CANNES, France, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The winners of the 2014 Cinefondation Prizes, a parallel section of the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, were announced here on Thursday.
The awards were announced during a ceremony held at the Bunuel Theatre, followed by the screening of the winning films chosen by the 2014 Cinefondation and Short Films Jury headed by Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.
The First Prize goes to "Skunk" directed by Annie Silverstein from the University of Texas at Austin, the United States. The Second Prize is awarded to "Oh Lucy!" by Atsuko Hirayanagi from NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Singapore.
While the Third Prize is shared by "Lievito Madre" directed by Fulvio Risuleo from Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy, and "The Bigger Picture" by Daisy Jacobs from National Film and Television School, Britain.
The Cinefondation Selection consisted of 16 student films, chosen out of 1,631 entries from 457 film schools around the world.
The awards carry a cash prize of 15,000 euros (20,550 U.S. dollars) for the First Prize, 11,250 euros for the Second and 7,500 euros for the Third.
The First Prize winner is also guaranteed that his or her first feature film will be presented at the Festival de Cannes, according to an official press release of the festival.
The Cinefondation, a selection for short and medium-length films produced by film school students from all over the world, was set up in 1998. (1 euro = 1.37 U.S. dollars)