SVA alumnus Daniel Sierra (MFA 2013 Computer Art) was recently selected as a 41st Annual Student Academy Award winner for his short film Oscillate. 
Sierra will travel to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony, taking place on June 7. The medal placements—gold, silver and bronze—in the five award categories will be announced at the ceremony.
The film, which took the gold for digital animation at the Taiwan International Student Design Competition in January, was selected as a winner in the Alternative category for the Student Academy Awards.
“I’m quite amazed with the diverse kinds of responses I have received because of Oscillate,” says Sierra. “It has been a very unique experience for me to see something I made evoke such reactions.”
Leading up to his win, Sierra found himself in good SVA company, as he was among five other alumni semi-finalists, announced at a screening on Wednesday, April 23 in New York City. Eric Cunha and Seung Sung’s (both BFA 2013 Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects) Marcel was selected as a semifinalist in the Animation category; Steinar Bergoy Nedrebo’s (MFA 2013 Computer Art) Staircases was chosen in the Alternative category; and the documentary category saw Jie Yi’s (MFA 2013 Computer Art) Light Mind and Lindsay Lindenbaum’s (MFA 2012 Social Documentary) Scattered.
Reflecting on how SVA prepared him for this success, Sierra notes, “My time in MFA Computer Art was time well spent because I was surrounded by a good mix of 3D artists, installation artists, game designers, filmmakers, motion designers, musicians, creative coders and more. I tried to absorb as much as possible, and it really helped give me more insight into digital art from many different perspectives, which I value greatly.”