Senior Spotlight: Tusti '25
Tusti '25 studies Biology and Film and Video at Bennington. She reflected upon her advanced work and accolades and shared her plans for after graduation.
My Advanced Work...
As part of my senior work in Film and Video, I wrote and directed four narrative short films in Fall 2024—Ordinary Rebels, Gifted, Biopic, and Divine Guidance (still in production). These films explore a variety of storytelling modes. Ordinary Rebels uses a theatrical approach to portray the July 2024 uprising in Bangladesh, staging the story in Bennington, VT, while inviting the audience to imagine the setting as Bangladesh—disrupting conventional realism.
I also experimented with tone and narrative form in Gifted, which follows an 11-year-old with the uncanny ability of a human tape recorder; Biopic, a mockumentary in which actor Mariana Suarez Torres '27 reflects on her role in my not-yet-made biopic; and Divine Guidance, where two fraudsters find a new life trajectory after a disaster. This term, I’m completing Divine Guidance and developing two new short films in the course Phenomenology of the Strange, expanding my exploration of science fiction.
In Biology, my advanced work is centered on an independent research project in faculty member Amie McClellan’s lab. I’m studying the effects of endogenous lysine removal on proteasome-mediated degradation and chaperone interactions of ∆exon2 VHL, a mutant variant of the Von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
This research builds on my past coursework and laboratory training and has strengthened my capacity to independently design experiments, troubleshoot, and interpret data. This term, I have made significant progress in my study, applying techniques such as yeast transformation, steady-state degradation assays, protein quantification, and Western blotting. I have presented my findings at the National Undergraduate Research Conference at Brown University and will share them at Bennington’s Science Workshop at the end of the term.
Recognition for My Work at Bennington...
I was invited to present my biology research at the 2025 National Undergraduate Research Conference hosted by Brown University, which welcomed 200 undergraduates from 30 states.
My short films Ordinary Rebels, Gifted, and Biopic Of/By Tusti were selected for screening at the Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions Volume 2.
My Postgraduate Plans...
I have been accepted into five globally renowned Film MFA programs, among which CalArts and Loyola Marymount University are my top two. I may choose to defer enrollment while I gain work experience and secure additional funding.
To that end, I am currently applying to cell biology research assistant roles and have been interviewed by reputable institutions like Virginia Tech and Boston Children's Hospital. My long-term goal is to integrate my scientific and artistic interests as an actor-filmmaker with a background in biology-driven storytelling.
Image: Tusti '25 in her senior film Divine Guidance