Chrisy Baekfilm: HAMSACategory: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Chrisy Baek is a NYC based CG Look Development Artist, primarily
focusing on environment modeling, texturing, shading, lighting,
and compositing. Co-director of the Student Academy Winning film
“Hamsa”, was a Co-lead of Women in Animation at SVA, a former Walt
Disney Animation Studios CG Art Intern of 2018, and co-director
of "Voilà!". She has ended her first freelance job at Hornet
Animations Inc. and on her way to freelancing at SuperDopeTV.
Rommel Villa Barrigafilm: SWEET POTATOESCategory: NARRATIVE (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Rommel Villa Barriga was born and raised in Bolivia. His passion for
storytelling started when he was a kid, creating fictional
stories about his family fighting poverty and corruption in a
magical world full of dinosaurs and llamas. Rommel grew up
writing/directing award-winning plays based on social issues he
learned at PASCAR, a social organization that educates young
adults in HIV/AIDS misconceptions and LGBTQ+ advocacy. At 18, he
served in the military for a year in Bolivia, which exposed
Rommel to an extremely sexist and discriminatory environment.
Winner of a Directing stipend from Lionsgate-Televisa's Latinx
filmmaker program, Rommel has a Bachelor’s Degree in Systems
Engineering and an MFA in Film/TV Production at USC with an
emphasis in Writing/Directing. In the last few years, Rommel
received a couple of USC filmmaker grants which funded his
award-winning LGBTQ+ thesis film Teddy Mate, and Sweet Potatoes,
a historical film funded by the Sloan Foundation which is a
Winner at the 2020 Student Academy Awards. Rommel is currently
developing a series based on Sweet Potatoes called Revolutionary
Lives, and is also writing a couple of features to be filmed in
Bolivia/USA.
Yucong Chenfilm: UNFINISHED LIVESCategory: DOCUMENTARY (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Yucong Chen is originally from Qingdao, China, and is now based
in LA. In pursuit of her filmmaking aspirations, Yucong earned a
MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and a BFA from the
Communication University of China. Yucong’s film practice is
centered on the shared human experience, from marginalized
communities and immigration crises, to interpersonal connections
like encounters and farewells.
Marie Mc Courtfilm: I WAS STILL THERE WHEN YOU LEFT MECategory: NARRATIVE (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS)
Marie Mc Court is a Franco-Danish director. In 2019, she graduated with her Masters degree in Directing at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) in Belgium. Her graduation film, “I Was Still There When You Left Me,” shot with first time actors, won a Student Academy Awards and was screened at prestigious film festivals worldwide, winning multiple awards. Festival selections include: San Sebastián International Film Festival, Regard Film Festival, Busan International Short Film Festival, Côté Court and many more. While developing her first feature and second short film, she’s also doing street casting. Marie gets a lot of inspiration from the people she meets there and uses improv on set to incorporate details of reality in her work. She builds her characters on the basis of real life stories, creating sensory experiences embedded in more dramatic social issues and intimate problems. She writes immersive films to use empathy as a tool to break the silent agreement for violence. She’s very inspired by the work of Lynne Ramsay, the Safdie brothers, Ruben Östlund, James Blake and Toni Morrison.
Karishma Dubefilm: BITTUCategory: NARRATIVE (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Karishma Dev Dube is an award-winning filmmaker based in New
York. A recipient of the Dean’s fellowship, Karishma recently
graduated from NYU’s Graduate Film Program. Her award winning
short film Devi (Goddess), has played 54 festivals worldwide
including BFI London Film Festival, Edinburgh FF and Outfest LA
where it won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short. Her
most recent short film Bittu won a Student Academy Award and has been selected for Telluride Film Festival, Palm
Springs Shortfest and Short Shorts Asia FF. She is currently
producing her first feature length film Burning Well directed by
Mary Evangelista, that was a part of the Sundance Talent Forum
2019 and TFI Network 2020. As a filmmaker, Karishma intends to
challenge assumptions about and within her country.
