The Levilyn Chriss Memorial Scholarship in Film at Governors State isn't a tuition support fund. It's a cash award for production support to assist Governors State Film students in creating meaningful work as required by their educational pursuits. This award is designed to help GSU students who are making a film with a social conscience and having trouble covering the costs.

Levilyn Chriss received her Master’s in Fine Arts from GSU in 2016. She inspired many as a social conscience filmmaker. On GSU’s film path, she worked for more than a year on “The Louisiana Project,” her thesis documentary about the personal repercussions of her father’s death in Katrina. Feeling defeated by the unaffordable costs of adding network footage, everything changed one night in 2015, when she met Gordon Quinn of Kartemquin Films during his visit to GSU.

He enlightened her regarding new rules of Fair Uses that he helped to author, which facilitate the incorporation of news footage into documentaries for personal and transformative purposes. With his advice, she went on to win the Best Documentary prize at the 2018 Philadelphia Independent Film Awards.

Professor “Ma” Chriss became a full-time lecturer at Chicago State University, working there proudly until her death from COVID complications in April 2020. She was much loved by her students and is missed by the GSU Community.

To learn more please visit the Levilyn Chriss Scholarship Page at https://www.govst.edu/levilyn/. 

If you are a grad of Governors State, knew and loved Levilyn, or if you simply like what we're trying to do here - please donate anything you can. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! 

Eligibility:

• Must be a degree seeking student enrolled at Governors State University.
• Any undergraduate or graduate student in any Film path major at GSU including:
• Undergraduate students with a minor in film
• BFA Film Majors
• MFA students in Independent Film and Digital Imaging

Documents Required:

1. Essay describing your film project, including a budget outlining the associated expenses requested.

Award Information:

One award at a maximum of 1000 dollars.

Donation Questions:
Email us at engage@govst.edu or Call us at +1.708.235.7510

Student Applicants:

If you’re interested in applying for this scholarship, or for more information, click here. Please note that during scholarship review periods, not all scholarships will be visible.  

Visit this site regularly, as scholarship opportunities become available throughout the year.

If you are a GovState student, log in with your GovState credentials.