Finn Kane, a Dell Rapids native who graduated from SDSU with a master’s degree in May, picked up the award for the Best Student Film at the Black Hills Film Festival this past weekend. 

“It’s a little surreal…I feel a little bit (of)  imposter syndrome, like, I don’t know that I’m worthy,” Kane said.

The documentary, “Galena: The Ghost Town That Refuses to Die,” follows the town’s history, the real-life stories, and its preservation. The film includes interviews from the family of key figures in the ghost town and current residents who celebrate its history.

The town of Galena is less than 15 miles south of Deadwood and was founded in 1876 by settlers hoping to find gold. Galena is now considered a ghost town, but a few families live in the area and the Galena Historical Society is still alive. Some historic structures also remain. 

Through the documentary’s original music and intricate shots, Kane “wants more historical preservation [in ghost towns] and the history surrounding it,” and looks to prove that Galena’s history and story are worth preserving.

Kane first visited Galena in August 2023 with his friends. It was his following visit that December where he proposed filming a documentary to the people of Galena.

“They have a biannual meeting and I met the whole town, and they were all super excited and on board for the idea,” he said.

The film was not made without struggle. Kane had never taken a film class before and was self-taught when it came to filming and editing.

The editing process was a struggle because Kane had to color-correct every shot due to a white balance issue, “That was horrific. That took months and months,” he said. Going forward, Kane hopes to have a partner to help him with setting up equipment and discussing ideas.

Kane is now pursuing a doctorate at Wayne State University in Detroit, serving as a teacher’s assistant for film production. He thinks that making “Galena” has helped him improve his teaching abilities when it comes to using software like Adobe Premiere and setting up cameras.

When asked about what his next project would be, Kane talked about making a narrative feature that takes place in South Dakota.

“I would like to shoot in South Dakota,” he said, “I think South Dakota is a really underutilized location for film. It’s really beautiful, and there’s a lot of great documentaries about South Dakota, but not as many fictional films.”

“Galena: The Ghost Town That Refuses to Die” first premiered at a documentary triple feature in April at the South Dakota Art Museum and was put on by COJO Cinema (School of Communication and Journalism). 

The event was seen as a success by Professor Rocky Dailey, Kane’s academic adviser and producer of Galena: The Ghost Town That Refuses to Die.”

“(The) event went very well,” Dailey said. “I think when I counted, we had about 60 people there on a Tuesday night. That’s awesome.”

As for advising, Dailey concurred that editing was the hardest process for Kane in the making of the film. “It’s kind of like putting a puzzle together, but you don’t know what the picture is gonna look like,” Dailey said.

Dailey hopes to continue COJO Cinema and host more events in the future to showcase students’ work. 

When asked before this past weekend’s film festival how we felt, Kane said, “ I’m really excited to see all of the other films and talk to the other filmmakers…I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 

Editor’s Note: A correction was made to the story “SDSU alum wins best student film at Black Hills Film Festival,” published on Oct. 7, 2025. The story previously misstated the title of Finn Kane’s award-winning documentary. The correct title is “Galena: The Ghost Town That Refuses to Die.” This version of the story has been updated to reflect this change.