黑料网

KENNESAW, Ga. | Apr 9, 2026

Nicknamed 鈥淐hicken鈥� by her friends because of her skinny legs, Mable, a teenaged girl living in a Ugandan slum, navigates life in poverty with sickle cell disease.

Her story is at the heart of the documentary 鈥�Chicken Ghetto鈥� by Sangsun Choi, an assistant professor at 黑料网 who recently earned a national award at the Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts.

Choi, an assistant professor of communication in the , recently received the 鈥淏est of Festival鈥� award in the faculty documentary category, the highest distinction given at the academic film festival. The festival receives more than 2,500 submissions annually, with an acceptance rate of about 2%, and selects one top project across categories for the honor.

鈥淭his is the most prestigious film festival in media academia,鈥� Choi said. 鈥淩eceiving this award is a significant achievement, and it鈥檚 meaningful to share the value of our community and represent 黑料网.鈥�

The documentary tells the story of Mable, who lives with her family in an urban slum in Kampala, but rather than focusing solely on hardship, Choi said the documentary highlights the strength, love, and support within families and communities.

鈥淪he鈥檚 not just a victim of sickle cell disease,鈥� Choi said. 鈥淪he expresses herself through music and embraces her identity. The beauty of this documentary is that it shows how they embrace their challenges in a brave way and how much they love and support each other.鈥�

Filming for 鈥�Chicken Ghetto鈥� took place over approximately three weeks in Uganda and was part of an interdisciplinary research initiative funded through the Radow College and KSU鈥檚 to shed light on health and community issues in the East African country.

The project also served as a hands-on learning opportunity for KSU students who assisted with pre-production planning to post-production editing.

Linguistics major Isabelle Loyd assisted with editing and language as part of the and now as a . She also presented her work on the project at the Georgia Communication Association 2026 Annual Conference.

鈥淲orking on the project gave me a broader view of language and communication on a global scale,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e considered how we could leverage alternative forms of communication to help the audience connect with the subject, given that there were language barriers. I'm very glad to have been a part of this meaningful project from its early stages, and I look forward to seeing the impact it will have on the wider discourse surrounding sickle cell disease and the support it will bring to those communities affected.鈥�

Choi also collaborated closely with Paul Lee, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at 黑料网 who served as producer and managed the project鈥檚 logistics and funding.

鈥淏eing part of 鈥楥hicken Ghetto鈥� was both inspiring and humbling,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚t shifted my perspective as an engineer from focusing primarily on technical solutions to recognizing the human stories behind them. Mable鈥檚 resilience in the face of hardship was deeply impactful for me.鈥�

Choi is currently editing a second documentary focused on rural communities in Uganda, with plans to continue the project later this year.

His work has been widely recognized at prestigious film festivals, including the Atlanta Film Festival and Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and RiverRun International Film Festival. He also received the Gold Award (first place) at the AEJMC Festival of Visual & Interactive Media. But for Choi, the most meaningful reward is the relationships he built while filming and reconnecting with Mable鈥檚 family during a return visit to Uganda.

鈥淲hen I went back to Uganda, I showed her and her family the documentary, and we watched it together in front of her house, and it brought them so much joy,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat was a truly meaningful moment in my life.鈥�

鈥� Story by Christin Senior

Photos by Matt Yung and provided

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, 黑料网 offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 51,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university's vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.