This year the graduate competition reaches new heights in the history of the Festival. 50 graduate films will take part in the competition, including short films, online series, pilots for series, documentary films and MFA graduate films. The creative awakening in the MFA and acting tracks of this year's graduate films, as well as the burst of creativity in the BFA track, closely supported until the finish line – are the reason for this wonderful yield.
The viewers are in for an exciting experience of outstanding cinema, superb television, stirring animation, mind-blowing soundtracks and dazzling and credible acting by the actors and actresses of the school's making.
The graduate films are not only assessed on directing and the competition will award prizes for camera work, editing, production, soundtrack, music composition and more.
This year I completed six years as director of the Undergraduate Program at the School of Audio and Visual Arts. The school director and staff's intense workload and degree of responsibility have made the school very powerful and teeming with creativity.
I am so grateful and appreciative of Sami and Uri, the heads of the various tracks: Itai, Efrat, Ishai, Ricardo and Dani, and our dear lecturers.
Thank you to the administrative, coordinating and production staff headed by Gali and Yulia, Daniel, Rotem, Lior and Yahav, Rotem Morat and Dorin, Damian, Ilan, Yaron and Natan.
A huge thank you to Tamir and Lihi for the crazy festival they concocted.
This is also an opportunity to thank the students who made the work challenging, insightful, full of excitement and gratification.
I'll be right back.
Rani Blair
