Ateneo de Manila Communication Department

Shahidul Alam was asked how to pronounce his name. He replied that its Arabic origin was far more interesting: "Witness of the World." Listening to him speak at commencement, I couldn't imagine a better title. Suddenly, I was a student again, transported back to 2008 when I learned under him through the ACFJ.

Alam beautifully connected Areté and the Blue Eagle Gym—our campus landmarks—framing them as peaks flanking a valley of effort, grit, and remembered grief. He reminded the graduates that excellence is not admired from a distance; it requires choosing the difficulty on purpose to serve something larger than oneself.

But as someone who teaches photography, visual communication, and the concept of "home," it was his raw assessment of the camera that completely spoke to me. Alam described a photograph as a simple act of witness that names what a community has agreed to ignore, making certain injustices impossible to unsee.

"That is what I’ve spent my life trying to do: to make certain things impossible to unsee. Goodness is not enough. Goodness requires seeing, and seeing requires the willingness to look at things that are uncomfortable to look at, including the arrangements in your own house."

He spoke to the Philippines with agonizing precision, pointing out the millions of our people sent abroad to raise other nations' children and keep their homes—rendered invisible simply because it is convenient for the privileged. What we do with our education in the face of this reality is the central moral question of this generation.

His words echoed a column I wrote back in college about our duty to open doors for others. Alam reminded us that credentials do not tell us which rooms to enter, but rather what we must refuse to do. Like Rizal's novels, our education is not a historical artifact; it is a set of active instructions.

He challenged us, that true courage is not fearlessness; it is the willingness to fly when you are afraid, holding the camera steady even when your hands are shaking. When someone is watching from the doorway of a drawing room, we cannot look away. We must take the photograph.

This urgent challenge is not just for the graduating students. It is for us.

- Words and photos by Aaron Vicencio, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Dr Rosita G Leong School of Social Sciences, & University Photographer at Large, Ateneo de Manila University

The Department is entering its proud parent era 😭

Congratulations to Gela Ballerda & Ana Padua for winning the Best Thesis Award for AY 2025–2026!

From consultations, revisions, and deadline marathons to producing research that amplifies the experiences of campus journalists under pressure…this is exactly the kind of meaningful, courageous scholarship we celebrate in Communication.

We are so proud of you both!

Congratulations as well to thesis mama Janelle Paris!

PSA for Incoming Seniors looking for an internship!

PSA for Film Students!

From the Beijing Film Academy:

We are delighted to announce that submissions are now open for the 25th International Student Film and Video Festival (ISFVF), to be held in Beijing in November 2026.

Founded in 2001, ISFVF is hosted by the Beijing Film Academy, with the support of CILECT and the UNESCO Chair on Cinematic Arts and Cultural Diversity.

Over the past two decades, the festival has grown into a vibrant international platform for showcasing emerging talent, fostering cross-cultural exchange, and promoting dialogue in film education and practice. We are pleased to invite your institution to nominate and submit outstanding student works for this year’s ISFVF, and would greatly appreciate your help in sharing this call with students to encourage their participation.

Submission Guidelines:
- Submission Deadline: August 15th, 2026
- Categories: Fiction, Documentary, Animation, AIGC Film, Micro Short Film.
- Important Notice：Each film may be submitted to only one category.

Production Time:
- Fiction / Documentary / Animation must be completed after August 15th, 2025.
-AIGC Film/ Micro Short Film must be completed after September 30th, 2025.
- Eligibility: All submitted works must have been created and completed while the filmmaker was enrolled in a higher education or equivalent educational program (including advanced, bridging, or vocational programs).

Running Time:
- Fiction / Documentary / Animation: within 40 min (including credits)
- AIGC Film: within 30 min (excluding credits)
- Micro Short Film: within 5 min (excluding credits)

SLAYYYYYED!!! 💙

Congratulations to Yanna Melencio, our Program Awardee for Batch 2026! We are so proud of you. 🫶

PSA: Internship opportunity!

Still looking for an internship?

Lights, camera, China!

Looking for an elective this Intersession? If you’re into film analysis, visual culture, storytelling, or simply movies that make you think, COMM 64.06 might just become your new favorite class!

This course explores how contemporary films shape and challenge the idea of China. Expect film screenings, engaging discussions, and deep dives into Chinese society, culture, politics, and economics.

For more information, contact [email protected]

History class but make it cinematic, political, and lowkey mind-blowing.

Watch our third Keynote Speaker Dr. Patrick Campos of the University of the Philippines Film Institute as he explores “Legerdemain Before AI: Apparition, Apparatus, and Historical Justice in El filibusterismo.”

This keynote dives into illusion, media technologies, storytelling, and the ways cinema and history intersect long before AI became the internet’s favorite buzzword. But beyond the tech talk, it also asks deeper questions about memory, justice, and how we “see” the past through media.

Huge thanks to Dr. Campos for sharing his insights with us at Patok na Patok! A Conference on Popular Culture and Media Studies.

Link in the comments.