Free and Open to the Public - School of Visual Arts Launches 27th Dusty Film & Animation Festival

NEW YORK - April 22, 2016 - PRLog -- Reeves Lehmann, chair of the BFA Film and BFA Animation programs at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), announced today that the 27th Dusty Film & Animation Festival will be held at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, New York City, from Saturday, May 7, through Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The four-day event will showcase more than 100 films and animations from students graduating this spring. Annie Flocco, an award-winning producer/filmmaker and SVA faculty member, will produce and direct the festival.

The Dusty Film & Animation Festival has become a premier event to discover new film and animation talent. It was established with the mission of introducing films made by students in the BFA Film and BFA Animation programs to a wider audience, and named after SVA founder Silas "Dusty" H. Rhodes. The festival kicks off with three days of film and animation screenings that are open to the public and concludes with the Dusty Awards ceremony, which will be held this year on May 10.

The free public screening is for the SVA judges to determine who will receive the 15 awards they will be handing out at the May 10 ceremony - which include "Outstanding Film," "Outstanding Achievement in Directing," "Outstanding Documentary," "Outstanding Animated Film," and the "New York Women in Film & Television Award" - all given to students in recognition for outstanding thesis work.

SVA's BFA Film and BFA Animation departments offer immersive, hands-on education, with coursework in directing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, documentary - and sound, one of the few undergraduate programs to support this specialty. As is the tradition at SVA, program instructors are practicing professionals, many of whom have received top honors for their work. Students often work alongside them on productions and graduate with a level of preparation recognized in their professions. Filmmakers as diverse as Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game, Passengers); Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men); Chrystal Moselle (Wolfpack); Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child); and Ti West (House of the Devil) have all studied at SVA. Recent graduates have won numerous Emmys and awards at festivals such as Sundance, Venice, and SXSW.

The BFA Animation program at SVA is one of the most competitive in the country, with Disney, DreamWorks, Cartoon Network, and nearly every other major studio recruiting its graduates. Notable alumni include Tom Sito (Beauty and the Beast); Rebecca Sugar, one of the first women to independently create an animated series for network television (Steven Universe); and Chris Prynoski, whose feature animated film Nerdland, featuring Paul Rudd, Patton Oswalt, and Hannibal Buress, will be premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival this month.

Together, SVA's BFA Film and BFA Animation departments comprise a diverse, collaborative and innovative community dedicated to nurturing storytellers who can change the world. To learn more, visit http://filmandanimation.sva.edu.

School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for more than six decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprised of more than 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 35,000 alumni in 100 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world.

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