A group of emerging filmmakers are capping of their studies in the Broadcasting – Radio, Television and Film (BRTF) program with a big win for their capstone project, Before You Go.
The film follows two high school best friends, Felix and Susan, who realize they have feelings for each other before Felix prepares to leave for university in Germany.
The drama – created entirely by a crew of third-year Film Production students graduating on June 11 – was recognized with the Best Picture award at the 2025 RUSH Youth Film Festival, an annual celebration of young filmmakers and emerging talent that takes place each spring in St. Catharines. It also tied for second place in the Audience Choice category.
“We were incredibly moved by Before You Go, and proud to name it Best Picture at this year’s RUSH Youth Film Festival,” said Jay Lupish, Program Director, Jarico Films for Youth and RUSH Youth Film Festival. “It was beautifully made – honest, emotional, and filled with intention. You could feel how much heart the team poured into it.”
The crew behind the film was led by graduating student Connor McCartney, who, as the film’s Director, worked collaboratively with his classmates to take the film from script to screen.
“Connor has been a hard-working and enthusiastic student since the day he walked in the door at NC, so when it came time to pick a Director for the script of Before You Go, he was an obvious choice,” said NC Film Production Professor Luke Hutton.
During their final year of the program, students work on their major capstone films – documentaries and dramas – giving students the opportunity to develop their skills in the various roles and production stages that are typical in cinema. In the end, the projects are “students’ visual resumes to the world” as described by Hutton.
“The third-year capstone film projects are truly collective efforts, and Connor was able to successfully lead a talented crew of students that included key contributions in Writing, Producing, Cinematography, Production Design, Editing, and Sound,” said Hutton, who guides students through the filmmaking process. “It was a pleasure watching this film come to life, and my heartfelt congratulations goes to Connor and crew for this well-deserved win.”
McCartney worked closely on Before You Go‘s vision in pre-production with fellow BRTF student Youming “Dawsun” Wei, who wrote the screenplay and produced the film. He said it was “a magical process to create something beautiful” with Wei and the entire crew, who flexed their skills to shoot the film over six long nights on home turf at the Welland Campus. From pre- to post-production, students have only a few months to complete their films before the end of their final term.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better crew… they really made this film,” said McCartney. “Any credit that goes to the film has to go to them. They are amazing people, and I hope they get all the work that they can possibly get in their lives because they deserve every ounce of it.”
Students are encouraged by faculty to submit their films to festivals for exposure. Receiving a festival win for Before You Go less than a month after wrapping production was a welcome surprise for McCartney and the crew.
“When it comes to getting an award for the hard work that everyone put into it, it makes it all worthwhile to suffer through (the process) together,” chuckled McCartney, who also credits BRTF faculty and staff for their expertise and support through the program.
McCartney, who was born in Toronto, raised in Barrie and currently resides in Wasaga Beach, looks forward to what the future holds after graduation. He is pursuing several projects in hopes of getting his foot in the film industry door and has plans to re-edit his second-year film I’ll Be Home, a World War II themed piece that he would like to get out on a festival run.
Key and supporting student crew members and lead actors for the award-winning film Before You Go are pictured at the Welland Campus in spring 2025.
Award-winning film Before You Go
Before You Go premiered at the RUSH Youth Film Festival on May 8.
The film’s key creative crew included: Connor McCartney (Director); Youming “Dawsun” Wei (Writer and Producer), Bunthika Wuttipanya (Producer); Prakash “Monty” Macwan (Cinematographer); Adithyan Manoj (Cinematographer); Celeste Ruiz (Production Designer); Braden Chappell (Editor); Daniel de Cruz (Editor); Carter Roy (Production Sound) Bhavya Purohit (Production Sound and Post Sound Designer); David Mutrux (Post Sound Designer) and Adam Noell (Post Sound).
Lead actors (cast by students): Luke Francis and Rachel Jay Kuang
A video of the awards ceremony is available on the Jarico Films for Youth YouTube page. Youming “Dawsun” Wei and actor Luke Francis accepted the award on the crew’s behalf (see 23:30 timestamp).
Other notable accolades
In addition to Before You Go, NC had two other official selections in the RUSH Youth Film Festival – Adam’s Apples, a documentary from the class of 2025, and The Revision, one of last year’s capstone dramas from the class of 2024.
The Revision picked up two wins: the film’s director Nicholas James Roses, a BRTF alumnus, received the Niagara Rises Award and actor Jer C. Torres won Best Performance in a Supporting Role. The film was also nominated in the Best Picture category.
Roses also won Jarico’s 48-Hour Film Challenge Award and NC Acting for Film and Digital Media alumna Kayla Neves (2023) was part of the cast of the award-winning film Promises.
“Niagara College had an amazing presence this year. Nicholas Roses took home the 48-Hour Film Challenge award for The Magician, which was such a fun and inventive piece, and Kayla Neves gave a beautiful, vulnerable performance in Promises, which won Best Drama,” said Lupish. “It’s honestly exciting to see what NC students are doing – they’re not just learning the craft, they’re pushing themselves and telling stories that matter.”
