We are thrilled that two Edinburgh Napier graduates (one SAS and one BA Film) have won awards at the 9th Kustendorf Film and Music Festival which took place in Drvengrad on Mokra Gora, Serbia January 22-27. MA SPD graduate Basil Khalil won the Vilko Filac Award for Best Cinematography for his short film Ave Maria. The film also won the Silver Egg for “cinematic high standards, liberating humor, power of the script, and the way it transcends belief systems. Ave Maria is a 14 minute film which tells the story of the Nuns of the ‘Sisters of Mercy’ Convent, in the middle of the West Bank wilderness, who have their daily routine of silence and prayer disrupted when a family of Jewish settlers come knocking at their door for help after crashing into the convent’s wall.
Ave Maria was also recently nominated for an Oscar® after being shortlisted on The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ list of ten Live-Action Short Films to be considered for the Academy Awards® in 2016. In December, members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch selected five nominees from the group during screenings in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco. The winner will be announced on 28th February at the 88th Academy Awards® ceremony.
Also winning the first place Golden Egg at Kustendorf was Edinburgh Napier BA Film graduate (2011) David Borbas who won for his film Wartburg. Upon presenting the award the jury emphasized his, “fresh new ideas, humor and depth, stylish chic, and social research.”
Congratulations to both!