DGA members and their guests attended ceremonies for the 18th Annual DGA Student Film Awards at the DGA Theater in New York on November 28. The Awards are designed to honor, encourage and bring attention to outstanding African American, Asian American, Latino and Women Filmmakers in film schools and select universities across the country.
The ceremony began with a welcome message and introductions from Director Ted Bogosian who then presented the certificates to African American Jury Award recipient Jeremy Cohan of New School (After), Asian American Jury Award recipient Gerry Kim of Columbia University for Living the Dream), Latino Jury Award recipient David Figueroa Garcia of Columbia University (Ratitas), and Woman Jury Award recipient Jordan Salvatoriello of Emerson College (Graceland Girls). Bogosian then turned the podium over to Director Jace Alexander, who presented the trophies to Asian American Student Filmmaker Award winner John Paul Su of NYU (Pagpag) and Latino Student Filmmaker Award winner Francisco Lupini of NYU (El Nido Vacio [The Empty Nest]). Director Laura Belsey then presented the awards to African American Student Filmmaker Award winner Talibah Newman of Columbia University (Busted on Brigham Lane) and Woman Student Filmmaker Award winner Emily Harrold of NYU (Reporting on The Times: The New York Times and The Holocaust).
The winners of each category received a prize of $2,500 from the DGA. The winners were selected by blue ribbon panels comprised of DGA members and each of the winning films was screened before the awards ceremony.
The awards rules and procedures mandate that competing films must have been made in the 2011/2012 school year (September 2011 through August 2012), and must have been produced as a student project under the supervision of a faculty member. Dramas, comedies and documentaries are all eligible – animated and experimental films are not. Applicants must be enrolled in, or be a recent (one-year) graduate from, an accredited post-secondary institution in California or DGA-selected university offering a degree in film or television. Eligible films are those in which a student held every major crew position. Productions in which a non-student, professional or a faculty member served as cinematographer, camera operator, sound recordist, editor, lighting designer or screenwriter may be disqualified.