THE ANNUAL PAUL ROBESON
COMPETITION AWARDS

2008 Competition

Created by the Department of Radio, Television and Film (RTVF) during the early 1990s, the Paul Robeson Awards recognizes outstanding audio, video, and film productions by RTVF students, as well as honoring a notable media professional from the broadcast or motion picture industries.

This awards competition and ceremony honors the creative excellence and socially-conscious legacy of celebrated African American actor, singer and activist, Paul Robeson (1898-1976). RTVF’s Paul Robeson Awards ceremony is held in the spring of each year, usually on or near Robeson’s April 9th birthday.

The student competition focuses on various aspects of production (i.e. cinematography, directing and sound), as well as screenwriting. Student winners are selected by a panel of professional judges, while the Department’s faculty identifies the media professional to be honored for his or her artistic achievements. In addition, the professional honoree conducts a master class or workshop for RTVF students and faculty.

Each year, the awards ceremony and master class, is attended by hundreds of students, faculty members, friends, community members and other invited guests.

During the 2002-2003 year, the Department reestablished it partnership (originally formed in the mid-1990s) with the American Film Institute (AFI), enabling the Department to hold its awards ceremony at AFI’s newly renovated, state-of-the-art Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Paul Robeson Awards - Past Professional Honorees

• Harry Belafonte, Actor, Singer, Producer, Activist
• Spike Lee, Director, Producer, Writer
• Haile Gerima, Director, Producer, Writer
• Orlando Bagwell, Documentary Producer, Director
• Euzhan Palcy, Director, Writer, Producer
• Gordon Parks, Sr. Director, Writer, Cinematographer
• Al Freeman, Jr., Actor, Producer
• Russell Williams, Sound Mixer (Academy Award Winner)
• Carl Franklin, Director, Writer
• Ernest Dickerson, Cinematographer, Director
• Charles Burnett, Director, Writer, Producer
• Gregory Allen Howard, Writer

2003 Paul Robeson Awards - Student Winners

• Qaddafi Sabre, Best Film (MFA)
• Juan Rivera, Film (MFA-Honorable Mention)
• Remi Williams & Nicole Riles-Thompson, Best Undergraduate Production
• Melinda Bateman & Merlin Williams, UG Prod (Honorable Mention)
• Bradford Young, Best Cinematography (MFA)
• Johnalynn Holland, Best Cinematography (Honorable Mention)
• Joshua Peltier, Best Editing (MFA)
• Raafi Muhammad, Best Editing (MFA Honorable Mention)
• Johnalynn Holland, Best Sound (MFA)
• Ambasijir Gebremichael, Sound (MFA-Honorable Mention)
• Joy Cheriel Brown, Best Feature Screenplay (Undergraduate)
• Shaye Ogbonna, Feature Screenplay (Honorable Mention)
• Raafi Muhammad, Best Short Screenplay (MFA)
• George N. Snowden, Short Screenplay (UG--Honorable Mention)

2004 Paul Robeson Awards - Student Winners

• Raafi Rivero, "U Street Blue", Best Film
• Shaye Ogbanna, “Poetry Girl”, Best Directing (Honorable Mention)
• Allison Caviness, "Raphael", Best Undergraduate Production
• Shaye Ogbanna, "Poetry Girl", Best Undergraduate Production (Honorable Mention)
• Bradford Young, "U Street Blue", Best Cinematography
• Michael Hastings-Black, Raafi Rivero, Darrell Westbrook, Reginald Mitchell, "U Street Blue", Best Producers
• Dawit Lakew Abebe, "The Word", Best Producer (Honorable Mention)
• Jeff Opiyo Okeyo, "InterStellar Highway", Best Editing
• Allison Caviness, “Raphael”, Best Editing (Honorable Mention)
• Shaye Ogbonna, “Poetry Girl”, Best Short Screenplay
• Allison Caviness, "Clay", Best Feature Screenplay
• Alleathea Carter, "A Chicken Piece", Best Radio Production (Honorable Mention)

Several past student Paul Robeson Award winners - including Garland McLaurin, Marla Moore, Christa Dickey, Raafi Muhammad, and Johnalynn Holland - have gone on to win other industry awards; such as the Princess Grace Award, the Eddie Murphy/Paramount Pictures Writing Fellowship, the DC Commission of the Arts Award and the ABC Entertainment Television’s New Talent Development Award.