By Benjamin Pola

Since its inception in 1929, the USC School of Cinematic Arts has fostered a rich legacy of alumni achievement across the entertainment industry and various award ceremonies. 
This year, four alumni made School history by securing three out of the five nominations in the Best Documentary Short category at the 96th Academy Awards.

ISLAND IN BETWEEN
S. Leo Chiang ’00

The rural Taiwanese outer islands of Kinmen sit merely 2 miles off the coast of China. Kinmen attracts tourists for its remains from the 1949 Chinese Civil War. It also marks the frontline for Taiwan in its escalating tension with China.

S. Leo Chiang weaves lyrical vignettes of tourist visits and local life with his own narrative as someone negotiating ambivalent personal bonds to Taiwan, China, and the U.S. ISLAND IN BETWEEN explores the uneasy peace in these islands and contemplates Taiwan’s uncertain future.

THE LAST REPAIR SHOP
Ben Proudfoot ‘12 

Once commonplace in the United States, today Los Angeles is by far the largest and one of the last American cities to provide free and freely repaired musical instruments to its public schoolchildren, a continuous service since 1959. From Academy Award®-nominated directing duo Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers, "The Last Repair Shop" grants an all-access pass to the nondescript downtown warehouse where a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople keep over 80,000 student instruments in good repair.

N?I NAI & WÀI PÓ
Sean Wang ’16 and Sam Davis ’16

First-generation Taiwanese American Director Sean Wang turns a camera on his grandmas (his “N?i Nai” and “Wài Pó”), who are inseparable best friends and roommates in their 80s and 90s. The film captures their daily lives in hilarious and unexpected ways as they dance, stretch, and fart their sorrows away—eventually giving way to a poignant meditation on lives marked by both joy and pain. Together, grandmas and grandson remind us that getting older doesn’t have to mean fading away.

Congratulations to all our SCA and USC alumni nominated for this year's Oscars. We're rooting for our Trojan family!

USC Academy Award Nominations:

BEST PICTURE
Maestro 
Steven Spielberg (Producer)
USC School of Cinematic Arts Board of Councilors 

Oppenheimer 
Charles Roven (Producer)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Barbie
America Ferrera ’13 (Dornsife)

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Nimona 
Julie Zackary ’04 (Producer)

MUSIC: ORIGINAL SCORE
Oppenheimer 
Ludwig Göransson ’08 (Thornton) (Composer)

SOUND
The Creator
Erik Aadahl ’98 (Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer)

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Last Repair Shop
Ben Proudfoot ’12 (Director)

Nái Nai & Wài Pó
Sean Wang ’16 (Director)
Sam Davis ’16 (Producer)

Island In Between 
S. Leo Chiang ’00 (Director/Writer/Producer/Director of Photography/Editor)