Daniela Dwekfilm: HAMSACategory: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Daniela Dwek, both artist and director of the short film Hamsa,
is a Middle Eastern Artist who seeks to share important and
impactful stories with the world though the medium of 3D
Animation. Due to her diverse background and thirst for
learning, she is also passionate about anthropology and loves to
learn new languages.
Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesmafilm: CIERVOCategory: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma is a freelance animator and fine
artist who currently resides in New York. She is an alum of the
Laguardia High School of the Arts in New York and received her
BFA in Animation at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2020.
While you could describe her as being a very talkative person,
she has always found it easier to express her emotions and
feelings through visual mediums rather than words, making her
work take on a very intimate and emotional quality overall. She
enjoys making both 2D animation and stop motion films, and often
uses elements of mixed media in her films by combining
traditional and digital elements through compositing. Her work
as a whole ranges from fiction and fantastical to poetic and
metaphorical, and often deals with memory and human interaction
paired with themes of womanhood, family, and our relationship to
the natural world.
German Golubfilm: MY DEAR CORPSESCategory: NARRATIVE (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS)
Born in Pärnu, South of Estonia, German is a film director and student of Baltic Film and Media
School, studying his last year of Directing feature BA Film Arts.
Throughout a short career, he has directed multiple short feature
films and short documentary films, one of them in China.
Identifying himself as Estonian and European, but having direct
access to both West and East cultures. An investigation of
the cultural treasures of both cultures strongly influenced and dualized his
perception, understanding, and perspective of the view of the world
around him.
Maren Klakeggfilm: DEAR FATHER...Category: DOCUMENTARY (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS)
Maren is a director, cinematographer and editor. Her passion is
documentary filmmaking. It’s important for her to shine a light
on stories about the interpersonal, humans as well as important
and taboo topics in today’s society. Maren finished her degree in
TV and Film production in 2019. Since then she has worked on a
feature documentary film, TV shows, commercials, produced music
videos and is working on a new documentary on the side.
Maya Mendoncafilm: HAMSACategory: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
West Indian girl and Brooklyn native, Maya Mendonca, is 3D
Character Animator who loves to bring out sincerity in
characters. Before her role as co-director of the Student
Academy winning film “Hamsa”, Maya mentored students in the 3D
Animation club at her college and practiced animation in her
spare time. Maya also worked for Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon
and will begin freelancing at Hornet Animation Inc.
Percival Argüero Mendozafilm: CRESCENDOCategory: NARRATIVE (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS)
Percival Argüero Mendoza was born in Mexico City. He received a
BA in Philosophy at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
(UNAM) but has been devoted to motion pictures since 2008. He
majored in Film Directing at Centro de Capacitación
Cinematográfica (CCC), a world-renowned school that allowed him
to gain experience in many areas of filmmaking, from
screenwriting to post-production. He has directed six narrative
shorts, the latest of which premiered at the 17th Morelia
International Film Festival, had its international premiere in
Poland at the 27th edition of Camerimage and won a Student
Academy Award in 2020.
Kate Namowiczfilm: MIME YOUR MANNERSCategory: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Kate Namowicz is a character animator who graduated from the
computer animation program from Ringling College of Art and
Design. Kate has always wanted to be an artist ever since she
was a little girl and discovered she wanted to be an animator.
Kate is the co-director, co-writer, and animator on Mime Your
Manners made at Ringling. She had an animation internship at
Universal Creative at Universal Orlando Resort as a 3D animation
intern animating a special animatronic on a project for the new
Universal Beijing Resort in China. Kate’s goal is to pursue a
career as a character animator at a major animation feature film
studio and one day to become an animation supervisor and lead a
team of animators.
Skyler Porrasfilm: MIME YOUR MANNERSCategory: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Skyler Porras grew up in a Port Neches, a small oil city in
Texas. He graduated from Ringling College of art and design with
a bachelor's degree in computer animation. He strives to use 3D
animation and VR in the pursuit of cheaper, more abundant, and
increasingly entertaining educational programs. Currently,
Skyler is developing a specialized animation portfolio seeking a
position at a major animation studio.
