AFI Tops DGA’s 25th Annual Student Film Awards

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AFI student filmmakers led the way with four wins at the DGA’s 25th annual Student Film Awards honoring African-American, Latino, Asian-American and female directors. USC students, who took home the most honors over the last two years, received three awards this year – tied with students from New York University. Columbia University, with two wins, was the only other school with multiple winners.

“We are honored to recognize the next generation of filmmaking talent as we celebrate the 25th Annual DGA Student Film Awards,” said DGA president Thomas Schlamme. “These awards are part of our ongoing efforts to encourage inclusion in the filmmaking community, and we’re proud that a number of our past winners have found success in film and television. We congratulate all of our awardees, and look forward to seeing more of their work in the future.”

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The 2019 winners, selected by blue ribbon DGA member panels, are:

BEST AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENT FILMMAKERS:

West Region
Award Winner: Darius D. Dawson of AFI – “A Rodeo Film”
Jury Award: Khaled Ridgeway of USC – “Night Diner”

East Region
Award Winner: Adewale Olukayode of Columbia University – “Home”
Jury Award: Justin Fairweather of Towson State University – “Dog Person”

BEST ASIAN AMERICAN STUDENT FILMMAKERS:

West Region
Award Winner: Jing Ai Ng of AFI – “Fleck”
Jury Award: Yubo Song of California College of the Arts, San Francisco – “A Winter Without Snow”

East Region
Award Winner: Yuan Yuan Zhang of New York University – “Heading South”
Jury Award: Kevin Wang of New York University – “Secret Lives of Asians at Night”

BEST LATINO STUDENT FILMMAKERS

West Region
Award Winner: João Felipe Dall’Stella of AFI – “Día De Las Carpas”
Jury Award: Samir Oliveros of AFI – “Cactus Blossom”

East Region
Award Winner: Gustavo Milan of New York University – “Under the Heavens”
Jury Award: Natalie Luque of Columbia University – “Soy Sola”

BEST WOMEN STUDENT FILMMAKERS:

West Region
Award Winner: Sabina Vajrača of USC – “Variables”
Jury Award: Caroline Friend of USC – “Under Darkness”

East Region
Award Winner: Kyra Gardner of Florida State University – “Phoebe”
Jury Award: Addison Dlott of Ithaca College – “Queen of the Dinosaurs: A Wrestler’s Story”

Past winners who have gone on to successful directing careers Jon M. Chu, Ryan Coogler, Nicole Kassell, Patricia Riggen, Steven Capel Jr., and Sylvain White.

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