Aliano Wins Major Film Awards for Documentary

Good news out of CSN’s videography and film program.

Professor John C. Aliano recently picked up two major honors for his feature documentary Being Adolph Gasser. He was named Best Director at the Rainier Film Festival in Seattle and received the Trailblazer Award at the DOCUTAH International Film Festival, recognizing both the film and his decades of work mentoring filmmakers.

The documentary tells the story of Adolph Gasser, a World War II veteran and legendary camera repairman who built a photography business that supported  generations of artists. Gasser was also a close friend of famed photographer Ansel Adams.

The project also shines a light on CSN talent. Associate producer Arianna Martinez, a CSN graduate and seven-time Student Emmy winner, worked on the film, along with designer Erika Belanich, another CSN alum.

The celebration continued at DOCUTAH, where Aliano’s former student Hisonni Johnson won Best Student Film for a project he created in Aliano’s Documentary II class at CSN.

Adding to the momentum, Being Adolph Gasser has been picked up for worldwide distribution by Indie Rights and is expected to stream on platforms like Amazon, Tubi and YouTube Movies in the coming weeks. The film will also be showcased this May at the Cannes Film Market.

For the CSN film program, it’s a great reminder that the work happening in our classrooms is reaching audiences well beyond Southern Nevada.