AFI Conservatory Films Honored at the 39th Student Academy Awards
Congratulations to the AFI Conservatory thesis teams of NARCOCORRIDO and NANI, winners of the 39th Student Academy Awards in the Narrative film category! At last Saturday’s ceremony, The Bronze Medal went to NANI, directed by Justin Tipping, and the Silver Medal went to NARCOCORRIDO, directed by Ryan Prows.
The AFI Conservatory, named the #1 film school in the world by The Hollywood Reporter for the quality of its instructors and speakers, and its “glittering parade of alumni,” was the only school at this year’s Student Academy Awards with multiple medal winners.
NARCOCORRIDO, directed and written by Ryan Prows, centers on a gravely ill border cop’s reckless cartel heist and the desperate souls destroyed in her wake. The AFI Conservatory thesis team also includes producer L. Onye Anyanwu, cinematographer Benjamin Kitchens, editor Jarod Shannon, production designer Callie Andreadis and story editor Shaye Ogbonna.
NANI, directed and co-written by Justin Tipping, tells the story of a teenage graffiti artist and an elderly nursing home resident who form an unlikely bond through misadventures in graffiti. The AFI Conservatory thesis team also includes producer West McDowell, co-screenwriter Joshua Beirne-Golden, cinematographer Soren Hiorth, editor Linda Jildmalm and production designer Bonnie Bacevich.
