This is where your future begins

Advancing Sidney Poitier’s legacy of inclusive excellence

The Sidney Poitier New American Film School, part of Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, is a dynamic hub for aspiring filmmakers and storytellers. One school operating across three locations – Tempe, Arizona; Mesa, Arizona; and Los Angeles, California – The Poitier Film School upholds the legacy of its storied namesake in its commitment to inclusive excellence. Like Walter Cronkite and Sandra Day O’Connor, luminaries within their disciplines for whom ASU’s School of Journalism and College of Law are named respectively, Sidney Poitier is a national hero and international icon. His talents and character have defined ethical, inclusive and powerful work in filmmaking. This is also a full-circle moment. Poitier is the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his role in the 1963 film “Lilies of the Field,” which was set and shot in Arizona – as was “Stir Crazy,” the blockbuster comedy with which Poitier became the first Black director to helm a film that grossed over $100 million. We are honing a new generation of strivers and doers, students who will use their voice and vision to tell important stories and break down institutional and societal barriers – just like Sidney Poitier.