CAAD student honored at the SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival

An American University of Sharjah (AUS) graduate from the College of Architecture, Art and Design won Best Portrayal of Entertainment Technology in a Film - Documentary Format at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)-Hollywood Professional Alliance (HPA) International Student Film Festival.

Aya Al Gargawy, a graduate from Multimedia Design at AUS, won the SMPTE-HPA student award for her documentary Girl and the Sea. The film was done as a class project in Experimental Film and Video class in Fall 2014 and mentored by Zinka Bejtic; Associate Professor of Art and Design at AUS.

The festival is open to full-time students who should ideally major in an area that emphasizes engineering, science, advanced technologies or fundamental theories associated with motion imaging, sound, metadata and workflows consistent with SMPTE's field of interest.

Submissions were received from all over the world, and the 12 official selections shown at the festival, which was held in Hollywood, represented Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, the UK, the UAE and the US.

SMPTE is a worldwide leader in motion-imaging standards and education for the communications, media, entertainment and technology industries. HPA is an organization that serves the professional community by providing expertise, support, tools and the infrastructure for the creation and finishing of motion pictures, television, commercials and an array of content for a growing number of platforms. The two organizations jointly host the SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival.