Grad Film Achievements, 2016-17

Alumnus Jonas Carpignano’s film A Ciambra was selected for the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes.

Alumnus Vladimir de Fontenay’s film Mobile Homes was selected for the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes.

The Rider was selected for the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. The film was written and directed by alumna Chloé Zhao, produced by alumna Mollye Asher, and the director of photography was alumnus Joshua James Richards.

Give Up The Ghost was selected for the Cinéfondation at Cannes. The short was written and directed by alumna Marian Mathias, produced by 3rd year student Maria Altamirano, and the director of photography was thesis student Jomo Fray.

Alumnus Atsuko Hirayanagi’s film Oh Lucy! was selected for the Critic’s Week at Cannes.

Thesis student Faraday Okoro won the AT&T Presents: Untold Stories Program which includes $1 million to make his thesis film, Nigerian Prince, which will then stream on AT&T video platforms after premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival next year.

Alumna Dee Rees' new film, Mudbound, premiered to glowing reviews at Sundance. It was picked up by Netflix.

Alumnus Michael Larnell's film Roxanne, Roxanne premiered at Sundance to great reviews and was bought by Neon. Alumnus Federico Iwas the director of photography.

Pop Aye, a film written and directed by alumna Kirsten Tan, won the VPRO Big Screen Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Kino Lorber bought the film at Sundance where Tan won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenplay. Alumnus Weijie Lai produced the film and alumna Chananun Chotrungroj was the Director of Photography.

Alumnus John Trengove's wrote and directed the film The Wound, which screened at Sundance and in New Directors/New Films.

Alumnus Barry Sonnenfeld's show Lemony Snicket's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' premiered on Netflix to rave reviews and was picked up for a second season.

Alumna Ingrid Jungermann was one of eleven filmmakers chosen as a 2017 Sundance FilmTwo Fellow.

Alumna Ingrid Jungermann was nominated for the Kiehl's Someone To Watch Independent Spirit Award.

Thesis student Jomo Fray was awarded the Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation Fellowship at the 2017 Independent Spirit Awards.

Alumnus Diogo Costa Amarante won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 67th Berlinale International Film Festival. He received the award for the short film he wrote and directed, Cidade Pequena.

Alumni Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers' show Search Party premiered to rave reviews and renewed for a second season at TBS.

Student A.V. Rockwell directed the short film The Gospel for Alicia Keyes; she also won the Through Her Lens: Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program, which includes $80,000 to finance her film Feathers. Additionally, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Award.

Alumnus Federico Cesca was the director of photography on Patti Cake$ which was selected for SXSW, Sundance and Cannes.

Thesis student Jomo Fray won the 2016 Kodak Vision award for Get Out Fast, directed by student Haley Anderson.

Vimeo’s Black History Month Channel featured alumnus Darius Clark Monroe’s short Dirt, and student A.V. Rockwell’s short Open City: BLB.

Fits and Starts premiered in the Narrative Feature Competition at SXSW. The film was written and directed by alumna Laura Terruso and the director of photographer was alumnus Benjamin Rutkowski.

Laps was selected for SXSW and Sundance. It was written and directed by thesis student Charlotte Wells, produced by thesis student Joy Jorgensen, edited by thesis student Blair McClendon, and alumnus Gregory Oke was the director of photography. It won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Editing and was also listed as one of IndieWire's 10 Must-See Shorts at Sundance.

Alumna Maria Maggenti wrote Before I Fall, which premiered at Sundance and went on to theatrical release.

Alumnus James Franco directed The Disaster Artist, which premiered as a Headliner at SXSW. Student Liu Yulin's thesis film Someone To Talk To was released in China and in the US. It was selected for the Busan International Film Festival main competition section, the Cairo International Film Festival “Panorama” section, Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, and it was the opening night film in the XI’AN Silk Road International Film Festival.

Alumna Laura Moss' film Fry Day was selected for the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, and was also selected to screen in the Narrative Shorts section of SXSW.

Spring, a short written and directed by 2nd year student Laurel Parmet, was selected for the Narrative Shorts section of SXSW.

Alumna Katrina Whalen's film Bird Dog was selected for the 2017 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

Alumna Dania Bdeir's short film In White was selected for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

Alumna Thelma Schoonmaker was a Career Achievement honoree at the American Cinema Editors’ 67th annual Eddie Awards.

Thesis student Germain Gulick won 3rd Prize in the Classical Category at the Porsche International Student Advertising Film Awards for his ad How New York Eats.

Thesis student Che Grayson gave an uplifting TED Talk entitled "The Superhero We Need" as a part of her TED Residency.

Student Elegance Bratton's second year film Walk For Me won the award for Best LGBT Film at the Columbus International Film Festival's LGBT Fest. The film also won the award for Best Student Film at the New Hampshire Film Festival.

