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Sometimes all you need to tell a story is a line. One simple line. This fun animated short film already won a Student Academy Award back in 2016, setting it off on a triumphant journey around the world playing at film festivals big and small for years. Once Upon a Line, written and directed and animated by the Polish filmmaker Alicja Jasina, is finally available to watch online and it's a must see 7-minute short. Just give it a quick watch. A man leads a monotonous, unfulfilling life until a chance meeting with the girl of his dreams turns his world upside-down. As things spiral out of control, the man discovers a new way to live in a world filled with color and vitality. Once Upon a Line is a story about hope and self-discovery. This reminds me of Pixar's Day & Night and other shorts where characters entangle. I love...

On Thursday night at the Theater at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles announced the winners of its 2017 Student Film Awards.

The winners were selected from a pool of over 400 submissions by films students, across four categories: animation, documentary, live action and a jury prize. This year, the pool of submissions expanded from national to global entries, with projects coming from Argentina, Austria and China.

The the first-ever animation award, sponsored by Laika, was presented in a tie to Alicja Jasina from the University of Southern California for Once Upon a...

Special jury prize awarded to Daphne Matziaraki for documentary 4.1 Miles.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the winners of the 2017 Student Film Awards.

In a gala ceremony in Los Angeles there was a tie in the first ever BAFTA Student Film Award for Animation presented by Laika between Alicja Jasina for Once Upon A Line (USC) and Kal Athannassov, John McDonald and Echo Wu for The Wishgranter (Ringling College of Art & Design).

The BAFTA Student Film Award for Documentary was awarded to Daphne Matziaraki for 4.1 Miles (USC), which also won the special jury prize.

The BAFTA Student Film Award for Live Action was awarded to Jimmy Keyrouz for Nocturne In Black (Columbia University).

This year, the BAFTA Student Film Awards underwent an international expansion, resulting in more than 400 submissions from 15 countries.

The BAFTA La Access For All campaign has benefited from the expansion and will drive funds towards the organisation’s scholarship...

Finalists were chosen from the previously announced 45 shortlisted films.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nine finalists for the 2017 BAFTA Student Film Awards.

This year, select film schools worldwide were invited to submit up to nine films for consideration for four top prizes: the BAFTA Student Film Award for Animation presented by Laika, the Student Film Award for Documentary, the Student Film Award for Live Action Film, and the Special Jury Prize, selected by the event’s panel members.

The finalists are (listed alphabetically by film title):

Animation

Adam directed by Evelyn Jane Ross, Rhode Island School of Design

Once Upon A Line directed by Alicja Jasina, USC

The Wishgranter directed by Kal Athannassov, John McDonald and Echo Wu, Ringling College

Documentary

4.1 Miles directed by Daphne Matziaraki, Uc Berkeley

The Female Voice directed by Julia dos Santos of Goldsmiths, University of London

Living Behind Numbers directed by Martin Read, University...

Participants to receive $10,000 in services, and mentorship.

The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) has announced the 10 projects selected for the third annual Screen Forward Labs running in New York from April 24-28.

The Ifp’s year-long fellowship for content creators with serialised projects provides participants with $10,000 worth of services and a comprehensive mentorship to bring their projects to fruition.

The Screen Forward Labs will culminate with all projects pitching to investors, distributors, tech companies and network executives at Ifp Film Week 2017.

The 2017 Screen Forward Episodic Lab fellows are: Aeris by creator, director and producer Lukas Huffman, co-producer Amy Zhang and executive producer Shin Campos; Anamnesis by co-creators, directors, writers, producers and editors Alex Calleros and Michael Tucker, producer Ryan McDuffie and executive producers Jeremy Norris and Patrick Norris; Angry Black Women from creators, writers and executive producers Dahéli Hall and HaJ and director Angie Browne; and Camp Abercorn by creator, director, writer and producer...

This year a record 69 animated short films vied for an Oscar nomination, with ten making the shortlist.

For six years, Disney or Pixar has been nominated in the category every year, and won twice (“Paperman” and “Feast”). This year both studios have films on the shortlist, “Inner Workings” (Disney) and “Piper” (Pixar). Other animated shorts included in the 10 are Robert Valley’s “Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” Franck Dion’s “The Head Vanishes” and Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj’s “Borrowed Time.”

Read More: 2017 Oscars: Record 70 Animated Shorts Vie for Shortlist of Ten

After December screenings in La, NY, London and San Francisco, Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members selected five nominees to be announced on Tuesday, January 24.

The 10 animated short films, along with their production companies and trailer, are below in alphabetical order:

Frontrunners

“Blind Vaysha,” Theodore Ushev, director (National Film Board of Canada)

“Borrowed Time,” Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj,...

This year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had a record 69 animated short films vying for a nomination. Now the 10 titles that will advance in the voting process for the 89th Academy Awards have been announced.

For six years, Disney or Pixar has been nominated in the category every year, and won twice (“Paperman” and “Feast”). This year both studios have films on the shortlist, “Inner Workings” (Disney) and “Piper” (Pixar). Other animated shorts included in the 10 are Robert Valley’s “Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” Franck Dion’s “The Head Vanishes” and Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj’s “Borrowed Time.”

Read More: 2017 Oscars: Record 70 Animated Shorts Vie for Shortlist of Ten

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select five nominees from among the 10 titles. Screening of each will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December.

The final five will be announced,...

Disney’s “Inner Workings” and Pixar’s “Piper” are among the 10 films that have moved to the second round of voting in the Oscars race for Best Animated Short, the Academy announced on Wednesday. Other shortlisted films include “Blind Vaysha” and “The Head Vanishes” from the National Film Board of Canada, which typically lands Oscar nominees. The Student Academy Award winner “Once Upon a Line,” from USC student Alicja Jasina, also received a nomination. Also Read: Top Student Academy Awards Go to AFI, USC, Berkeley, Columbia The films, with their production companies: “Blind Vaysha,” Theodore Ushev, director (National Film Board of Canada) “Borrowed Time,...

AnimationFix: Your regular round-up of the latest animation news, from HitFix reporter Emily Rome Kristen Bell is opening the door into musical animation again. The Frozen star will produce and perform original songs for new preschool toon Do, Re & Mi along with Jackie Tohn, a finalist in American Idol’s sixth season. The project comes from Gaumont Television, the production company behind Hannibal, Netflix’s Narcos, and animated Netflix series F Is for Family. “Music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Bell said in a statement released Monday. “I hope this show will inspire a new generation of kids and expose them to the benefits of music, which can be incredibly inspirational, encouraging and fun all at the same time.” So Do, Re & Mi will celebrate music with its prevalence of original songs and with its story: The series is about musical note Mi,...

The Academy has named the 17 students voted as winners of the 43rd Student Academy Awards, which this year received a record 1,749 entries. The submitted films came from 286 colleges and universities within the United States and 95 abroad; along with the usual suspects — AFI, USC, Nyu, Chapman — the winners include students from the likes of Tel Aviv University, DePaul University and Maharishi University of Management.

All winners are eligible for the Oscars in the Documentary Short Subject, Animated Short Film or Live Action Short Film category. Previous winners include Pete Docter, Cary Fukunaga, John Lasseter, Spike Lee, Trey Parker and Robert Zemeckis. Full list below.

Read More: How the Academy Pushed the Diversity Needle with 683 Member Invites

Alternative

“All These Voices,” David Henry Gerson, American Film Institute

“Cloud Kumo,” Yvonne Ng, City College of New York

“The Swan Girl,” Johnny Coffeen, Maharishi University of Management

Animation

“Die Flucht,” Carter Boyce, DePaul University

“Once upon a Line,...