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ASC Announces 2022 Student Heritage Award Winners

Three student filmmakers were chosen for demonstrating exceptional cinematography skills in their submitted work. 

ASC Staff

Three student filmmakers were chosen for demonstrating exceptional cinematography skills in their submitted work.
At top, Student Heritage Awards Co-Chairs Crag Kief (left) and Armando Salas at the ASC Clubhouse.

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) announced winners in this year’s Student Heritage Awards on the evening of Saturday, March 5, during a virtual presentation. Three student filmmakers were chosen for demonstrating exceptional cinematography skills in their submitted work. 


Lawrence Sher, ASC presented the Judy Irola Student Heritage Award (Graduate Category) to Seth MacMillan of the American Film Institute for My Life Stopped at 15.


Seth MacMillan

The Isidore Mankofsky Heritage Award (Undergraduate Category) was presented by Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, ASC to Zhili “Evan” Feng of Chapman University for Where the Bird Goes.


Zhili “Evan” Feng

Shana Hagan, ASC presented the Haskell Wexler Documentary Award to Tristan Owen of Florida State University for The Castle Builder.


Tristan Owen

ASC President Stephen Lighthill, Student Awards Co-Chairs Crag Kief and Armando Salas, and Sony’s Manager of Digital Cinema Camera Sales and Business Development Daniel Perry (an ASC associate member) also took part in this special ceremony. As this year’s student awards sponsor, Sony bestowed gift packages to all of the winners. 


The ASC Student Heritage Awards are designed to encourage and support the next generation of cinematographers, and also celebrate the memory of an ASC member. 


This year's awards categories were named for ASC members (from left) Isidore Mankofsky, Judy Irola and Haskell Wexler.

Irola was a cinematographer, documentarian and educator (An Ambush of Ghosts, Niger ’66: A Peace Corps Diary). Mankofsky, a longtime chairperson of the ASC Student Awards, earned three Emmy nominations and shot feature films including The Jazz Singer and Somewhere in Time. The Documentary category is enduringly dedicated to Oscar-winner Wexler (Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Bound For Glory).


The ASC Student Heritage Award program was inaugurated in 1999. Many of the students previously recognized have gone on to have successful careers in filmmaking, including the Student Awards Committee Co-chairs Craig Kief and Armando Salas, alongside other ASC members Nelson Cragg, Masanobu Takayanagi, and Lisa Wiegand.


You’ll find all the 2022 ASC Student Award nominees here.





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