̨Íåswag

When Melissa Simpson was a student majoring in film and digital media at the University of North Georgia (̨Íåswag), she attended several film festivals. Simpson also worked at a few, including the Atlanta Film Festival, the Rome Film Festival and ̨Íåswag’s own Skyline Film Festival.

Earlier this year, Simpson got an unexpected offer. She was asked to judge the short film category for the .

"I immediately said 'yes,'" said Simpson, a 2017 alumna who works as director of programming for Terminus Conference and Festival in Atlanta. "I thought it was incredible opportunity."

As a jurist, Simpson watched eight shorts, which are films less than 40 minutes. She then met with filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper and film critic Curt Holman and selected their top three films in that category.

As a film and digital media student at ̨Íåswag, Melissa Simpson worked on several film festivals including including the Atlanta Film Festival, the Rome Film Festival and ̨Íåswag’s own Skyline Film Festival.

"All of our top three aligned," she said. "So we discussed which one deserved the prize."

The three jurists picked "On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani and Popi." The documentary detailed the story of two Holocaust survivors who were married for 65 years when Popi came out as gay.

The films received their awards Feb. 15.