ME HERO's 18th Annual International Film Festival Special Awards Ceremony. Lucy Schacher pictured middle far left.MY HEROFor Immediate Release
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MY HERO is pleased to announce that ‘Hello Anna!’ will receive the Eva Haller Women Transforming Media Award, as well as being the winner of the College Documentary category in the 18th Annual International Film Festival this year. Young filmmaker behind ‘Hello Anna!’, Lucy Schacher, will also receive this year’s Emerging Artist Award.
Lucy SchacherLucy Schacher with Anna Walker on set of 'Hello Anna!'‘Hello Anna!’ is a short documentary exploring the work of Australian children’s illustrator and author, Anna Walker. Born in Sydney, Australia, Walker achieved a Bachelor of Design with Honours from Swinburne University before working for The Age as a designer and illustrator. A year later, she started working as a freelancer and creating her own books, such as ‘Hello Jimmy!’, ‘Mr. HUFF’ and ‘Snap!’, coming out in November this year.[1]
The film was created and directed by second-year Film and Television student (also at Swinburne University), Lucy Schacher, as a documentary assignment for her course. In an interview with MY HERO, Schacher explained that after complications arose with the group’s original subject, she called on her family friend (Walker), who graciously agreed to be interviewed for the project. Walker not only agreed to the interview but also helped Schacher capture some stunning shots of her working in the studio for the B roll and ‘provided a load of resources that really do enrich the film.’
At the special awards ceremony on Saturday 19th November 2022, Schacher said on winning the award, “It’s such an honor to have the opportunity to share my film with this community. It’s so exciting to have a platform where I’m able to share some films and get some feedback, and it’s just great to see that [MY HERO] is so worldwide and gives so many opportunities to people. Thank you, everybody!”
Eva Haller congratulated Lucy personally on ‘an extraordinary interview’ with Anna Walker, and her ‘beautiful job’ of putting the film together. On Anna Walker’s illustrations and books, Haller added, “They are giving young people courage. They give inner strength. The acknowledge fear that […] that maybe we cannot express verbally when we are young […] but Anna addresses those fears for them. Her illustrations liberate us.”
When asked why she presents this award, Eva Haller spoke of the privilege she feels to be a part of MY HERO, and added, “We [at MY HERO] do everything that nobody else does, and we cherish each other and feel a tremendous responsibility for the twenty million people that visit the MY HERO website, the many million teachers who get their teaching material from MY HERO, the students and the artists, and those who get awards for making films you wouldn’t believe a teenager could make, or even anybody at any age! […] It is a privilege to be part of the jury, and to be able to express our gratitude for all that you are doing.”
You can view ‘Hello Anna!’ here: /hello-anna and read more about the making of the film here: /hello-anna-finalist-in-the-18th-annual-film-festival-2022-2
About Eva Haller and the Women Transforming Media Award:
MY HERO board member, Eva Haller, born May 9, 1930, is a Hungarian-American philanthropist and activist. She has mentored generations of activists, especially women, and has been honored with the inaugural Forbes Women Excellence in Mentoring Award and the Ban Ki Moon AI Mentorship Award by 8th UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. During World War II, Eva participated in the Hungarian resistance. She lost her brother during this time, which inspired her to help others. She continues to advise and mentor many humanitarian organizations, such as Asian Initiatives, Women for Women International, Free the Children and the Jane Goodall Institute.
At the 12th annual MY HERO International Film Festival, Eva Haller received the inaugural Women Transforming Media Award. Eva had the idea of establishing an award to inspire and support filmmakers, from elementary school to the professional level, who create outstanding work that features women changemakers or tackles women's issues. Hence The Eva Haller Women Transforming Media Award was established, with the support of The American Association of University Women. To find out more about this award, view here: https://vimeo.com/581658003
MY HERO are proud to be partnering with The American Association of University Women, who have been empowering and investing in women, both as individuals and as a community, since 1881. They have been doing through research and education, as well as educational funding, public policy, legal advocacy, leadership development, and global outreach. You can find out more about AAUW here: https://www.aauw.org/
To explore the previous winners of The Eva Haller Women Transforming Media Award: /wtm-award
[1] See www.annawalker.com.au/books to see Anna Walker’s full list of works.
Page created on 11/22/2022 2:25:12 PM
Last edited 11/23/2022 10:29:33 PM
