Wasserman Awards featuring a special underwrting grant by the Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation 2020
FIRST RUN 2020: WASSERMAN & KING AWARD WINNERS
Undergraduate King & Wasserman Recipients
3rd Prize $5000
Josh Whalen for ELLIOTLAND
2nd Prize $7500
Talia Smith for UMAMA
1st Prize $10,000
Kadi Tsang for RED BEAN SOUP
Graduate King & Wasserman Recipients
3rd Prize $5000
Aisha Ford for ROYAL
2nd Prize $7500
Max Walker-Silverman for CHUJ BOYS OF SUMMER
1st Prize $10,000
Pepi Ginsberg for MISS AMERICA
GRADUATE FINALISTS
Melanie Akoka YEARLINGS
Jason Begue KANGAROO COURT
Karishma Dube BITTU
Aisha Ford ROYAL
Pepi Ginsberg MISS AMERICA
Rachel Gordon BROKEN BIRD
Rhys Jones PALE SAINT
Youmin Kang AVA FROM MY CLASS
Gustavo Milan UNDER THE HEAVENS
Jorge Sistos Moreno LA OSCURIDAD
Zamarin Wahdat BAMBIRAK
Max Walker-Silverman CHUJ BOYS OF SUMMER
Yuan Yuan Zhang HEADING SOUTH
UNDERGRADUATE FINALISTS
Rohan Chatterjee MOST LIKELY TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE
Jairo Garcia THE TWO
Danou "Jenny" He MATRYOSHKA
Suzie Kang VANDALS
Lily Newton BAIT & TACKLE
Jun Sekiya KNIGHTMAN
Talia Smith UMAMA
Ehud Sopher DAY 9
Kadi Tsang RED BEAN SOUP
Austin Hall & Zach Visvikis MOLLY ROBBER
Josh Whalen ELLIOTLAND
GRADUATE AWARDS
King Award for Screenwriting $2500
Jorge Sistos Moreno for LA OSCURIDAD
Wasserman Award for Directing $2000
Gustavo Milan for UNDER THE HEAVENS
ACHIEVEMENT IN EXPERIMENTAL
Kevin Vu PERFECT AS CATS
CARL LERNER AWARD FOR SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
Aisha Ford ROYAL
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Alfonso Herrera Salcedo LA OSCURIDAD, CHUJ BOYS OF SUMMER, FRAYED ROOTS, MISS AMERICA (Directed by Jorge Sistos Moreno, Max Walker-Silverman, Nay Tabbara, Pepi Ginsberg)
EDITING
Harry Cepka BIRTHDAY GIRL, PILLARS,
MAGIC HOUR (Directed by Portia A. Buckley, Haley Anderson, Chelsea Grayson)
FACULTY COMMENDATION FOR PRODUCTION SOUND MIXING
Hasan Hadi
LEAD ACTOR
Joel Rooks HOLY JAIL (Directed by Maria Lavelle)
LEAD ACTRESS
Samantha Castillo UNDER THE HEAVENS (directed by Gustavo Milan)
Kadence King PILLARS (Directed by Haley Elizabeth Anderson)
Constance Shulman MISS AMERICA (Directed by Pepi Ginsberg)
NESTOR ALMENDROS AWARD
FEMALE CINEMATOGRAPHY
Melanie Akoka RESTLESS NIGHTS,
AVA FROM MY CLASS (Directed by Mandy Giampaolo, Youmin Kang)
ORIGINAL SCORE
Martin Crane MISS AMERICA (Directed by Pepi Ginsberg) Casey MO PILLARS (Directed by Haley Elizabeth Anderson) Arooj Aftab BITTU (Directed by Karishma Dube)
PRODUCING
Drake Burnette and Martha Linan LA OSCURIDAD (Directed by Jorge Sistos Moreno)
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Luca Yohan Silva Lamy and Manuel Mufno Vazquez MONTE BRAVO (Directed by Noelia Maria Mufno Gonzalez)
SCREENWRITING
Portia A. Buckley and Michael Lindley BIRTHDAY GIRL
SOUND DESIGN
Bobb Barito PILLARS (Directed by Haley Elizabeth Anderson)
Hasan Hadi PANCAKES (Directed by Kai Torres)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kailas Mahadevan BAM BIRAK (Directed by Zamarind Wahdat)
