PHILADELPHIA (May 6, 2009) — "Subconscious," a short film created by 2008 University of the Arts animation graduate and South Philadelphian Jason Chen, has been nominated for a Student Academy Award in the Alternative category of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 36th Annual Student Academy Awards.

Chen created the four-minute, 31-second pixilation animation short film with still photography using the long exposure light painting technique. The piece illustrates the birth of a butterfly, as a metaphor of a breakthrough in life.

“The hands and cocoon represents barriers, obstacle, frustration and disappointment,” said Chen. “We are often trapped by them. In fact, we deal with them almost everyday. If we can overlook these problems and situations, we are able to see the brighter side of life.”

This year’s student film award season has been particularly good to Chen and “Subconscious,” which won the Experimental category of this year’s Greater Philadelphia Student Film Festival in March; and Best Short – Experimental award in April at Philadelphia CineFest’s Festival of Independents, a showcase of local filmmakers.

Born and raised in southeast China in the city of Guangzhou in the Guangdong Province, Chen, who immigrated to American with his family in 1998 and speaks, reads and writes Cantonese and Mandarin, was naturalized in 2007. He graduated from Philadelphia’s St. John Neumann High School (now Neumann-Goretti High School).

Thirty-six students from 20 colleges and universities were selected as finalists in this year’s Student Academy Awards competition. Academy members will view these films at special screenings and vote to select the winners. Gold, silver and bronze medal awards, along with accompanying cash prizes of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000, respectively, may be presented in each of four categories. Winning filmmakers will participate in a week of industry-related and social activities, culminating in the awards ceremony at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday, June 13.

To reach the Student Academy Award nomination stage, students competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region is permitted to send to the Academy up to three finalist films in each of the four categories. The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have received 37 Oscar nominations and have won or shared six awards. Two former Student Academy Award winners were nominees at the 81st Academy Awards held earlier this year: Pete Docter received his fourth nomination for the original screenplay for “WALL-E” and Reto Caffi received his first nomination for the live action short film “Auf der Strecke (On the Line).”

The University of the Arts is the nation’s first and only university dedicated to the visual, performing and communication arts. Its 2,300 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on its campus in the heart of Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. The institution’s roots as a leader in educating creative individuals date back to 1868.

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