CSUMB’s Joey Blackburn Wins National Film Award

Joey Blackburn, a film major at Cal State University at Monterey Bay (CSUMB), took top honors in the short film division in this year’s 360/365 George Eastman House Film Festival in Rochester, New York, with his imaginative 3-minute film, “Pieces of War.”  The competition’s results were announced online July 7.

Blackburn, 21, a senior in the Tele-dramatic Arts and Technology (TAT) school, captured judges’ attention with an imaginatively produced, thought-provoking look at the costly game of war, whose players are little more than chess pieces. First prize was $1,000 and top billing in the short film category screening at the July 1 Festival. “Pieces of War” bested  entries from all over the country.

The 360/365 Film Festival, according to its Web site, is “an annual spring celebration that brings the finest in independent motion pictures, and film and new media artists to Rochester and Western New York audiences. The Festival features a wide range of films appealing to both sexes, all age ranges, and personal tastes.” Films from past Festivals have gone on to win Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and recognition at other festivals from Sundance to Berlin, sponsors say.