A short film written and directed by Ross Marks, an NMSU professor, is garnering attention from international platforms, according to KRQE.

The film was finished last February; Marks worked with eight students – only a fourth of the usual crew – due to COVID-19 protocols.

"It was really fascinating and liberating to be able to create during this tough time. So, out of this pain came something – which I'm really, really proud of – which is the short film, 'FOWL,'" Marks said. 

He wrote, directed, and filmed the short piece, a dark comedy about death and isolation resulting from the pandemic.

Marks was inspired to create the film after helping his mentor, Mark Medoff, through hospice in 2019. "I saw two different sides of Mark as he was going through this. One was kind of angry and resentful that life was ending. The other part was very peaceful and almost angelic and accepting of what was going on," Marks said.

The film has been screened at 12 film festivals; it won four of them. “The big motivation for me to do this is to give my students, you know, real-world set experience … the eight students now have an award-winning credit on their resume, which now gives them a leg up on employment in the industry,” Marks said.