May 2009

School of Visual Arts ANNOUNCES the 20th Annual Dusty Film and animation Festival AWARD WINNERS FOR 2009

Outstanding Achievement Awards & Celebration Ceremony Capped Off Week-Long Festival With Gala Event

School of Visual Arts (SVA) 20th Annual Dusty Film and Animation Festival and Awards for 2009 - which highlighted over 100 films by students graduating from the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department, proudly bestowed the following individuals awards for their work in film and animation on Saturday, May 9, at an invite-only gala awards ceremony at the all-new SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd Street). The presenters included notables from the world of film, television, video and theater, including Academy-award winners Kevin Kline, John Patrick Shanley, and Robert Elswit; as well as Barbara Tulliver, Cheryl Daly, Roy Frumkes, Tom Sito (SVA alumnus, BFA 1977 Animation), and Randall Emmett (SVA alumnus, BFA 1994 Film and Video).

The 2009 DUSTY winners include:

• For Outstanding Achievement in Film:
  ANA MARIA HERMIDA for El Elefante Rojo – The Red Elepant

• For Outstanding Achievement in Directing:
  ANA MARIA HERMIDA for El Elefante Rojo – The Red Elepant

• For Outstanding Achievement in Traditional Animation:
  JAKE ARMSTRONG for The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9!

• For Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting:
  JUSTIN RICE for Quince

• For Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography:
  STEVEN GATTI for The Wounded and the Slain and BRIAN GONZALEZ for Wishing, Well

• For Outstanding Achievement in Editing:
  ARYS SUBIADUR and NICHOLAS CHAKWIN
  for Lion Bold

• For Outstanding Achievement in Animation Design: ALEXANDER WAGER for Juxtaposed

• For Outstanding Achievement in Documentary (Film):
  IAN PHILLIPS and VICTORIA RONDON for Tumi—The Life and Death of Boitumelo McCallum

• The Human Spirit Award (Film):
  IAN PHILLPS for Tumi—The Life and Death of Boitumelo McCallum

• The Human Spirit Award (Animation):
  ELYSSA DIGIOVANNI for Trade Winds

• The Women in Film Award:
  KATIE-MADONNA LEE for Women’s Prison

• The National Board of Review Scholarship Awards:
  ROSS BOLLINGER for Reward and LINDSAY WOODS for Pencilmation–both for Animation

“We are very happy to have presented Outstanding Achievement Awards this year, marking the 20th year of the Dustys–recognizing the achievement of these many and varied emerging filmmakers, and letting members of the industry get the chance to see the work of the next generation of some very remarkable film and animation talent,” said Reeves Lehmann, chair of the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department at SVA. “We are pleased of the success of our many illustrious SVA students, and the many others in the film and stage industry as they come together with us at our all-new state-of-the art SVA Theatre. We also want to call attention to our many great sponsors and supporters, some have been with us a number of years, while others have joined more recently, and we toast and celebrate each and everyone one of them for making this such a note-worthy and important year. I would also like to thank this year’s festival producers Annie Flocco and Heidi Hamelin, plus the incomparable Gene Stavis, SVA Theatre director and faculty member, who together with their teams did a truly amazing job.”

The 2009 Dusty Film and Animation Festival and Awards sponsors included: Nice Shoes, National Board of Review, New York Women in Film and Television, CAVA–SVA Computer Store, Avid, Colliers ABR, Eastman Kodak, Future Media Concepts, SCS Agency, Inc and Animation Magazine.

Screenwriters Night took place May 5, 2009, in collaboration with The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and the Real Theatre Company. Eleven five-minute scenes by SVA's screenwriting thesis students were performed live on stage, featuring alumni from The Neighborhood Playhouse, the internationally regarded acting conservatory. Screenwriters Night was directed by award-winning filmmaker John Gallagher, a faculty member at both SVA and The Neighborhood Playhouse, and produced by film producer and SVA instructor Annie Flocco. Screenwriters Night was sponsored in association with CAVA–SVA Computer Store and Final Draft, Inc.