School of Visual Arts Announces 23rd Annual Dusty Film & Animation Festival Winners

School of Visual Arts (SVA) announced the winners of its 23rd Annual Dusty Film & Animation Festival in an awards ceremony last night held at New York City's SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street). The evening capped off a 3-day festival highlighting over 100 films and animations by students graduating from the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department, and last night's event included clips of the films and animations of the honorees and winners; and an awards ceremony with notable presenters from the film and animation industry.This year's Dusty presenters: John Turturro, Kathrine Narducci, Daniel Minahan, Chris Newman, Craig McKay, Barry Markowitz, Nina Rosenblum, James Manos Jr., Bill Plympton, Mike and Tim Rauch, aka, The Rauch Brothers, Roy Frumkes, Alex Levi as well as Valerie Smaldone, the MC for the event. For more info and event images, please visit dusty.sva.edu. The 2012 Dusty winners are:

FILM:

Outstanding Film: Jorge Arzac for Los Medios de Intercambio

Outstanding Short Film: Francesca Coppola for Flamingos

Outstanding Achievement in Directing: Jorge Arzac for Los Medios de Intercambio
Outstanding Documentary: Evelina Gokinayeva for Day of Knowledge
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Ian Hoban for Los Medios de Intercambio
Outstanding Achievement in Editing: Jorge Arzac for Los Medios de Intercambio and Evelina Gokinayeva for Day of Knowledge
Gotham Honorary Sound Grants: Steven Burgess,Nicholas Hallbilsback and Brittany Neff
New York Women in Film & Television Award: Claire Pereira de Souza
National Board of Review Human Spirit Award: Michael McSweeney

ANIMATION:

Outstanding Achievement in Traditional Animation: Kaukab Basheer for Dechen and Evan Borja for Otzi

Outstanding Achievement in Traditional Animation, Character Design: Jae Il Son for Vicious Circle

Outstanding Achievement in Traditional Animation, Production Design: Deena Beck for Chasing Unicorns

Outstanding Achievement in Stop Motion Animation: Colleen Newell for A Good Time

Outstanding Achievement in Stop Motion Animation, Character Design: Steven Cartoccio for Concrete Jungle

Outstanding Achievement in Stop Motion Animation, Production Design: Nicholas Newgent for Home Sweet Home

SCREENWRITING:

Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting: Francesca Coppola for Commedia All'Italiana (Comedy Italian Style)

"We are pleased to celebrate the success of our students by recognizing the fine work of these many filmmakers and animators, and giving members of the industry the chance to see the work of these talented and hard-working individuals," said Reeves Lehmann, chair of the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department at SVA. "We also want to extend our appreciation to the many great sponsors and supporters, some who have been with us a number of years, and others who joined more recently. And we'd like to acknowledge all the hard work put forward by our team and crew, especially festival producer Annie Flocco and co-producer Meredith Engstrom, for another year of excellence and our most successful festival to date.