2009 ANGELUS STUDENT FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FINALISTS IN LIVE ACTION, ANIMATION & DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES

27 Chosen From 556 Submissions
Student Filmmakers Compete for Nearly $50,000 in Cash and Prizes

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – The 2009 Angelus Student Film Festival has announced that 27 finalists have been selected in three categories – live action, animation and documentary – from 556 entries, representing 185 film schools in nearly 30 countries, including Czech Republic, Finland, Croatia, Singapore, El Salvador, Russia and Tahiti. Since its inception in 1996, more than 5,000 films have been submitted to the annual competition.
A jury comprised of film industry professionals from the fields of live action, documentary and animation will convene and judge the films within their specialization. The winning films will then be announced and screened at the Angelus Student Film Festival, to be held at the Directors Guild of America on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 5:30 p.m.
Nearly $50,000 in cash and prizes will be presented to the winning filmmakers, including the coveted $10,000 Patrick Peyton Award for Excellence in Filmmaking, one of the highest cash awards for student filmmakers in the industry.

Currently in its 14th year, the international festival honors and showcases future filmmakers as they explore and create works that respect the dignity of the human person. Family Theater Productions created the Angelus Student Film Festival in 1996 and continues to conduct the annual festival.

The Angelus Student Film Festival will honor its 2009 finalists at a luncheon on Aug. 21 at Family Theater Productions’ headquarters on Sunset Boulevard.

MovieMaker Magazine named Angelus one of the “25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” and included it in its previous “Best of” issue. The festival was highlighted for its large cash prizes for a low entry fee and also its “commitment to cultural diversity.”

Festival sponsors include Mole-Richardson, a film lighting company; Priddy Brothers, an indie film production company; California Pizza Kitchen; Video Symphony and The Peter Glenville Foundation, which not only provided underwriting for the 2006 – 2008 Angelus screening and awards ceremonies, but has expanded its commitment to fund other screening events of the Angelus winners. These have included screenings in Park City, Utah, at the Windrider Forum during the Sundance Film Festival; in the Czech Republic, co-sponsored with the Film and TV School of the Academy of the Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU); and in Rome as the part of the NetOne/Focolare-hosted event, and at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

“Each year we are gratified by the quality and vision of the films submitted, as well as by the scope and array of subjects,” said Monika Moreno, director of the Angelus Student Film
Festival, adding that although there are certain observable trends in a given year, the line-up of finalists consistently display the redemptive, hopeful and thought-provoking themes reflected in the Angelus mission statement.”   

Since 1947, Angelus founder Family Theater Productions has been creating award-winning radio, television and cinema programs which celebrate the dignity of the human person and the value of the family.  Hundreds of high-profile actors have appeared in Family Theater’s productions.

For more information, please visit www.angelus.org or Twitter Angelus @AngelusFilmFest or go to Facebook: Angelo Angelus S. Filmfest.

The following is a list of the 2009 Angelus Student Film Festival finalists:

2009 LIVE-ACTION FINALISTS (drama, comedy, narrative, other)

A SON’S WAR
Steven Edell – University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, and the Film and TV School of the Academy of the Performing Arts (FAMU), Prague, Czech Republic

DANZAK
Gabriela Yepes – University of Texas at Austin

DESERT WEDDING
Alexandra Fisher – University of California Los Angelus (UCLA) School of Theater, Film and Television

GAINING GROUND
Marc Brummund – Hamburg Media School – Filmwerkstatt

KAVI
Gregg Helvey –USC, School of Cinematic Arts

LITTLE CANYON
Olivia Silver, UCLA, School of Theater, Film and Television

MAGELLAN
Sabastian Davis – USC, School of Cinematic Arts

OLD GRACE
Nathan Chitayat – UCLA, School of Theater, Film and Television

ON THE ROAD TO TEL-AVIV
Khen Shalem – Florida State University, The College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts,
Tallahassee, Fla.

PARKING GARAGE
Justin Lazeraite – Florida State University, the College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts

PATROL
John Patton Ford – AFI, Los Angelus
Angelus Student Film Festival

PRINCESS MARGARET BLVD
Kazik Radwanski – Columbia College, Chicago

2009 DOCUMENTARY FINALISTS

BOB SEGER ROCKS
Timothy Tamisiea – Columbia College, Chicago

THE FIRST KID TO LEARN ENGLISH FROM MEXICO
Peter Jordan – Stanford University

GARDEN OF INNOCENCE
Carolina Kondo – Stanford University

IN CIRCLES
 Alaa Eldin El Dajani – Stanford University

LANDSCAPES
Kristoffer Kioerboe – The National Film School of Denmark

A MIRACLE IN STOCKTON
Anthony Weeks, Carolina Kondo – Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.

NEW AMERICAN SOLDIER
Emma Cott, Anna Belle Peevey – University of California, Berkeley

WAITING FOR A TRAIN, THE TOSHIO HIRANO STORY
Oscar Bucher – San Francisco State University

2009 ANIMATION FINALISTS

THE DRESSMAKER’S DAUGHTER
  Huni Melissa Bolliger – Victorian College of the Arts, Australia

DRIED UP
Isaiah Powers, Jeremy Casper, Stuart Bury – Kansas City Art Institute

ENTERING THE MIND THRU THE MOUTH
Jinsung Choi – Academy of Art University, San Francisco

HEARTS OF DARKNESS
Zac Streich – University of the Arts, Philadelphia

REACH
Luke Randall – Animation Mentor

THE SNOW PRINCESS
Audrey Holland – New York Film Academy, North Hollywood, Calif.

TOPI
Arjun Rihan – USC, School of Cinematic Arts