Join PMA for the Honors Thesis Screening on Thursday, May 8, at 5:00 p.m. in the Kiplinger Theatre, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. This exciting showcase of honors film projects by the Cornell Senior Class will feature Top of My School by Katherine Lynn-Rose ‘25 and The Manatee Blues by Giancarlo Restrepo ’25. Experience outstanding storytelling and gain insight directly from the student directors during a Q&A session following the event. Free and open to the public. Tickets are not required.
Top of My School, directed by Katherine Lynn-Rose ’25, is a musical film that follows Bree, a high-achieving high school senior trapped between her immigrant parents’ expectations and her own quest for validation. Bree's world is turned upside down when Avery, a quiet and overlooked classmate, enters the race for student council president. As Bree’s obsession with winning drives her to sabotage Avery’s campaign, she unexpectedly discovers a genuine connection with her rival. Yet, when Bree's ambition pushes her to a chilling extreme, the price of success becomes horrifyingly clear. Top of My School explores themes of ambition, sacrifice, and the never-ending quest for validation, delivering an unsettling story about the price of success and the true meaning of love.
In The Manatee Blues, directed by Giancarlo Restrepo ’25, after a grueling exam week, Danny, a college super senior, scrambles to study for a previously misremembered Oceanography Exam – a course he needs to pass to secure graduation and his future.
