The winners of New York University’s 68th 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, were announced at a ceremony and screening at the Regal Union Square Theatre in New York City last night (Apr. 13). The event was presided over by Mary Schmidt Campbell, dean of the Tisch School of the Arts.
Seven Winning Films from the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television Share $54,000 in Cash Awards
Winner and Finalist Films to Be Screened at DGA in Hollywood, June 24
Last night, the winners of New York University’s 68th 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, were announced at a ceremony and screening at the Regal Union Square Theatre in New York City. The event was presided over by Mary Schmidt Campbell, dean of the Tisch School of the Arts.
The winners of the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation Awards for Excellence in Filmmaking are: 1st prize ($10,000)—Luke Matheny (Graduate) for God of Love and Felix Thompson (Undergraduate) for Bedford Park Boulevard; 2nd prize ($7,000)—Etienne Kallos (Graduate) for First Born (Eersgeborene) and Jaraad Virani (Undergraduate) for Paradise Regained; and 3rd prize ($5,000)—Sara Colangelo (Graduate) for Little Accidents and Patrick Murphy (Undergraduate) for Animal Drill.
In addition, the winners of the King Award for Best Screenwriting ($3,000) are: Luke Matheny (Graduate) for God of Love and Felix Thompson (Undergraduate) for Bedford Park Boulevard. The winners of the Wasserman Award for Best Directing ($2,000) are: Etienne Kallos (Graduate) for Eersgeborene (First Born) and S. Vollie Osborn (Undergraduate) for Monsters Down the Hall.
This year for the first time three films were selected from the Tisch Asia campus to be screened at First Run and compete for an award. The winner of the Tisch Asia Graduate Film Award ($7,000) is Basil Mironer for Rare Fish.
The winners join past First Run award 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. The winners and finalists will have their films screened at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Hollywood on June 24.
The 2010 First Run Festival Kanbar Institute Undergraduate finalists are: Michael Healey for The Prune, Patrick Murphy for Animal Drill, Bree Newsome for Wake, S. Vollie Osborn for Monsters Down the Hall, Felix Thompson for Bedford Park Boulevard, and Jaraad Virani for Paradise Regained.
The 2010 First Run Festival Kanbar Institute Graduate finalists are: Sara Colangelo for Little Accidents; Daniel Garcia for Tripoli, Quiet; Etienne Kallos for First Born (Eersgeborene); Luke Matheny for God of Love; and Visra Vichit-Vadakan for In Space.
The 2010 First Run Festival Tisch Asia Graduate finalists are: Uta Arning for The Perfect Woman, Eric Flanagan for Teleglobal Dreamin’, and Basil Mironer for Rare Fish (Ikan Langka).
First Run Festival 2010 (April 8-11) featured four days of public screenings of 111 advanced films, videos, multimedia, and animation projects. Underwriting support for the Festival was provided by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation. The Wasserman Awards Ceremony is named in honor of the late Lew Wasserman and his wife, Edie, generous benefactors of the Tisch School of the Arts. Tisch Asia underwrote the Tisch Asia Graduate Film Award.
The Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts provides an intensive and professional education in filmmaking. The program shared first place in recent U.S. News and World Report rankings of the nation’s film programs; since 1992, sixteen Student Academy Award gold medals have been presented to NYU student filmmakers by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. At the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, Kanbar Institute students and alumni walked away with an unprecedented seven awards in virtually every top-prize category. At the 2005 and 2006 Sundance Film Festivals, Kanbar filmmakers walked away with 10 prizes. Approximately 150 graduate and 1,050 undergraduate film students pursue degrees in film and television production, photography, cinema studies, dramatic writing, and interactive telecommunications. Distinguished alumni of the Kanbar Institute include Joel Coen, Chris Columbus, Billy Crystal, Martha Coolidge, Ernest Dickerson, Amy Heckerling, Jim Jarmusch, Ang Lee, Spike Lee, Brett Ratner, Nancy Savoca, Martin Scorsese, Susan Seidelman, and Oliver Stone, among many others.