Pascal Schelblifilm: THE BEAUTYCategory: ANIMATION (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS)
Pascal Schelbli was working as a Motion Designer and Visual
Effects Artist for many years, after he graduated as a graphic
designer. But his interests in telling stories with computer
generated images, growth through all these years too, so he got
accepted to the renowned Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, to
study Animation. He successfully finished his study by his
graduation film “The Beauty“ in 2019. Today he is working as a
freelance 3D artist and director.
Talia Smithfilm: UMAMACategory: NARRATIVE (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
A filmmaker born and raised in South Africa. Her country's rich
heritage inspired her storytelling aspirations from a young age.
At 8 she decided she would one day move to New York to share
these stories with the world through film. 10 years later she
followed her dreams and studied Film & TV at NYU's Tisch School
of the arts. Throughout her filmmaking career, she has made
South African and female-focused pieces. No matter the genre,
all her films are created in pursuit of expanding perspectives.
Curry Sicong Tianfilm: SIMULACRACategory: ALTERNATIVE/EXPERIMENTAL (DOMESTIC AND
INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS)
Los Angeles-based filmmaker Curry Sicong Tian has held various
roles including 3d motion designer, concept/digital artist,
illustrator, animator, photographer, creative director at
studios internationally. Born and raised in China, she is aiming
to bridge the gap between eastern and western culture, video art
and film, expanding beyond into 3d motion graphic and
alternative modes of storytelling.
Allison Waitefilm: THE DOPE YEARS: THE STORY OF LATASHA HARLINSCategory: DOCUMENTARY (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Allison A. Waite is an award-winning director and
cinematographer. She obtained her MFA from USC's School of
Cinematic Arts in Film & Television Production with a
cinematography concentration as a George Lucas Foundation
Scholar. Filmmaking is her activism tool of choice; she aims to
give unresolved stories a voice and spark connections within her
community. In addition, Allison has received recognition such as
the Princess Grace Foundation HBO film Award and a Student
Academy Award for her film "The Dope Years: The Story of Latasha
Harlins."
Laura Zéphirinfilm: MAKING WAVESCategory: DOCUMENTARY (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS)
Laura Zéphirin is a French Filmmaker based in New York. She grew
up in Paris where she worked for a decade as a producer, editor
and videographer in the main national TV channels. She then
relocated to the Big Apple in 2017 to further explore and
investigate the profound injustices that underlie our world’s
social and environmental issues. Given her longtime passion for
this cause, Laura decided to initiate the production of “Making
Waves” in 2019 while enrolled in the News and Documentary
program at New York University. Her intention and purpose behind
her first documentary is to both inform the worldwide audience
of the robust impact we, as humans, have on our natural
environment, as well as stimulate a shift in our overall
understanding of our oceans.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Eugenio Derbez
Actor, writer, director and producer Eugenio Derbez is one of
the most influential creative forces in Latin America, and one
of the most recognized actors in the Latinx community in the
U.S. With recent successes in features, Derbez has become an
international star.
Variety named Derbez as the #1
most influential Hispanic male in the world, and he has been
named the #1 social media influencer in Mexico for the previous
two years due to his more than 45 million followers across all
social media.
Derbez starred with Anna Faris in MGM
/ Lionsgate’s remake of the classic romantic comedy “Overboard.”
The movie made nearly $100 million in box office worldwide.
Derbez produced the movie through his banner, 3Pas Studios. With
the success of his previous movie, Lionsgate distributed “How to
Be a Latin Lover” starring Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell,
Raquel Welch, which Derbez also produced.
Prior to
that, his breakout success, the Spanish language dramedy,
“Instructions Not Included” qualified Derbez as a bonafide movie
star. “Instructions Not Included”, which he not only directed
but also co-wrote, became the most successful Spanish-language
film ever in the U.S. and worldwide, and broke numerous box
office records, grossing over $100 million.
Derbez
can also be seen in Paramount’s, “Dora and the Lost City of
Gold”, starring Eva Longoria, Michael Peña, and Isabel Moner,
directed by James Bobin. Derbez is also an executive producer.
