CMS Men's Diver Kiubon Kokko Wins Grand Prize at Study Abroad Film Festival

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior diver Kiubon Kokko was the grand prize winner at the Study Abroad Film Festival, sponsored by the International Education of Students, the organization revealed at its sixth annual festival this evening.

Kokko, a media studies major at Claremont McKenna with a minor in linguistics, won the honor for his film "If I Could Put Into Words", which was one of over 50 films entered. Kokko was one of three finalists selected by a jury made up of judges from around the world, and was announced as the public's choice for the winner of the $1,500 grand prize this evening at IES Abroad's annual festival, which was held remotely this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Kokko has competed for the CMS men's swimming and diving team for the last two years. He was part of the Stags' SCIAC championship team this past spring, after spending the fall semester studying abroad in Nantes, France through the IES program. He also spent the summer of 2019 after his sophomore year interning at a production company in Lisbon, Portugal, and spent the summer of 2018 teaching English through the art of film-making to kids in Tunisia and France. 

IES Abroad's mission is to educate students to become global leaders through premier study abroad and internship programs, which offer students worldwide experiential leaning opportunities that meet the highest standard of academic quality. The organization offers over 140 study abroad programs in 34 locations around the world. 

The entire 2020 IES Abroad Film Festival can be watched at the organization's website at the following link (Kiuko's film begins at the 20:45 mark of the video): 

2020 IES Film Festival