First Run Film Winners Announced

The 66th annual First Run Film Festival, which premieres the work of some of the country’s top student films from the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts (TSOA), recently screened over 105 films, videos, multimedia, and animation projects. Six outstanding student films were singled out for the Kanbar Institute’s top film prizes and over $50,000 in cash awards.

      The winners of the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation Awards for Excellence in Filmmaking are: 1st prize ($10,000) – Andrew MacLean (Graduate Division) for Sikumi and Benedict Campbell (Undergraduate Division) for Lloyd Neck; 2nd prize ($7,000) – Andrew Hulse (Graduate Division) for Gasoline and Matthew Shapiro (Undergraduate Division) for Old Days; 3rd prize ($5,000) – Jennifer Li (Graduate Division) for 422 and Daniel Patrick Carbone (Undergraduate Division) for Feral.

      In addition, the winners of the King Award for Best Screenwriting ($3,000) are: Andrew MacLean (Graduate) for Sikumi and Benedict Campbell (Undergraduate) for Lloyd Neck.  The winners of the Wasserman Award for Best Directing ($2,000) are: Andrew MacLean (Graduate) for Sikumi and Benedict Campbell (Undergraduate) for Lloyd Neck.

      The winners join past recipients Spike Lee, Ang Lee, and Nancy Savoca, among many others.  A panel of industry professionals selected the winning films from a group of 14 finalists.

—Richard Pierce