2007 Annual Video Contest

Updated on Wednesday 17 February 2010

Congratulations Shani Gur!

"To Papa"
$2500 Winner, InternationalStudent.com Travel Video Contest

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“A Trip to Papa” is a beautiful short film chronicling one Israeli woman’s desire to scour Russia for the father she left behind 16 years before. With geopolitics, geologists and family divisions standing in the way of her long-imagined reunion, Shani takes us from a breathless border crossing during the 1991 Soviet putsch to her current studies at the SHAR Animation Direction School in Moscow. Shani plans to return to her fraternal grandmother’s home town to start the search for her papa – we wish her the best of luck, and send her on her way with $2500! If you haven’t watched her film, please do, you don’t want to miss this visual feast.

 

Congratulations also to Second Prize winner Nabiha Khan as she prepares to travel from Karachi, Pakistan to Boston, Massachusetts, to study advertising at Boston University. She makes the case that it’s time to break out of her sheltered world and away from her family to pursue her studies and her love of art. With the “red” apple only four hours away, and the Gardner Museum right there in Boston, she’s ready to seize her opportunity to experience the great cities of the USA.

 

Third Prize goes to Brett Ralstad, who leaves us laughing as he boards his flight to Guilin, China. Watch as he tries to overcome cultural faux pas and master Chinese language and culture. A Film and Chinese Linguistics Major at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Brett’s Rocky-inspired underdog tale of dedication and ultimate mastery may not be perfectly politically correct but it is damn funny.

Finally, we ran out of prizes but wanted to recognize Sarah Millman for the simple but compelling “Love Letter to Columbia University.” A Canadian waitress with no talent in food service, Sarah can finally pursue her dream of an ultra-competitive MFA from Columbia in New York City. Sarah even arranged and sang the soundtrack to the film – we know why Columbia chose her!

As we told all the finalists, as tough as it was to choose the winners last year, this year turned out to be even more difficult! The creativity, effort and artistry evident in the entries has impressed us greatly. To each of the contestants, thank you for your video, for putting in the time and energy to make something special, and for sharing part of your lives with the greater community of international students around the world.

 

See all of the finalists here: 2007 International Student Video Contest Finalists!

 

And remember – next year we’ll be back, and we’ve got some new ideas and surprises for you, to make the video contest more memorable than ever!