July 1, 2003
Directors Guild of America National Vice President Ed Sherin today announced the winners of the Ninth Annual DGA East Coast Student Filmmakers Awards.
The prestigious award brings prizes of $2,500 to the winner in each of the following categories: Best African-American Student Filmmaker, Best Asian-American Student Filmmaker, Best Latino Student Filmmaker, and Best Woman Student Filmmaker.
"The DGA East Coast Student Film Awards provide the Guild with the opportunity to honor, encourage and bring attention to emerging director talent," Sherin said in announcing the four individuals receiving the award. "These four individuals exemplify the best in student filmmaking, and their work demonstrates that talent, vision and ability are not limited by either race or gender," said Sherin. "We look forward to seeing more of their work in the future."
The 2003 winners, selected by a panel of 12 distinguished DGA member judges, are:
- Best African-American Student Filmmaker: RANDALL DOTTIN - A-Alike - Columbia University
- Best Asian-American Student Filmmaker: DENNIS LEE - Jesus Henry Christ - Columbia University
- Best Latino Student Filmmaker: PATRICIA RIGGEN - La Milpa - Columbia University
- Best Woman Student Filmmaker: ALISON COLE - Drowning - School of Visual Arts
In response to the selection of Columbia School of the Arts students for three of the four awards this year, the Dean of the Columbia School of the Arts, Bruce W. Ferguson stated, "At the Columbia School of the Arts we are very proud to have won six gold medals at the Student Academy Awards in the last seven years, and three of the four DGA East awards this year.
I am particularly proud of these students who have not only captured awards but proven that our approach to training filmmakers is one of the most successful in the United States."
The award-winning films will be shown at an invitation-only screening on Tuesday, October 14 at 6:30 at the Directors Guild Theater, 110 West 57TH Street, New York.