By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
Beverly Hills, CA (AP) --Thirteen college students received cash prizes and trophies Saturday for films competing in the 36th annual Student Academy Awards.
The gold medal prize for narrative films went to Gregg Helvey of the University of Southern California for “Kavi,” a short film about an Indian boy forced to work.
The top prize for animation was presented to Glenn Harmon of Brigham Young University for “Pajama Gladiator,” a computer-animated short film about a boy who gets caught stealing cookies in the middle of the night. The gold medal documentary winner was Liz Chae of Columbia University for “The Last Mermaids,” which chronicles female Korean divers.
“When I finally heard I won, I was so excited, I just told my parents right away,” said Chae. “This has really been a dream come true for something that I’ve been working on, so I was very excited.”
The prizes are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars. Winners get $5,000 for gold medals, $3,000 for silver medals and $2,000 for bronze.
The awards were presented to the students during a ceremony at Samuel Goldwyn Theater by “The Dark Knight” actor Gary Oldman, “Blues Brothers” and “Coming to America” director John Landis, “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast” animator Andreas Deja and producer and academy first vice president Robert Rehme.
Established in 1972, the Student Academy Awards are intended to support young filmmakers. Past winners include Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis, John Lasseter and Trey Parker.
A complete list of the winners in each category:
Narrative:
• Gold Medal: “Kavi,” Gregg Helvey, University of Southern California.
• Silver Medal: “The Bronx Balletomane,” Jeremy Joffee, The City College of New York.
• Bronze Medal: “Bohemibot,” Brendan Bellomo, New York University.
Animation:• Gold Medal: “Pajama Gladiator,” Glenn Harmon, Brigham Young University.
• Silver Medal: “Sebastian’s Voodoo,” Joaquin Baldwin, University of California, Los Angeles.
• Bronze Medal: “Kites,” Jed Henry, Brigham Young University.
Documentary:
• Gold Medal: “The Last Mermaids,” Liz Chae, Columbia University.
• Silver Medal: “The Wait,” Cassandra Lizaire and Kelly Asmuth, Columbia University.
• Bronze Medal: “A Place to Land,” Lauren DeAngelis, American University, Washington, D.C.
Alternative:
• Gold Medal: “Alice’s Attic,” Robyn Yannoukos, University of California, Los Angeles.
• Silver Medal: “Matter, in a Quiescent State, Prepares Itself to Be Transformed,” Kwibum Chung, School of Visual Arts, New York.
Honorary Foreign Film:
• “Elkland,” Per Hanefjord, Dramatiska Institutet, Sweden.
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More