Sunday Newscape Magazine

Los Angeles, California - “The Cure,” a short film by UCLA student Anthony Onah has been awarded first prize the AARP-UCLA Stolen Dreams film competition and will be featured as part of a nationwide initiative aimed at securing affordable health care and assuring financial security for all Americans.

The award, which comes with a $7,500 prize, was announced Oct. 23 at UCLA and culminates an innovative collaboration between AARP and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in which students were challenged to create compelling short films portraying the health care and financial crises facing Americans.

Finalists were selected from numerous submissions by UCLA graduate students and were judged by award-winning writer-director-producers Steven Bochco (“Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” “NYPD Blue,” “Raising the Bar”), Curtis Hanson (“L.A. Confidential,” “8 Mile,” ”Wonder Boys”) and Reggie Hudlin (“The Boondocks,” “House Party”), along with AARP’s executive vice president and chief brand officer, Emilio Pardo.

Ranging in genre from drama and comedy to animation and documentary, all the competition’s films sought to dramatize the consequences of America’s broken health care and economic systems and to bring an intergenerational perspective to these two critical issues.

“We are proud that UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television students have brilliantly risen to the challenge of creating these short films, which powerfully bring to life the health care and financial crises in America,” said Barbara Boyle, chair of the school’s department of film, television and digital media.

Written and directed by Onah and produced by Miqi Huang and May Lugemwa, “The Cure” focuses on a single mother whose young son is injured in an accident while she is at work, pulling both mother and son into a medical insurance nightmare. 

The film will be used as part of the nationwide Divided We Fail campaign, an initiative of AARP, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Business Roundtable and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, which seeks to cut through gridlock in Washington and give voice to millions of Americans in need of affordable, quality health care and long-term financial security.

“It is amazing how effective these students were at capturing the urgency and complexity of the two most pressing domestic issues facing our nation: financial security and health care,” said AARP’s Pardo. “Divided We Fail’s messages of hope and bipartisanship have resonated with millions of Americans, and these films illustrate the extent to which these issues transcend generations and impact all Americans. ‘The Cure’ and the other submissions will be used to engage millions more as we look to the election and beyond.”

In addition to “The Cure,” the following three films were selected as finalists in the “Stolen Dreams” competition (all eight films entered in the competition can be viewed online at www.stolendreams.com):

“After the Shearing” - Written and directed by Vanessa Rojas and produced by Camelia Adibi and Pauline Chu, the film spotlights a girl and her family’s battle to care for their cancer-stricken mother while they lose everything.

“Side Effects” - Written, directed and produced by Olivia Silver, the film revolves around Henry, a senior citizen who, after his dog dies, begins acting strangely - losing track of time, ignoring people and throwing away his medication - making his wife suspect he’s had a stroke.

“Sneeze” - Written and directed by Xavier Tatarkiewicz and produced by Amy Adrion and Vanessa Knutsen, “Sneeze” offers a glimpse at the rapid and pervasive ways in which the flu virus is passed on from one unsuspecting stranger to another throughout a city.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people over the age of 50 have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP publishes AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for Americans 50 and older and the world’s largest-circulation magazine, with more than 34 million readers; the AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP’s 40 million members and other Amercans 50 and older; and AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to members of the Hispanic community 50 years of age and older. The AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection and empowerment to older persons in need, with support from thousands of volunteers, donors and sponsors. AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information about AARP,  visit www.aarp.org or call 1-800-OUR-AARP.

The top-ranked UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television is located in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world, and draws on industry leaders for its faculty, advisors and mentors. Each year, the faculty works diligently to hone and encourage the diverse talents of the school’s 410 undergraduate and 390 graduate students. As a result, alumni have received many awards and accolades in the performing and visual arts, including Oscars, Emmys and Tonys. The school strives not only to prepare its students for employment in the entertainment industry but also to enable them to become pathfinders and leaders in their chosen field of study.