John Turturro and More Present SVA's 23rd Annual Dusty Film & Animation Awards Tonight, 5/9

The BFA Film, Video and Animation Department at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), home of the 23rd Annual Dusty Film & Animation Festival, previously announced that 5-time Billboard Award winner and celebrity interviewer Valerie Smaldone would be the Master of Ceremonies for the Dusty Film & Animation Festival Awards Ceremony today, May 9, according to Reeves Lehmann, chair of the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department, and independent producer, Annie Flocco, SVA faculty member and the producer of the event.

Along with the news of Valerie Smaldone, Lehmann and Flocco also announced the prominent industry personalities who will present the awards in the following categories:

Presenting Outstanding Film Award:

Emmy Award-winning actor and director John Turturro (The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, Transformers, O’Brother, Where Art Thou?)

Presenting Outstanding Achievement in Directing:

Director Daniel Minahan (True Blood, Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under)

Presenting Honorary Sound Awards:

Academy Award-winning production sound mixer Chris Newman (The French Connection, The Godfather, Amadeus, The Exorcist)

Presenting Outstanding Achievement in Editing:

Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated film editor Craig McKay (Reds, Silence of the Lambs, NBC mini-series Holocaust)

Presenting the Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography:

Cinematographer Barry Markowitz (Sling Blade, Crazy Heart, The Apostle, All the Pretty Horses)

Presenting the Outstanding Documentary Award:

Academy Award-nominated director and producer Nina Rosenblum (Liberators: Fight on Two Fronts in World War II, America and Lewis Hine, Through the Wire)

Presenting the Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting Award:

Emmy-winning writer and producer James Manos (Dexter, The Sopranos, The Shield)

Presenting the Outstanding Achievement in Traditional Animation Awards:

Emmy Award-winning executive producer and writer Fred Siebert (The Fairly Odd Parents, Fanboy and Chum Chum, Adventure Time, Escape from Cluster Prime)

Presenting the Outstanding Achievement in Stop-Motion Animation Awards:

Emmy-nominated directors Mike and Tim Rauch, aka, The Rauch Brothers (NPR’s StoryCorps)

Presenting the National Board of Review Scholarships:

Screenwriter and producer Roy Frumkes (The Substitute, The Substitute 2: School’s Out,

The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All, Street Trash)

Presenting the New York Women in Film and Television Award:

New York Women in Film & Television President, and Managing Partner, Element Financial Group, Alex Levi

Presenting the Human Spirit Award:

Actress Kathrine Narducci (A Bronx Tale, Two Family House, Chicago Overcoat; TV: Law & Order, Third Watch, The Sopranos, Workaholics, Hung)

The Dusty Film & Animation Festival was established and named after SVA Founder Silas “Dusty” H. Rhodes with the mission of introducing films made by BFA Film, Video and Animation Department students to a wider audience. This year, the 23rd Annual Dusty Film & Animation Festival, or “23 on 23,” will be held on Sunday, May 6 through Wednesday, May 9, 2012. All festival screenings and the awards ceremony are free to the general public and will take place at SVA’s state-of-the-art theater, located at 333 West 23rd Street, NYC. The four-day event will showcase more than 100 films and animations from students graduating this spring, as well as celebrate 23rd Street as a home for the college and the theater. This year’s headlining sponsors are: AbelCine; Act Zero Films; Adorama Rental Company; AJA Video Systems; Animation Magazine; Avid Technology, Inc.; Blue Sky Studios; Boxx Technologies: Bryan Singer; CAVA – SVA Computer Store; Eastman Kodak Company; Emmett/Furla Films; Feature Systems/Kits and Expendables; Foto Care; Future Media Concepts; Gotham Sound & Communications, Inc.; Machinima, Inc.; National Board of Review; New York Women in Film & Television; Nice Shoes; Rota6; Scheimpflug; and SCS Agency, Inc. One hundred percent of the sponsors’ donations will benefit thesis students in the form of grants and in-kind gifts.

SVA in New York City is widely regarded as one of the leading art schools in the country for its innovative curriculum, unparalleled faculty of more than 1100 creative professionals, and its participation in the larger arts community of New York City. BFA Film, Video and Animation Department alumni have received accolades from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Sundance Film Festival; International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France; American Film Institute; Women in Film; and the National Board of Review, among many renowned institutions and organizations.

SVA in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enabling students to develop a strong sense of identity and a clear direction for their artistic vision.

For more information on the 2012 Dusty Film & Animation Festival, visit www.sva.edu/dusty.