Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Announces U.S. Student Finalists Including 9 In Animation Category
Beverly Hills, CA — Thirty-five students from 20 U.S. colleges and universities have been selected as finalists in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 39th Annual Student Academy Awards competition. Academy members will view the finalists’ films at special screenings and vote to select the winners. Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards, along with accompanying cash grants of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively, may be presented in each of four categories: Alternative, Animation, Documentary and Narrative. Winners will be brought to Los Angeles, along with the international student winners in the Foreign Student Film category, for a week of industry activities and social events that will culminate in the awards ceremony on Saturday, June 9, at 6 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The finalists are (listed alphabetically by film title):
Alternative
Falconer, Micah Robert Barber, University of Texas at Austin
In Between Shadows, Tianran Duan, University of Southern California
Last Remarks, Umar Riaz, New York University
Peace at Home, Avital Epstein, Florida State University
The Reality Clock, Amanda Tasse, University of Southern California
SiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSi, Juan Camilo González, University of Southern California
Terra Cotta Warrior, Bin Li, Rochester Institute of Technology
Us, Alex Lora, City College of New York
Animation
Chocolate Milk, Eliza Kinkz, University of California, Los Angeles
Cowboy, Clone, Dust, Matthew Christensen, New York University
Eyrie, David Wolter, California Institute of the Arts
The Jockstrap Raiders, Mark Nelson, University of California, Los Angeles
La Lune et le Coq, Raymond McCarthy Bergeron, Rochester Institute of Technology
Lizard and the Ladder, Aaron Bristow, Utah Valley University*
My Little Friend, Eric Prah, Ringling College of Art and Design
Reviving Redwood, Matt Sullivan, Ringling College of Art and Design
Shinobi Blues, Yue Liu, School of Visual Arts
Documentary
Dignity Harbor: A Home Away from Homeless, Michael Gualdoni, Lindenwood University*
Dying Green, Ellen Tripler, American University
Hiro: A Story of Japanese Internment, Keiko Wright, New York University
Lost Country, Heather Burky, Art Institute of Jacksonville*
Love Hacking, Jenni Nelson, Stanford University
Pot Country, Mario Furloni, University of California, Berkeley
Reporting on The Times: The New York Times and the Holocaust, Emily Harrold, New York University
Smoke Songs, Briar March, Stanford University
Why Am I Still Alive, Hanzhang Shen, School of Visual Arts
Narrative
Benny, Huay-Bing Law, University of Texas at Austin
Contra el Mar, Richard Parkin, University of California, Los Angeles
Hatch, Christoph Kuschnig, Columbia University
Mr. Bellpond, A. Todd Smith, Brigham Young University
Nani, Justin Tipping, American Film Institute
Narcocorrido, Ryan Prows, American Film Institute
The Recorder Exam, Bora Kim, Columbia University
Requited, Madeline Puzzo, Point Park University*
Under, Mark Raso, Columbia University
*Indicates first-time finalist entry for the school/university
To reach this stage, U.S. students competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region is permitted to send to the Academy up to three finalists in each of the four categories. Academy members have selected students from Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom as finalists in the Foreign Film category.
The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards. At the 84th Academy Awards earlier this year, 2011 Student Academy Award winners Hallvar Witzø and Max Zähle were nominated in the Live Action Short Film category for “Tuba Atlantic” and “Raju,” respectively. James Spione, a Student Academy Award winner in 1987, earned a nomination in the Documentary Short Subject category for “Incident in New Baghdad.”
The 39th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on June 9 is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required. Tickets are available now, online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office, or by mail. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.
