The crowning glory

The Kings School of Media hands out this year’s Mini Oscars.

By ARI MARRACHE
‘Aliyah,’ the musical (photo credit: ARI MARRACHE)
‘Aliyah,’ the musical
(photo credit: ARI MARRACHE)
On a rainy Thursday evening, the Kings School of Media held its second annual Mini Oscar Awards ceremony.
According to the organizers, the event is getting bigger and better. It was attended by some 100 people, Christians, Muslims and Jews.
The ceremony was held in the King of Kings community’s pavilion, an ideal venue for the party and screenings in the theater of the Clal Building in downtown Jerusalem.
It was preceded by a cocktail party with delectable hors d’oeuvres and light beverages provided by the Clal Building’s kosher dairy restaurant Cafe Forte.
The entrance to the pavilion was decked out with a red carpet, a photo booth and a camera on a track that streamed the event live. As it was Purim, almost everyone was wearing some type of costume, such as Peter Pan or Pippi Longstocking, apparently not having gotten the memo that the theme of the event was Phantom of the Opera.
Wayne Hilsden, one of the founders of the school, said the evangelical community was established in 1983. He added that the community has grown to include many projects, including the Kings School of Media.
Greg Williams, the director of the school, explained that “Our vision is to create a place where Christians from Israel and all over the world can come together and learn about film and media in a faith-based and professional environment. The Land of Israel is the spiritual homeland of Christians around the world from every culture. It’s the place where the greatest stories ever told took place! Our desire is that the students that come here will be empowered as filmmakers and inspired by this country and the culture surrounding them to create films that will change the world. Our students have already won awards at festivals in LA and Texas, and we’re seeking to expand our school and our film portfolio every year.”
The award ceremony was well executed, from the lighting to the sound. The show was hosted by two of the students in a humorous but professional manner.
All the films nominated were made by the school’s students, although they were allowed to collaborate with individuals outside the school.
Students were given two weeks to create a short film based on a verse from the Old or New Testament.
The two biggest winners of the night were Daniel Randelman and Matt Escobar. Randelman won Best Director, Best Editing and Best Visual FX for his film Where’s Ethan? He also won Best Screenplay, an award he shared with Escobar for Lonely Lonely and Rebekah Carey for The Unjust Judge.
Lonely Lonely also won awards for Best Actor and Best Music. The Best Music award was shared with Alex Morgan for The Unjust Judge. The latter also earned Rebekah Carey a Best Actress award.
Estelle Juvet won Best Picture and Best Cinematography for You Know Me. The Oscar for Best Wardrobe went to Asool Jamal for Broken. As for the award for Best Capturing the Essence of the Scripture Verse, that went to Tareq Bannoura for The Great King and Avril Kwena for Critical Eye.
The films are slated to participate in film festivals in Los Angeles and Texas and are expected to win prizes the way that some of the school’s films did last year.