05/26(Sun) 19:44

Three Korean Americans Win at Student Academy Awards

Three Korean Americans were selected as winners in the 29th Annual Student Academy Awards that took place in Los Angeles, US. Sohn Su-bum (N.Y.U., Department of Film), Lee Hye-young (Texas Austin University), and Grace Lee (UCLA) were selected as the student academy winners among 300 competitors, said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on May 17. Sohn was awarded in the alternative section for his experimental film, "Island to Island" which portrays eight minutes of New Yorkers¡¯ life. Lee Hye-young and Grace Lee were respectively awarded in the narrative sections for "Sophie" and "Barrier Device."

The Student Academy Awards were created in 1972 by AMPAS, which hosts the annual Academy Awards, in order to encourage films made by students. Sohn, who was one of the two winners in the alternative section, was a likely gold medal nominee as he placed 1st place in the New York State preliminaries and was awarded for best experimental film in last year's Essence Film Festival. Sohn was also invited to the non-competitive category in the Canne Festivals for his short film, "A Fish in the Water is Not Thirsty."

(Lee Ja-yeon, achim@chosun.com)