Fil-Am filmmaker named dean of UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
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UCLA has announced that award-winning Filipino American filmmaker, author and scholar Celine Parreñas Shimizu will take the helm as the next dean of its School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT), beginning July 1.
A proud UCLA alumna, Shimizu will return to her alma mater from UC Santa Cruz, where she currently serves as dean of the Division of the Arts and a distinguished professor of film and digital media.
Her appointment marks a historic moment, as she becomes the highest-ranking Filipina in academia at UCLA.
During her tenure at UC Santa Cruz, Shimizu led notable advancements including the launch of the UC system’s first online undergraduate bachelor’s degree and the development of multiple cutting-edge facilities such as a media lab, an arts and AI lab and a climate-controlled collecting gallery.
“As the new dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, I bring a deep love for my alma mater and a commitment to ensuring that every encounter with our institution is transformative – that is what happened to me here,” Shimizu said, as quoted from UCLA Newsroom.
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She earned her M.F.A. in film directing and production from UCLA in 1996.
She reflected on her formative years at the school, where she learned the importance of valuing her own voice and understanding how the legacies of film and theater shape collective empathy.
“UCLA TFT shaped me,” she said, “and I possess a passionate desire to help the institution achieve even greater eminence under my leadership.”
Beyond academia, Shimizu’s body of work in film and media studies is widely recognized.
Her films “The Celine Archive” (2020) and “80 Years Later” (2022) have earned multiple awards and international festival screenings.
As an author, her scholarly contributions include “The Hypersexuality of Race” and “The Proximity of Other Skins,” texts that examine representation, race and gender in media.
