Recipient
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STEFAN NACHMANN
Stefan’s passion for filmmaking first emerged when his parents gave him a camcorder for his 10th birthday. Pursuing his dream, he left his hometown of Duisburg, Germany and moved to New York City to attend the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. During his time at NYU, Stefan worked on numerous US and international narrative productions, as well as music videos, documentaries, and commercials.
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Stefan draws inspiration from the world around him everyday, and his experiences within the film industry continue to reinforce his urge to tell stories about the unreliable elegance that is life. Aziz (Student Academy Award Nomination) tells the journey of three childhood best friends who go to a military base to identify a friend’s body during the 1984 Iran-Iraq War. In Grid Girls, Stefan uses breathtaking slow-motion imagery to create a documentary profile of emerging 16-year-old driver, Alexus Motus, as she shares her thoughts on what draws her into the world of motorsports and the perceptions and realities she faces as a woman in the field.
He is inspired by the knowledge that a good movie can truly bring an audience together and create a universal experience. He looks forward to continuing to use his camera lens to lend a voice to the stories that need to be told and expose life as it really is.
Finalists
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Elizabeth Vrkljan
Elizabeth Vrkljan is a Brooklyn based Director of Photography known for her emotionally driven, dreamlike imagery. Starting with photography at a young age, she began pursuing cinematography in her teens, working both in the academic realm and with multiple mentors outside of school. Through this, she developed a greater understanding of the scope of what it means to be a cinematographer. A graduate of NYU, she shot numerous short films across genres earning her the 2020 Bahoric Meisel Award for Women Cinematographers.
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Her work focuses primarily on narrative, fashion, and music videos having been featured at various festivals and platforms including Apple Music.