Bio:

Sheila M. Sofian's independent films are a hybrid of documentary and animation. She recently received a grant from the National Video Resources Program for Media Artists, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship, for production on her upcoming film, "Truth Has Fallen". Sofian has previously received grants from the Pew Fellowships in the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Women in Film Foundation, a Roy W. Dean Film Grant, and a residency at the MacDowell Colony. Her films have been televised on WHYY's "Independent Images" in Philadelphia, WYBE's "Through the Lens" in Philadelphia, and WTTW's "Image Union" in Chicago.

Festival awards include: Grand Jury Prize, New Orleans Film Festival; Best Animated Film Award, Humboldt International Film Festival; First Prize, the World Animation Celebration; First prize in Animation, Central Florida Film & Video Festival; a Student Academy Award and Best in Show at the New England Film Festival, among others. Sofian's films are distributed educationally and in home video markets.

Her freelance work includes animation for the feature film "Closetland", and animated content for the internet. Sofian was head of the Animation Program at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia from 1992-1997. She chaired the Animation Program at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita from 2001-2006. Sofian holds a BFA in Film/Video from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts.

Links:

http://www.canyons.edu/offices/pio/nr042106sofian.html
http://www.mediaartists.org/content.php?sec=update&sub=press4
http://www.canyons.edu/offices/pio/nr032706indie.html
http://www.coc.cc.ca.us/offices/pio/nr-sofian-091302.html
http://www.coc.cc.ca.us/offices/pio/nr-sofian.html
http://www.pewarts.org/97/Sofian/index.html