Alumna Jess dela Merced was chosen as one of ten directors to take part in the Disney-ABC Directing Program.

Thesis student Bradley Bixler's film Neon Lights was selected for Slamdance 2017's Narrative Shorts Program. The short was produced by alumnus Rajat Sharma.

Student Haley Elizabeth Anderson's second year film Get Out Fast was selected for Slamdance 2017.

Quedate, a short film written and directed by thesis student Bradley Bixler and produced by alumnus Rajat Sharma, was bought by HBO and Cinemax.

Thesis student Lilian Mehrel's VR film Haunt played at in the 2017 Cleveland
International Film Festival. It also played in the Narrative Shorts section of SXSW.

Thesis student Myrsini Aristidou was selected for the 2017 Cannes Cinéfondation Residence.

Alumnus Lyle Vincent was the Director of Photography on two films at Sundance: Bushwick and Thoroughbred. Bushwick was also selected for Cannes.

Alumnus Joshua James Richards was the Director of Photography for the Sundance film, God's Own Country.

Tell Them We Are Rising premiered at Sundance and was produced by alumna Stacey L. Holman.

Professor Jenn Ruff edited the film A Woman, A Part, which premiered and ran at the IFC.

Professor Mick Casale was the recipient of the 2016-17 David Payne-Carter Excellence in Teaching Award, the highest award given to a teacher at the Tisch School.

Professor Julia Solomonoff's film Nobody's Watching was selected for the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Her feature film premiered and competed in the International Narrative Section. It was also picked up by FiGa Films at Berlinale.

Adjunct Professor Tim Sutton's feature film Dark Night had its theatrical premiere in New York City.

Everybody Knows... Elizabeth Murray, a documentary shot by Professor Tony Jannelli, screened at the Film Forum.

Alumnus Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo's feature film Los Fuertes, was greenlit by Cinestacion.

Thesis student Rezwan Shahriar Sumit's film The Salt In Our Waters was selected for the Film Bazaar's Co-Production Market. It was named one of the Finds from the Film Bazaar by Variety.

Four students and alumnae won Fusion Film Festival Awards: Giuliana Monteiro Pinheiro (Bento), Raven Johnson (Tween), Lamia Alami (The People Of…), Joyce Sherri (The Ages).

Alumni Eric Cohen and Michael Ratner's film One in a Billion was picked up by Netflix.

Thesis student Jamie Dack's film Penny and Dee was selected to compete in the Impact Docs Awards.

Alumnus Cenk Erturk won the Crossroads Award at the Crossroads Co-production Forum at 57th Thessaloniki International Film Festival for his film Noah Tree.

Alumna Chananun Chotrungroj won the award for Best Cinematography at the interfilm Festival in Berlin.

Alumnus Darius Clark Monroe's film Dirt screened at the AFI Fest and was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick.

Alumnus and adjunct professor Reinaldo Green won a Jury Award at the Los Cabos International Film Festival. He was a recipient of a Development Award from the Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund.

Student Elnura Osmonalieva's film Seide won the Grand Prize at the Asiana International Short Film Festival. Chananun Chotrungroj was the Director of Photography, Charlotte Rabate was the producer, and Myrsini Aristidou was the art director.

Alumnus Jim Jarmusch's new documentary Gimme Danger was released in theaters.

A pilot created by alumni Cathy Y. Yan, and Devin Landin won Best Drama pilot at the New York Television Festival.

Alumna Jean Pesce was selected as a finalist in the 2016 Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition.

Alumnus Eric Cohen won the NYU Tisch Alfred P. Sloan Foundation film development grant.

Thesis Student Brittany Fennell and Jomo Fray were named 2017 Project Involve Fellows through Film Independent.

Alumna Nisha Ganatra sold an untitled series to ABC.

Jim Jarmusch's Paterson screened at the New York Film Festival.

Ang Lee's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival before its theatrical release. The film was groundbreaking for cinema as it was filmed in 4K at 120 fps.

Alumnae Annie Howell and Lisa Robsinson's film Claire In Motion was picked up by the distributor Breaking Glass.

Alumna Desiree Akhavan's new show The Bisexual was picked up by Channel 4.

Students Germain Gulick and Elnura Osmonalieva were awarded the National Board of Review Student Grants for Gulick's film Trifles and Osmonalieva's film Seide.

Netflix announced that it is making a TV series based on Professor Spike Lee's 1986 movie She's Gotta Have It. Lee will be directing every episode and will executive produce.

Professor Carol Dysinger's film One Bullet Afghanistan was chosen to receive a grant from the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund.

Alumnus Martin Scorsese received the Premium Imperiale International Arts Award by the Japan Arts Association.