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Kodak Names Student and Faculty Scholarship Winners Yael Braha of San Francisco State University and John Fiege of the University of Texas at Austin are winners of the 2003 Eastman Scholarship competition. The annual $5,000 prize will be equally divided and applied toward each recipient's tuition. Braha and Fiege will also be invited to participate in the Kodak Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes International Film Festival in May 2004. Nancy Schiesari, an associate professor of the College of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin, is the recipient of the Kodak Faculty Scholarship. The prize is $5,000 for the production of her film Behind Enemy Lines-The OSS and Italian Resistance in WWII. "Our goals are to give tangible support to the next generation of filmmakers and to assist the schools that are preparing them for the future," says John Mason, director of the Kodak Student Filmmaker Program at Eastman Kodak Company. "The student scholarship winners were chosen from over 65 submissions from 47 schools throughout the United States and Canada. The deep reservoir of talent revealed by this competition bodes well for the future." The jury consisted of professional filmmakers and educators. Judging is based on a sample reel submitted by the students. The sample reel is judged for how effectively the cinematography supports the story, recommendations from faculty and academic achievements. The Eastman and Faculty Scholarships are provided through an endowment fund created by Kodak and administered by the University Film and Video Foundation (UFVF), a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the study, practice, and preservation of motion picture and video production. The winners are also invited to participate in a weeklong mentorship program sponsored by the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG). The Guild arranges for the recipients to visit sets, meet cinematographers and other filmmakers in Hollywood. "Since we established this program, approximately 55 young people have received scholarships and participated in the mentorship program," says Mason. "Many former recipients have told us that the mentorship program has provided invaluable insights and contacts with influential filmmakers. It gives them a close-up look at filmmaking in the real world, and it enables them to network with some of the industry's most talented filmmakers." This is the second year that the Kodak Faculty Scholarship award has been presented to a faculty member who demonstrates a high level of production skills, creativity and teaching experience in production. The blue-ribbon jury consisted of filmmakers and industry professionals who judged more than 20 entries. "Schiesari's academic and professional experience is impressive," notes Mason. "Her worked has aired on ABC, PBS and the BBC television networks. In addition, Schiesari proposes to utilize students as part of the crew for her production, which will provide them with an important professional learning experience." Kodak inaugurated the Eastman Scholarship Program in 1991 for undergraduate and graduate students at universities offering degrees in film in the United States and Canada. The scholarships augment film grants and discount programs provided to qualified film schools. Kodak also sponsors guest lecturers in addition to providing educational programs and materials. For more information on the Kodak Student Filmmaker Program, visit the Kodak website www.kodak.com/go/student.

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