This dedication was formally recognized with the CSU Media Arts Festival Outstanding Faculty Rosebud Award for her unparalleled service to students, professional standing, media connections and innovative projects.
“I give students experience making films in the process of doing my own creative work and I teach in a very hands-on style,” says Alter.
Alter mentors students through the entire filming process from grant writing to editing. Her students have produced several different films like _Shifting the Paradigm: From Control to Respect_, _Dispensing Cannabis: The California Story_ and HSU’s Green Campus program’s classic _Phantom Hunter_.
By teaching students the different aspects that go into making a film, Alter helps them understand that film is “just as much a business as it is creativity.”
An independent filmmaker herself, Alter has five award-winning films that have aired both nationally and abroad. Her film _Team Red_ (2000) had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, won a Silver Medal at the Brno 16 International Film Festival in the Czech Republic, received a Certificate of Merit at the San Francisco International Film Festival and was awarded a Special Mention at the Siena International Short Film Festival in Italy.
Her documentaries No Need to Repent (1989), _see dick run_ (1987), _Ten Miles to Fetch Water: A crisis in the West Virginia Coalfield_ (1989) have won multiple awards and aired at various film festivals in several different countries including The Berlin International Film Festival, The Athens International Film Festival and San Francisco Art Institute Film Festival.
Alter has been a professor of film since 1992, teaching classes in filmmaking, grant writing, social change and films, DVD authoring and graduate studies. She also regularly presents and facilitates for the University Film and Video Association.
Despite her busy schedule, Alter puts students first. She is known to travel with students when their films premier at film festivals and she has even loaned her car and camera to students filming videos. And she keeps her energy and spirits high while she continually scans the horizon for new projects to take on.