Elohim Nycalove TOGETHERLAND (Directed by Mate Boegi)
SUPPORTING SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rima Haddad SWIMSUIT (Directed by Hasan Hadi)
UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS
King Award for Screenwriting $2500
Jun Sekiya for KNIGHTMAN
Wasserman Award for Directing $2000
Danou "Jenny" He for MATRYOSHKA
ACHIEVEMENT IN ANIMATION
Lotty Vigue TINY ANTS
ACHIEVEMENT IN DOCUMENTARY
Xiuzhi (Charles) Dong AN ANSHAN STORY
ACHIEVEMENT IN EXPERIMENTAL
David Scherker FINCA FARM
CARL LERNER AWARD FOR SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
Kadi Tsang RED BEAN SOUP
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Julian Alvarez ELLIOTLAND (Directed by Josh Whalen) Diego E. Gonzalez COW-BOY (Directed by Bronson Aznavorian)
Briana Man ALMOST MAY (directed by Hongshi Zhong)
EDITING
Timmy Beckman THE TWO (Directed by Jairo Garcia) Rohan Chatterjee MOST LIKELY TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE Greyson Horst ELLIOTLAND (Directed by Josh Whalen)
FACULTY COMMENDATION FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY
Stephan Nachmann
FACULTY COMMENDATION FOR EDITING
Sylvan Gu
FACULTY COMMENDATION FOR PRODUCING
Nora Zubizarreta UMAMA
LEAD ACTOR
Mason Gillett ELLIOTLAND (Directed by Josh Whalen) Shaosu Li RED BEAN SOUP (Directed by Kadi Tsang) Matthew Needham KNIGHTMAN (Directed by Jun Sekiya)
LEAD ACTRESS
Madia Hill-Scott DAY 9 (Directed by Ehud Sopher) Chung MiuLing RED BEAN SOUP (Directed by Kadi Tsang) Chelsea Lopez MOLLY ROBBER (Directed by Austin Hall & Zach Visvikis)
NESTOR ALMENDROS (FEMALE CINEMATOGRAPHER)
Briana Man ALMOST MAY (Directed by Hongshi Zhong)
ORIGINAL SCORE
Lorenzo Conti ELLIOTLAND (Directed by Josh Whalen) Haibei Wang ISULA DI FIMMINI (Directed by Jessica Lynn Wright) Sebastian Zel KNIGHTMAN (Directed by Jun Sekiya)
PRODUCING
Michelle Huang SIGHT READING (Directed by Ian Tan) Sophia Huebschman DONNYBROOK (Directed by Samuel Stulin) Marley Medina MOLLY ROBBER (Directed by Zack Visvikis)
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Laurel Burgam ELLIOTLAND (Directed by Josh Whalen) Anna Kwok THE TWO (Directed by Jairo Garcia) Anna Siftar SALON (Directed by Margaretta Wilson)
SCREENWRITING
Jairo Garcia THE TWO Katusha Jin and Kadi Tsang RED BEAN SOUP Austin Hall and Zach Visvikis MOLLY ROBBER Jairo Garcia THE TWO
SOUND DESIGN
Jairo Garcia MATRYOSHKA (Directed by Danou "Jenny" He) Rae King ELLIOTLAND (Directed by Josh Whalen) Markus Zakaria
MOST LIKELY TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE (Directed by Rohan Chatterjee)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Aidan Cockrell ELLIOTLAND (Directed by Josh Whalen) Justin Giegerich COW-BOY (Directed by Bronson Aznavorian) Camron Jones MOLLY ROBBER (Directed by Zack Visvikis)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Abigail Achiri HELLO MY FRIEND (Directed by Charlotte Manning) Ao Lan Guo SIGHT READING (Directed by Ian Tan) Tiffany Trainer BAIT & TACKLE (Directed by Lily Newton)