DGA members and their guests attended ceremonies for the 17th Annual DGA Student Film Awards at the DGA Theater complex in Los Angeles on November 9, and the DGA Theater in New York on December 1. 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. 

LOS ANGELES

The Los Angeles ceremony began with a welcome message and introductions by DGA Past President Gene Reynolds and Gail Duncan of Awards sponsor Eastman Kodak. Then Director Millicent Shelton presented the awards to African-American Student Filmmaker Award Winner Gerard McMurray of USC for Battle Buddy and to Jury Award Recipient Channing Godfrey Peoples of USC for Red. Director Henry Chan presented the awards to Asian-American Student Filmmaker Award Winner Soham Mehta of the University of Texas at Austin for Fatakra and to Jury Award Recipient Roshan Murthy the University of Texas at Austin for Double Rainbow. Director Michael DeLorenzo presented the awards to Student Filmmaker Award Winner Richard Parkin of UCLA for Contra El Mar (Against the Sea) and to producer Shelley Patel who accepted the Jury Award for Recipient Carlos Marques-Marcet of UCLA for The Yellow Ribbon. Director Lesli Linka Glatter presented the awards to Women Student Filmmaker Award Winner Mitsuyo Miyazaki of USC for Tsuyako and to Jury Award Recipient Ali Scher of USC for The Maiden and the Princess. 

NEW YORK

DGA Fourth Vice President Gary Donatelli welcomed the participants to the ceremonies in New York. Director Ted Bogosian presented the awards to Asian-American Student Filmmaker Jury Award Recipient Johnny Ma of Columbia University for Play, Latino Student Filmmaker Jury Award Recipient Julio Vargas of Hampshire College for The Wall That Binds Us, and Woman Student Filmmaker Jury Award Recipient Annalisa Vozza of CCNY for Alex. Director Mary Harron presented the awards to African-American Student Filmmaker Award Winner Faren Humes of FSU for Our Rhineland, Latino Student Filmmaker Award Winner David Liz of FSU for Luz, and Woman Student Filmmaker Award Winner Bora Kim of Columbia University for The Recorder Exam. [Unable to attend the ceremony were African-American Student Filmmaker Jury Award Recipient Taofik Kolade of NYU for The Binding of Ishmael and Asian-American Student Filmmaker Award Winner Chun-Yi Hsieh of NYU for Bian Zi (Braid).] 

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 2010/2011 school year (September 2010 through August 2011), 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.