Kodak Announces Filmschool Competition Winners

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Daniel Calvo from Universidad de BuenosAires, Argentina, and Yen Ooi from Victorian College of the Arts (VCA),Australia, have taken top honors in the annual Kodak FilmschoolCompetition. The cinematography competition is open to film schoolstudents and recent graduates in the Asia-Pacific and Latin Americanregions.

Calvo photographed Ivan and Eva and Ooi was cinematographeron L'Envie (The Desire). The prize includes a trip to the 2003Cannes International Film Festival where their films will be screenedat the Kodak Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, and they will participate inseveral program activities hosted by Kodak. Honorable mentions weregiven to Francisco Obradors from the Universidad de Artes, Ciencias yComunicacion (UNIACC) in Santiago, Chile, for his cinematography onAgosto, and Herbert Navasca from the University of thePhilippines-Diliman for Timbang Lata (Tin Pail). The prizeincludes Kodak film stock for their next projects.

Entries by finalists representing numerous countries were judged byrenowned cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, ASC, who earned Oscarnominations for The Right Stuff, The Natural, Fly AwayHome and The Patriot. Deschanel is currently in Italyshooting The Passion for Mel Gibson who is directing. "I find itespecially exciting to learn from people who are just starting theircareers-to see what they are thinking about and who and what hasinfluenced them," says Deschanel. "I also feel an obligation to payback all of the people who taught and assisted me at the beginning ofmy career by helping the next generation of filmmakers."

Ivan and Eva is a "virtual" love story where the charactersinteract via a large screen. The audience experiences the movie from anobjective viewpoint through the visuals displayed on the screen, as theplot takes many twists and turns. "The visual images in the futuristicstory of Ivan and Eva tell the story very effectively," says Deschanel."I thought the clever use of point of view, camera angles, color andmovement contributed enormously to understanding this story."

L'Envie (The Desire) was shot entirely in black and white andcaptures the imaginations of two friends in a style reminiscent ofFrench films from the 1950s. "The photography in L'Envie is sobrilliantly in sync with the story," notes Deschanel. "The lighting,camera moves, and compositions show much maturity.... The choice ofblack and white is perfect because it makes the film feeltimeless."

"The Kodak Filmschool Competition is designed to provide a prominentshowcase for talented young filmmakers at an important juncture intheir careers," says Wendy Elms, marketing communications manager forKodak's Entertainment Imaging in the Greater Asia & Japan regions."We hope to inspire as well as recognize the pursuit of artisticexcellence. We also want to draw attention to the vital rolecinematographers play in the collaborative process of filmmaking."

The Kodak Student Filmmaker Program launched The Kodak FilmschoolCompetition in 2000. Participation is limited to current students andrecent graduates who completed their education within 12 months of theentry deadline. Films must be produced in either 16 mm or 35 mm formatwith a student crew. Judges in each country in the Asia-Pacific andLatin American regions selected national finalists. Carolyn Vaughan andAssociates, industry professional development and related educationalcultural event consultants, worked with Kodak on this project.

For more information, visit the Kodak website at http://www.kodak.com/go/filmschoolcompetition.