The 21st annual Dusty Film and Animation Festival and Awards kicks-off Sunday, May 2 and continues through Friday, May 7 and highlights over 100 films by students graduating from the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). The program includes screenings of short films, videos and animations; and an awards ceremony and gala with notable presenters from the film industry. This year's Screenwriters Night is a proud collaboration with The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in which SVA graduating screenwriters will have selected scenes performed live by alumni from The Neighborhood Playhouse. All festival screenings, awards and screenwriters night events take place at the SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). Many events are FREE and open to the general public. More event info. available at www.sva.edu/dusty.
"We are pleased to kick-off our week-long DUSTY Film and Animation FestiVal May 2," said Reeves Lehmann, chair of the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department at SVA. "With the Tribeca Film Festival all around the city - sharing our amazing state-of-the-art SVA Theatre, (opening with Shrek Forever After, with screenwriting credit from SVA alumnus Darren Lemke [BFA 1992 Film and Video]), we celebrate a great year for our filmmakers and animators. Our festival offers movie-going audiences the chance to see remarkable ‘up and coming' new talent for free, prior to many of them heading off to film festivals all around the world. You'll be able to say, we saw them first at the DUSTYS!"
Screenwriters Night, Monday, May 3, 2010, is presented in collaboration with The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and The Real Theatre Company, and in association with Back Stage and Final Draft. Twelve five-minute scenes by SVA's screenwriting thesis students are set to be performed live on stage, featuring alumni from The Neighborhood Playhouse, the internationally-regarded acting conservatory. Screenwriters Night will be directed by award-winning filmmaker John Gallagher, a faculty member at both SVA and The Neighborhood Playhouse, and produced by film producer and SVA faculty member Annie Flocco.
Notable presenters for the DUSTYS MAY 6 Awards ceremony include Actress Patricia Clarkson (2-time Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominee) presenting the Outstanding Director Award; Animator John D. Dilworth (Producer, Director and Creator of the animated TV series, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and SVA alumnus [BFA 1985 Animation]) the Traditional Animation Awards; Media Personality Phil Donahue (9-time Emmy Award winner, The Phil Donahue Show) the Outstanding Documentary Award; Actor James Gandolfini (Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award-winner -The Sopranos) the Outstanding Film Award; Production Sound Mixer Chris Newman (3-time Oscar Winner, The Exorcist, Amadeus, The English Patient) the Sound Award; Editor Stephen Rotter (Enchanted, Yours, Mine and Ours, What Women Want) the Editing Award; Cinematographer Nancy Schreiber (November, Butter, Serious Moonlight, A Beautiful Life and Independent Spirit Award Nominee) the Cinematography Award; and Screenwriter James C. Strouse (The Winning Season, New York, I Love You, Grace is Gone) the Screenwriting Award. Additional presenters for the invite-only event are to be announced. Past DUSTYS presenters have included SVA alumni, industry notables and award-winners such as Danny Aiello, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Combs, Wes Craven, Griffin Dunne, Harvey Keitel, Kevin Kline, David Koepp, Mira Nair, Bill Plympton, John Patrick Shanley, Bryan Singer, and Treat Williams.
