L-R: Ryan Black, Lily Smith, Valerie Joy, Lisa Bode, and Mathew Melenewycz
Lily Smith, Ryan Black, Mathew Melenewycz, Kairo Byrne, and Emma Rafter are the winners of this year’s Valerie Joy Prizes for Achievement in Film and TV Studies. The prizes, established and sustained through a generous endowment from Valerie Joy, were presented in a ceremony at The Lyceum Club, Brisbane. Present were Ryan, Lily, Mathew, Valerie herself, members of the Lyceum Cinema Circle, and Film and TV Major Convenor Dr Lisa Bode.
Valerie Joy, a UQ Sociology graduate of 1963, established the prize in 2013 after she became passionate about cinema, joined the Lyceum Cinema Circle after retirement and became its coordinator. Over the past decade there have been over twenty winners, each of whom have had the opportunity to meet Valerie personally and learn about her extraordinary life and career. In addition, UQ Film and TV Studies staff, postgraduate students, and some of the past prize winners have given talks on film and TV at the Lyceum Cinema Circle. As Valerie is leaving Brisbane, she has asked that the prize be renamed the Lyceum Film Studies Prize, so that the connection may continue between our students and the Lyceum Cinema Circle.
At the recent ceremony, Lisa Bode was invited to give a short talk reflecting upon the achievements of previous winners – who include award-winning ABC journalist Lillian Rangiah – the value of the prize to our students, and to convey our sincere thanks to Valerie as she leaves Brisbane for Melbourne. Lisa noted the remarkable diversity of the backgrounds and vocational pathways of the past winners: “Many have been high achievers within UQ's dual degree program, combining vocational degrees like Journalism, Law, or Business Management with a BA majoring in Film and Television Studies. What unites these students is their passion for cinema, and their belief in the inherent value of developing close viewing and listening skills, studying film and television's myriad forms and aesthetics, their industrial and historical evolutions, and their interconnections with social, political, art, and philosophical movements.” Speaking of the value of the prize to students in UQ’s Film and TV Major, Lisa noted that it is not just a monetary reward for their hard work but a validation of the major: “It tells them that what they have chosen to study matters. It affirms their intellectual choices at a crucial moment in their development, just before they venture out to accomplish great things with what they have learned.”
We wish Valerie all the best and thank her for her generosity and vision, the impact it has made and will continue to make into the future.
