__NOTOC__ Mason Chadwick Shefa ( ; born May 28, 1993) is an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

based in

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 2015. For his films, Shefa utilizes film formats such as

Super-8 Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The film is nominally 8 mm wide, the same as older formatted 8& ...

and

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

. In 2016, Shefa published a 248-page collection of his sacred works for

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

chorus, entitled ''The First Book of Music: Containing Anthems, Motets, Hymn Tunes, Chants, and Services for the Various Seasons of the Church Year''. In May 2011, Shefa received the National Gold Medal at the 2011

Scholastic Art and Writing Awards The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers is a nonprofit organization which manages the annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a competition which recognizes talented young artists and writers from across the United States. Scholastic Art & Writin ...

, held in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, for his portfolio of eight

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

s. Shefa's films have also been recognized with honors from the

National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungArts (previously National YoungArts Foundation and National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, or NFAA) is an American charity established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to help nurture emerging high-school artists. The foundation is bas ...

, the 2009 and 2011

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

, the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

’s

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Student Film Institute, the Danville International Children’s Film Festival, L.A.’s FilmFest 43, the Harvard-Westlake Film Festival, the South Bay Student Video Festival, and the Spotlight The Arts festival in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish language, Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Monica and Santa Susana Mountains, Santa Susanna mounta ...

. In September 2012,

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...

obtained permission to incorporate Shefa's film, ''Psalm 51'', in her iTunes Festival concert in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In February 2015, Shefa was a member of the judges panel of the "concorso internazionale di cortometraggi" category of the 2015

Lucca Film Festival The Lucca Film Festival, or LFF (also known as Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema), is an annual event that has been held in Lucca since 2005. The festival offers screenings, exhibitions, conferences, and performances, ranging from mainstream to ...

Filmography

* ''The Balloon That Almost Got Away'' (2003) * ''Transportation'' (2003) * ''Danger on the Tracks'' (2003) * ''When the Lights Went Out'' (2004) * ''Imagine'' (2006) * ''Memories of an Undefined Image'' (2007) * ''The 500 Word Essay'' (2007) * ''Sweet Tooth'' (2007) * ''Benchmates'' (2008) * ''Arterial Deposition in Thought and Being'' (2008) * ''Dependencia'' (2008) * ''Takhsees'' edication(2009) * ''Khanuadeh'' (2009) * ''1993'' (2009) * ''1993 Part Two'' (2009) * ''Reverie'' (2009) * ''Psalm 51'' (2010)

References

Notes

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shefa, Mason Artists from Minneapolis Living people 1993 births American experimental filmmakers 21st-century American composers People from Studio City, Los Angeles

Filmography

See also

References

External links