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ASIFA-Hollywood and the Animation Educators Forum (AEF) recently selected eight (8) animation students to receive a total of $30,000 in scholarships for academic year 2016-17. According to the AEF judges, applications came in from all around the world including Syria, Australia, Canada, Singapore and the USA, and each had their own passionate stories to tell. The AEF scholarships are merit-based and designed to support college students in continuing their education in the field of animation. Each individual student’s proposals, letters of recommendation from faculty, and demo reel/still art were taken into consideration as part of the selection process.

“We have had such great sponsorship from ASIFA-Hollywood and are able to give a very talented group of students from all over the world support,” said Aubry Mintz for AEF. “As educators, the members of AEF are reaching out to encourage young artists world wide,” said Dori Littell-Herrick for AEF. “The winning projects included deeply personal stories and animated documentaries.” 

The 2016-17 AEF Scholarship recipients are:

• Rebecca Redhead, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia – $5,000

• Anna Maria Mouradian, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada – $5,000

• Helen See, Nanyang Tech University, Singapore – $2,500

• Devon Manney, USC, Los Angeles, CA – $5,000

• Janice Chun, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI – $2,500

• Maaike Scherff, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA – $2,500

• Oslavi Linares, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada – $2,500

• Ana Perez Lopez, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA – $5,000

All scholarship awardees will also receive a one-year Associate Membership to ASIFA-Hollywood.

This year’s AEF Scholarship Committee members were Mark Farquhar, Patrick Despres, Lee Crowe, Tom Sito, Jo Meuris, Kati Anguelov, Chuck Grieb, Harvey Deneroff, Adriana Jaroszewicz, Karen Sullivan, Ellen Besen, Dori Littell-Herrick and Aubry Mintz.

ASIFA-Hollywood is the world’s first and foremost professional organization dedicated to promoting the Art of Animation and celebrating the people who create it. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest chapter of the international organization ASIFA, supports a range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, Animation Aid Foundation, Animation Educators Forum, animated film preservation, special events, scholarships and screenings.