ROCHESTER, NY — Four students, from different regions of the world, have been named first-place winners in the 2010 Kodak Film School Competition. The contest (www.kodak.com/go/filmschoolcompetition) recognizes the creativity and talent of student cinematographers in the collaborative process of visual storytelling.
This year's winners are: Joshua Nitschke from California State University-Northridge for the United States/Canada region; Massimo Bettarelli from CUEC-UNAMin Mexico, for the Latin American region; Mihai Marius Apopei from the National University of Theatre and Cinematography "I.L.Caragiale" in Romania for Europe-Africa-Middle East region; and Yuki Ukibe from the Japan Academy of Moving Images for the Asia-Pacific region.
The winners receive a trip to the 2011 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in France, where they will have the opportunity to screen their films in the Kodak Short Film Showcase. The filmmakers can also participate in networking sessions and other festival activities.
For the second consecutive year, John Bailey, ASC (As Good as it Gets, Accidental Tourist) judged the entries. The winners tackled a diverse range of subject matter. Bettarelli's Los Trashumantes tells the tale of three Mexican filmmakers obsessed with filming Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution. In Apopei's Close Encounters of the Third Reich, a Romanian medic in search of his unit befriends a wounded German officer in the midst of war-torn Europe. Nitschke's Misdirection follows a famous magician's grandson as he discovers his grandfather's greatest, yet dangerous, secret. In Ukibe's Wish You Were Here, an active, young girl living in very quiet village befriends a recluse and develops a father-daughter-like relationship.