Kodak announces 2015 scholarship winners

Kodak has named five students as award winners in the 2015 Kodak Scholarship Program, a global competition held annually in collaboration with the University Film and Video Program (UFVF). This year, the Program received a record-breaking number of applications, with over 55 film schools from around the world nominating students for the Kodak Student Scholarship and Kodak Student Cinematography Scholarship. Winners received their prizes at the University of Film & Video Association (UFVA) Conference on August 8, at American University in Washington, DC.

“Kodak is fervently devoted to the next generation of filmmakers,” said Andrew Evenski, president and general manager of Kodak’s Entertainment & Commercial Films, “and partnering with the UFVF keeps us closely connected with the institutions teaching these up-and-coming artists. We continually see a tremendous interest from students in producing their projects on film. Many of them grew up shooting digitally, and are now enthusiastic about capturing their images with the magic of celluloid. Creating product grants and scholarships is one way Kodak can help ensure they achieve that opportunity.”

Award-winning cinematographer John Bailey ASC led the judging panel, which evaluated entries based on sample reels, faculty recommendations, and academic achievements.

The three 2015 Kodak Student Scholarship Program Award winners were: Gold Award – Max Bessmertnyi from New York University’s (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts Asia in Singapore for his film The Tricycle Thief; Silver Award – Paulina Skibinska from the National Film School in Lodz, Poland for Object; and Bronze Award – Matvey Fiks from School of Visual Arts in New York for Babushka.

The two 2015 Kodak Student Cinematography Scholarship Award winners were: first place – Nicolas Aguilar from Chapman University, California, for his cinematography on Run; and Award of Merit – Ziryab Ben Brahem from San Diego State University, California, with Wake.

“We are honoured to recognise the work of these talented filmmakers, and delighted to put film into their hands and see where they take us,” added Evenski. “With studio agreements in place and the recent launch of several Kodak programmes to support every budget, artists – from students to award-winning filmmakers – can confidently choose film to fulfill their vision.”