City college ‎ny department of media arts presents first chantal akerman student prize sponsored by the ostrovsky family fund

On May 30th, the first iteration of The Ostrovsky Family Fund Award in honor of Chantal Akerman was awarded to Maggie Kamal Gurgis and Ley Comus at Cityvisions, the graduation film festival for the MFA Program in Film at The City College of New York.

The Chantal Akerman Experimental Documentary Prize 

Established to encourage the pioneering spirit of Chantal Akerman (Belgium, 1950-2015), this new prize recognizes a film, which like many in her filmography, expresses an actual event or story through inventive or experimental means. An international fine artist whose oeuvre incorporates an avant garde approach to moving image media, will select the winning film from the eligible titles. This award, in the sum of $7,500, is underwritten by the Ostrovsky Family Fund. 

Nira Pereg, An internationally-celebrated media artist based in Tel Aviv, will be the artist-judge for this first edition of the OFF/Chantal Akerman award. Pereg’s signature works involve visuals from documented social & political events in order to re-think and alter their presence. Her own practice parallels the inventive documentary ethos that informs the criteria for this prize.