By: Ashley Banks/College of Communication Arts & Sciences

Media arts and technology senior Mitchell Haba won an award for Best Student Documentary for “Bay City: Community through Restoration” in the Lake Michigan Film Competition, part of the East Lansing Film Festival held in November.
 
This was Haba’s first time directing a documentary and he was honored to win the award. The film reveals Bay City's former logging and manufacturing days and the decline of the community since. It then addresses the current restoration that the city is going through.
 
“I was very shocked, honestly. I never expected to win any award. I was just trying to get it out there for people to see,” Haba said. “It was very exciting, but also a bit overwhelming. At certain times my lack of experience felt more apparent. Thankfully it all worked out in the end and I can take away a great learning experience.”
 
Haba worked with a friend from high school, Derek Roberts, who graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, along with his brother, to produce the documentary. Haba explains that the city has rich history and the current movement to restore it to its former glory is fascinating to him.
 
“The story of Bay City is similar to that of almost every other once great city in the Midwest,” Haba said. “With the help of private investors and architectural restorations, the hope is to bring back the city to its earlier days."
 
Haba is working on additional projects including a capstone film toward his Fiction Film Specialization credits. As he has proceeded through college he’s realized that cinematography is something he would like to pursue further. “I’m always finding new projects to jump onto and contribute,” Haba said.
 
To view the full documentary, go online to: http://vimeo.com/14871556