Penn State faculty, student and alumni films to screen at Centre Film Festival

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two films from a Penn State faculty member will be making their Pennsylvania premieres during the seventh annual Centre Film Festival, scheduled Nov. 10-16.

In addition, the festival will include 14 films from Penn State students and five from alumni.

Assistant Professor Gustavo Rosa, who joined the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications this fall, serves as a producer on two films in the festival, and their screenings add to what has been a busy year brining national and international attention to Rosa’s work.

“It’s very special to share these two films here in central Pennsylvania,” Rosa said. “I spend so much of my time encouraging my students to take risks and follow through on their ideas, so bringing these projects home, to the community where I teach, feels deeply rewarding.”

Both films, which Rosa produced, have earned major festival premieres in 2025 and represent the broad scope of his work — one a vérité-style sports documentary and the other a raw, character-driven narrative.

‘Seconds Away’

The documentary, “Seconds Away,” screens at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 14 at UEC College 12. The 84-minute film follows Belgian-American runner Peter Callahan and his longtime coach, Patrick McHugh, as they chase a qualifying time fast enough to make the Olympic Games — a dream made more urgent by the coach’s cancer diagnosis.

Filmed over a five-year period in Boston, Nashville, Flagstaff and Antwerp, the project reveals the emotional and physical toll of pursuing excellence against impossible odds. “Seconds Away” had its world premiere in Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia in June and its North American premiere in competition at the 2025 Austin Film Festival. It was recently featured in Forbes, which praised its “breathless” energy and “deeply moving human narrative.”

The film will also play the 45th Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival in Sicily in December.

‘So Far All Good’

Rosa’s second feature in the festival, “So Far All Good,” screens at 2 p.m. Nov. 12 at UEC College 12 in State College. The 72-minute film focuses on a young man who returns to friends and family after spending time in prison. He finds out, though, that his girlfriend has moved on and both moneymaking opportunities and the city he left behind have changed.

The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Directed by $eck and co-written by $eck and Rasan Kuvly, “So Far All Good” also screened in Poland as part of a robust festival run. It has been praised for its stripped-down visual style, emotional honesty and strong performances.

For Rosa, festivals are about more than recognition, he said. They’re about community.

“Film festivals remind us why cinema matters,” he said. “Watching a movie in a theater, surrounded by other people, is an act of collective imagination. It’s a shared experience that can’t be replicated on a phone or through an algorithmic feed. I hope everyone takes advantage of this wonderful opportunity to see independent films the way they were meant to be seen — on a big screen, in the dark, together.”

Rosa said his goal at Penn State is to help students see themselves as participants in a global creative conversation.

“One of the great things about studying film here is that what our students make isn’t just academic work,” he said. “It’s real, it can play festivals, it can take them all over the world. I want them to understand that their voices matter — that the work they do here can reach far beyond the classroom.”

Rosa, who was born in Tubarão, Brazil, and immigrated to the United States when he was 12, joined the faculty at Penn State this fall after four years teaching at Boston University. His films and collaborations have screened at major international festivals including Berlin, Sundance, SXSW and Cannes.

“One of the lessons I try to impart to my students is that film projects all mature at different speeds,” he said. “To see these two very different films reach audiences both nationally and here in State College — that’s a privilege and a reminder of why I make films in the first place.”

Among the 14 student films in the festival are several that were created during an international documentary filmmaking class from the Bellisario College that visited Mexico in the spring.

A complete schedule of events and screenings may be found on the festival website. Tickets for the festival are free for students, $10 for individual sessions and $60 for an all-access pass.

The lineup includes 90 films making Pennsylvania premieres, 26 of which were made in the state. Twenty-two films will be making their U.S. premieres and 18 others will be making their world premieres at the festival. Three films in the festival have been submitted for Academy Award consideration.

Opening night for the festival is Nov. 10 at the State Theatre in State College.