SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Worlds Apart, a short, animated film produced under the umbrella of the Project X class at Cogswell College (http://www.cogswell.edu) had a big night on Saturday, November 19, 2011, when it was recognized by both the Bristol Encounters International Film Festival in the UK and the Miami Short Film Festival.
Part science fiction and part cautionary fairytale, Worlds Apart explores the universal themes of stewardship of nature and the fate of humanity. The film asks the question, “Can humanity change its ways and save itself?” We invite you to watch the trailer (http://www.cogswell.edu/about/worlds-apart.php).
In England, the film faced its toughest jury yet. The Encounters Film Festival (http://www.encounters-festival.org.uk/encounters-2011-awards.html) visited 20 schools in Bristol to present a special screening of this year’s nominees for the Children’s Animation Jury Award to hundreds of children. After the screening students voted for the film they liked best. All Official Selections under 15 minutes long and deemed suitable for young audiences over 7 years of age were automatically entered into this competition.
Film Director and Cogswell faculty, Michael Zachary Huber, attended the award ceremony to accept this recognition.
“The award is regarded as one of the best awards to get at the festival,” said Huber, “because these young judges are so brutally honest and free of bias. At the Awards Ceremony where they also showed the film, people in the audience were wiping their teary eyes right after it screened.”
Encounters is the UK’s longest running competitive short film and animation festival. Of the more than 1,800 films submitted to the festival less than a tenth of those became Official Selections.
Five hours later the Miami Short Film Festival (http://www.miamishortfilmfestival.com/) honored 12 films during its Red Carpet Award Ceremony. Worlds Apart received the nod for Best Animation. Cogswell College faculty, David Perry, was on hand to receive the trophy and extend thanks for this award.
The Miami Short Film Festival award recipients are determined by a jury of 28 influential personalities from the world of film and art. This year’s Festival welcomed more than 80 films from 39 different countries. Each film was judged on originality, cinematography, storytelling, use of the medium, production value, editing and film as art.
Past award winners have achieved significant success, including Grisen, nominated for an Oscar in 2009; Frankie, which won the European Film Award for Best Short; Down In Number 5 which won a Student Academy Award in 2010 and most recently God of Love an Oscar-winning short.
Project X is a one-of-a-kind, project-based class at Cogswell College that is run like a professional animation production studio using teams of skilled artists and sound designers. Students work tirelessly for three semesters to produce a studio-quality, short film. During production they are supported by a massive collaborative effort from faculty, staff, visiting artists, industry professionals and alumni.
About Cogswell
Located in Silicon Valley, Cogswell offers bachelor degree programs in Digital Art and Animation (with majors in Game Development, Animation, Entertainment Design and 3D Modeling), Digital Audio Technology (with majors in Audio Production, Audio Engineering and Game Audio), Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Engineering. As one of the Bay Area’s premier colleges, its novel academic approach offers an integrated model that emulates the industry environment – a collaborative, project-based, learning experience that uses multidisciplinary teams to take projects from concept to delivery.