Columbia Filmmakers Sweep Tribeca

May 01, 2017

This month, several Columbia University’s School of the Arts affiliated filmmakers headed to Tribeca film festival, and many took home top prizes. More than ten School of the Arts alumni and faculty were represented in the awards.

Rachel Israel '13 won Best U.S. Narrative Feature and Best New Narrative Director for her film Keep The Change, which she produced with her collaborator and husband Kurt Enger '17. The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature carries a prize of $20,000, and the Best New Narrative Director award carries a prize of $10,000. Writer-director Israel also received a Special Jury Mention for the festival's Nora Ephron Prize. Film Faculty Ramin Bahrani served as a creative consultant on the film.

Chris Teague '06 won Best Cinematography for Love After Love which was written by Russ Harbaugh ‘11 and Eric Mendelsohn (Faculty). The jury commented on Teague's creation of "a visual style that beautifully mirrors the fraught and messy landscape of grief."

Guillermo Pfening won Best Actor in an International Feature Film for his performance in Nobody's Watching (Nadie Nos Mira), directed by alumna Julia Solomonoff '00 and co-written by Solomonoff and Christina Lazaridi '99.

Sarita Khurana '11 and Smirti Mundhra '09 took home the 2017 Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award, which carries a prize of $10,000, for their film A Suitable Girl. The jury praised the film's "heartfelt scenes and it's strong verite style," and said in their comments, "For the top prize we chose a film that helped us to rethink the dynamics of love through a moving portrayal of a cultural tradition."

In total, 34 School of the Arts-affiliated filmmakers contribued to nine films at Tribeca this year, including feature narratives, documentaries, and shorts. Read more about them here.