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Associate Professor

Pictured is Kelly Donnellan. Photo | Madi Fisher

Contact Information

Education

  • M.F.A., Film and Electronic Media, American University
  • B.F.A., Filmmaking; Editing & Sound, University of North Carolina School of the Arts
  • B.S., Physical Therapy, Russell Sage College

Courses Taught

  • Production II, III
  • Cinema Arts Professional

Background

Kelly Donnellan is an award-winning editor and director. She has edited two feature documentaries and more than 50 short films, including the Student Academy Award-winning documentary Dying Green in 2012, which received a silver medal.

Donnellan’s editorial work can be seen on several short documentaries for the Favorite Poem Project Chicago, sponsored by the National Poetry Foundation. She edited the award-winning short documentary I Throw Rocks! and her directorial effort, I is Another, earned her recognition as the "Best Female Director-Woman to Watch” from the Underexposed Film Festival in 2013.

She collaborated with information artist Laura Foxman on THE LISTENING ARCHIVE, which was installed from February-April 2018 at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) in the Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead.

Currently, Donnellan is editing a feature documentary about Romanian surrealist Poet Andrei Codrescu.

Curriculum Vitae

Professional Organizations

  • University Film & Video Association, 2011-present 
  • Broadcast Education Association, 2011-present
  • National Communication Association, 2020

Selected Artistic Works

  • Fish Have No Psychiatrists, editor. A feature-length documentary about Romanian Poet Andrei Codrescu, 2021-present.
  • The Listening Archive, editor. Installation at Museum of Contemporize Art Detroit (MOCAD), Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead, 2017-18.
  • Naomi Beckwith, Tom Moran and Samantha Kyrkostas, editor. Favorite Poem Project Chicago, National Poetry Foundation, 2014-15. 
  • I Throw Rocks, editor, 2013-15.
  • Dying Green, editor, 2011-13.
  • I is Another, producer, director, editor, cinematographer, 2006-12.

Research/Creative Interests

  • Editing and post-production
  • Editing aesthetics, history and theory
  • Personal essay and experimental documentary filmmaking
  • Inclusive teaching practices
  • Watching as many films in a variety of genres, modes and forms as possible

Awards, Recognitions and Honors

  • President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, Wayne State University, 2021
  • Excellence in Teaching Award, Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, 2020
  • Inspire Award for Teaching Excellence, Wayne State University Department of Communication, 2018
  • Service to Students Award, Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, 2016

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