Making Films with a Catholic Imagination

Experience the Event

Presented by de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture

Witness the profound synergy between faith and artistry in this vibrant panel. Grasp how elite creators translate spiritual mysteries into visual narratives. Synthesize professional craft with theological depth. Gain fresh insights into the filmmaker’s vocation while viewing exclusive clips. Transform your entire understanding of beauty through this compelling, high-level dialogue.

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Meet the Speaker: Elizabeth Mirzaei

Elizabeth Mirzaei is a director and cinematographer of nonfiction films. Her first feature film Laila at the Bridge screened at dozens of festivals and picked up numerous awards. Elizabeth previously lived in Afghanistan where she directed films for Al Jazeera, the BBC, Discovery and numerous nonprofits. Elizabeth is a fellow of the Moving Picture Institute Cinematography Workshop, where she studied under Nancy Schreiber, ASC among others. Her and her husband founded Mirzaei Films to be an indigenous window into modern-day Afghanistan, making films that are recognized for their intimacy, rare access, and how they challenge perceptions.

Meet the Speaker: Tim Reckart

Timothy Reckart is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Sycamore Studios. He is best known for directing The Star in 2017 and the Oscar-nominated short Head Over Heels in 2012. Prior to directing, he worked as a stop motion animator, serving as a lead animator on Charlie Kaufman’s Oscar-nominated film Anomalisa and animator on Amazon’s multiple Emmy-winning preschool series Tumble Leaf. In 2015, Variety named him one of its “10 Animators To Watch.”

He holds a master’s degree in directing animation from the National Film & Television School of the UK and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in history and literature from Harvard University, where he was awarded the Edward H. Potter Prize for “great enthusiasm and curiosity for truly eclectic learning.” He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children.

Meet the Speaker: Sean Schiavolin

Sean Schiavolin is a director whose work has been featured in the New York Times, at the Vatican, and in film festivals and cultural events around the world. He founded Sentio Films, a film studio based in Austin, Texas. The studio focuses on telling stories about cultural environments, human connection, and man’s search for meaning — across feature and episodic documentary, scripted film, and work made direct-to-client and with agencies for brands and non-profits.

Meet the Moderator: Lauren Spohn

Lauren Spohn is an assistant professor in intellectual history at UT Austin’s School for Civic Leadership. She completed a D.Phil. in theology at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where her research focused on analogy and philosophical anthropology in the thought of John Henry Newman. Spohn, a filmmaker and essayist, explores questions of human meaning, ethics and technological progress, philosophy of history, and the search for transcendence. Her research and creative work have been featured in a variety of domestic and international outlets, including The New Atlantis, Catholic Herald, and The Tablet. Previously, she completed a master’s degree in intellectual history at Oxford and an A.B. in English literature at Harvard.