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Brigham Young University student filmmakers have again garnered numerous Emmy awards from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, this time for live-action shorts across three categories.
On Saturday, the Utah school reaped five honors at the 33rd College Television Awards, including "Mr. Bellpond" for best comedy and "My Hero" for best children's programs. "Bellpond" director A. Todd Smith earned best director, while director Mark Williams of "I Am Not My Body," runner-up for best documentary, won the Seymour Bricker Family Humanitarian Award.
"It's a huge honor to be a part of the BYU film program because of the success they've had in the past and the success they're continuing to have," said Smith, now pursuing a professional filmmaking career. "This just shows that BYU filmmakers have excellent stories to tell."
His movie, on which 40 students worked, is about a widowed composer who becomes a hermit for 23 years.
Williams' documentary profiles Marius, a 9-year-old boy who was burned in a 2007 house fire in Romania that also claimed the lives of his parents. Marius, who befriended two BYU students, moved to the United States and has undergone numerous surgeries to repair the burns covering three-fourths of his body.
"The fact that the [Academy] Foundation would see something in our film is completely humbling and a complete honor," Williams said. "It proves to me the amazing power of the story and how it resonates with people."