Derbez co-starred in Disney’s “The Nutcracker and
the Four Realms” with Helen Mirren, Keira Knightly and Morgan
Freeman, directed by Lasse Hallström. He also starred in
“Miracles from Heaven” with Jennifer Garner, Kyle Rogers, Martin
Henderson, and Queen Latifah, directed by Patricia Riggen.
For over two decades prior, the TV shows Derbez
created and in which he starred – “La Familia P. Luche” and
“XHDRBZ” -- have become part of the popular culture both in
Mexico and the U.S. through the LatinX television network,
Univision. His hosting duties on the Latin Grammys and the FIFA
World Cup have drawn huge global audiences.
Born in
Mexico City, Derbez is the son of legendary cinema and
television actress, Sylvia Derbez. He began acting at age twelve
in one of his country’s popular telenovelas. He holds a degree
in film directing from the Mexican Institute of Cinematography
and Theatre, as well as a degree in acting from Televisa's
Acting School. He has also studied and trained in dance and
music, and has been able to showcase those talents in shows like
Broadway's, “Latinologue” and the Spanish language version
musical of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” And, as a testament to his
popularity and contributions to the arts in both languages,
Derbez was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7013
Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2016.
Shunsaku Hayashi
Shunsaku Hayashi (b.1992, Osaka) is a filmmaker/painter explores
the intersection of experimental film, animation and painting.
“Interstitial (2017)“ won the Grand Jury Prize for Animation
Short at 23rd Slamdance Film Festival. “Railment (2017)”
received the Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film at 55th
Ann Arbor Film Festival, and “Remember (2015)” got Golden
Horseman for Animated Film at 28th Filmfest Dresden. His newest
film “Leaking Life (2019)” was an official selection at the
Berlin International Film Festival, Annnecy International
Animation Festival, Gijon Film Festival, where it was awarded
the Young Jury Award, and the Montreal Festival du Nouveau
Cinema where it received a Special Jury Mention.
Glen Keane
"A 38 year veteran of Walt Disney Feature Animation, Glen Keane
trained under Walt Disney’s 9 Old Men. Glen Keane went on to
create many beloved Disney characters, such as The Little
Mermaid, Aladdin, The Beast, Tarzan, and Rapunzel.In 2012, Keane
departed Disney to begin Glen Keane Productions as way to
further his artistic explorations in animation, design and film.
He has since gone on to collaborate with Google, the Paris
Ballet, and Netflix. His most recent project is the animated
film “Dear Basketball”, which he animated and directed in
collaboration with legends Kobe Bryant and John Williams.He is
currently directing "Over the Moon" in partnership with Pearl
Studio and Netflix. The animated feature is set to be released
Oct 23.”
Spike Lee
Academy Award® Winner SPIKE LEE’s iconic body of storytelling
has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. Most
recently, he Directed and Co-Wrote Da 5 Bloods for Netflix, his
latest joint. Prior to Da 5 Bloods, the visionary filmmaker
Co-Wrote and Directed the Academy Award®-nominated and
critically acclaimed hit film BlacKkKlansman, winning the Oscar®
for Best Adapted Screenplay.
His career spans over
30 years and includes: She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do the
Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X,
Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, He Got Game, Summer
of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle
at St. Anna, Red Hook Summer, Old Boy, and Chi-Raq. Lee’s
outstanding feature documentary work includes the double Emmy®
Award-winning If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, a
follow up to his HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A
Requiem in Four Acts and the Peabody Award-winning A Huey P
Newton Story. In the Television area, he launched his Netflix
original series “She’s Gotta Have It”, which ran 2 seasons on
the platform. The series is a contemporary update of his classic
film.
Spike Lee is a five-time Oscar nominee (Do The
Right Thing for Original Screenplay, 4 Little Girls for
Documentary Feature, BlacKkKlansman for Picture, Director and
Best Adapted Screenplay-Winner) and he was awarded an Honorary
Oscar in 2015 for his lifetime achievement and contributions to
the state of motion picture arts and sciences. He is a graduate
of Morehouse College and New York University’s Tisch School of
the Arts, where he is a tenured Professor of Film and Artistic
Director. Lee’s Production Company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
is based in Da Republic of Brooklyn, NY.
