currently in production.

As a result, the conference becomes more than an exhibition of finished work: it becomes a shared forum for dialogue about storytelling itself, where we explore how narratives are built, whose voices are centered, and what ethical and cultural choices accompany creative expression.