2003 Angelus Awards Student Film Festival Announces Winners

October 21, 2003

Screenings & Awards Ceremony Oct. 25 at DGA; $23,300 in Cash Prizes

HOLLYWOOD, CA – The Angelus Awards Student Film Festival announced the winners to its 8th annual student film competition, which features a $10,000 grand prize and over $13,000 in cash and industry prizes. Winning films will screen at the awards ceremony to be held October 25 at the Directors Guild of America, Hollywood, 5:30 p.m.

A special tribute and award, the SPIRIT OF ANGELUS, will be bestowed posthumously on Academy-Award winner Gregory Peck, and presented to his wife, Mrs. Vèronique Peck.

The Angelus Awards honor and showcase films that reflect values such as triumph of the human spirit, dignity, equality, perseverance, tolerance, spirituality and hope.

Twenty-one college-level film students were selected as finalists from a record 472 entries worldwide.

The cash prizes include the prestigious $10,000 Patrick Peyton Excellence in Filmmaking, which is one of the highest cash prizes for student filmmaking. Begun in 1996, the Angelus Awards has been conducted by Family Theater Productions in Hollywood for the past eight years.

This year’s Angelus Award winners are:

•         Patrick Peyton Excellence in Filmmaking Award ($10,000): American Made, Marcus Cano and Sharat Raju (American Film Institute)
•         Priddy Bros. Productions Triumph Award ($5,000): Sophie, Helen Lee (University of Texas at Austin)
•         Fujifilm Audience Impact Award ($2,800): Little Red Plane, Wira Winata and Joey Jones (Art Center College of Design)
•         Mole-Richardson Production Design Award ($2,500): Shui Hen, Maximilian Jezo-Parovsky (American Film Institute)
•         Outstanding Non-fiction Award, sponsored by the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals ($1,500): Sid Vision – John Jack, Donna Pazdera and Todd Southern (University of Florida)
•         Outstanding Animation Award ($1,500): Snout, Tilmann Vogt (University of Applied Sciences, Germany)

Honorable Mention winners, (2:30 p.m. screening, Directors Guild), are:

•         Documentary: A Thousand Words, by Melba L. Williams (Stanford University)
•         Audience Impact: Maree, by James Pellerito (Columbia University)
•         Production Design: The Anniversary, by Ham Tran (UCLA)
•         Special Recognition: Still Waters, by Cinque Northern (New York University)

“The winning films depict core values, including spirituality, hope, and equality – which embody everything that the Angelus Awards stands for,” said Monika Moreno, director of the Angelus Awards.  “With an increasing number of film festivals, it’s refreshing and rewarding to produce a unique event that celebrates talented, enlightening films with values and lend our support for the young filmmakers who created them.”

At this year’s Angelus Awards, Mrs. Veronique Peck will also address the young filmmakers as well as accept the Spirit of Angelus Award on behalf of her late husband.  The Spirit of Angelus Award, presented for the first time in 2002 to Ricardo Montalbán, is bestowed on a worthy individual from the entertainment industry whose body of work must be of surpassing quality and complement a faith lived with integrity and generosity.

The Angelus Awards announced Oct. 21 that legendary actress Maureen O’Hara is the Honorary Chair of this year’s festival leading a distinguished list of celebrities who lend their support as honorary committee members: Nicole Kidman, John Travolta, Harrison Ford, Angelica Huston, Garry Marshall, LeVar Burton, Dame Judi Dench, Patricia Heaton, Hector Elizondo, Joan Van Ark, Frank Oz, Kevin Dobson and Lupe Ontiveros.

The Angelus Awards continues to garner the support of the Hollywood film industry with such notable 2003 sponsors as:  Fujifilm, Final Draft, Mole-Richardson Co., Loews Cineplex, Michael Wiese Productions, Priddy Bros. Productions and FotoKem.

For 56 years, Family Theater Productions, a Catholic media outlet, has been creating award-winning radio, television and cinema programs, which celebrate individual dignity and the value of the family. Family Theater Productions gave 1950s star actor James Dean and producer/director George Lucas their first on-screen credits. The list of other actors who have worked on Family Theater productions is a virtual “Who’s Who of Hollywood.”

Tickets to the 2003 Angelus Awards 5:30 p.m. awards ceremony and screening and the Honorable Mention screenings at 2:30 p.m. are free of charge and available by calling 323-874-6633 or visiting the Angelus Awards website: www.angelus.org.