Dawn Porter
Dawn Porter is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work
has appeared on HBO, PBS, Discovery, and Netflix among others.
She is currently directing and executive producing an Apple TV
multi-part documentary series with Oprah Winfrey and Prince
Harry, which focuses on both mental illness and mental
well-being.
Other current projects include the documentary Vernon Jordan:
Make It Plain which explores Vernon Jordan’s rise from the
segregated South to become one of the most influential African
American thought leaders in America; John Lewis: Good Trouble
for CNN Films, which explores late Congressman John Lewis’
pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement and decades of
political and social activism on important issues including
voting rights, immigration laws, and much more; and The Way I
See It, about photojournalist Pete Souza, who served as Chief
Official White House photographer for President Barack Obama and
previously as an Official White House photographer for President
Ronald Reagan.
Dawn also directed and produced the acclaimed four-hour Netflix
original series Bobby Kennedy for President, which was released
in 2018 and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
A two-time Sundance festival Director, her film Trapped which
explored laws regulating abortion clinics in the South won the
special jury social-impact prize at the 2016 Sundance Film
Festival, in addition to a Peabody and numerous other awards.
Her 2013 documentary Gideon's Army premiered on HBO and won best
editing at Sundance. Gideon’s Army was nominated for an
Independent Spirit Award and an Emmy, and is part of the U.S.
Department of State’s American Film Showcase.
Dawn also directed and produced Spies of Mississippi, a
critically-acclaimed historical documentary that was part of the
Independent Lens series on PBS. In 2015 Dawn directed and
produced Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeper, a film for
The Discovery Channel chronicling President Obama’s program to
help young men of color succeed.
Dawn has been commissioned to create films for the Center for
Investigative Reporting, Time and Essence Magazines, The New
York Times Op Docs, and Amazon. Her work has received generous
support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the
Mellon Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Film
Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures and other esteemed
organizations. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and the Directors Guild of America.
Lulu Wang
With the rare ability to captivate audiences with her sincere
storytelling and global perspective, Lulu Wang continues to
establish herself as a writer and filmmaker to watch.
Most recently, Wang released her second feature THE FAREWELL,
which she both wrote and directed. The story follows Billi
(Awkwafina), who returns to China after decades in America to
join a household of relatives as they convene to say goodbye to
the family’s elderly matriarch under the pretense of a shotgun
wedding.
The film first premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in
the U.S. Dramatic Competition, earning Wang a nomination for the
Grand Jury Prize. After its success at Sundance, A24 picked it
up for worldwide distribution and released the film in select
theaters on July 7. Since then, Wang’s sophomore feature has
garnered a multitude of praises, including Variety naming Wang
among its “Top Ten Directors To Watch in 2019”. The film
recently won Best Feature at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit
Awards, as well as a Best Actress Golden Globe for Awkwafina and
a Best Supporting Actress Spirit Award for Zhao Shuzhen. The
critically-acclaimed film also garnered multiple nominations
throughout the season including “Best Feature” and “Best
Screenplay” at the 2019 Gotham Independent Film Awards, AFI's
Top Ten Films in 2019, as well as “Best Motion Picture – Foreign
Language” at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards.
Wang’s debut feature film, POSTHUMOUS, stars Brit Marling and
Jack Huston. Released by The Orchard in 2014, the indie romantic
comedy follows a struggling artist who finds himself
accidentally reported dead. On behalf of the debut film, Wang
was awarded with the Chaz and Roger Ebert Directing Fellowship
at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
ABOUT
The Student Academy Awards is an international student film
competition, established in 1972, that recognizes and honors student
filmmakers who demonstrate excellence in the creation of motion
pictures.
Each year, college and university film students from all over the
world compete for awards and cash grants, with films being judged in
the following categories: Animation, Documentary, Narrative and
Alternative/Experimental.
Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to win 12 Oscars,
and receive 64 Oscar nominations. Past winners include Pete Docter,
Robert Zemeckis, Patricia Riggen, Cary Fukunaga, Patricia Cardoso
and Spike Lee. Visit
A.frame, the Academy's new way to discover movies, for a watchlist of some
of their greatest hits.