Filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu '07 Receives Princess Grace Award

August 22, 2009

August 22, 2009, Greencastle, Ind. — Chinonye O. Chukwu, a 2007 graduate of DePauw University who is an M.F.A. candidate at Temple University, is a recipient of a 2009 Princess Grace Award. Presented by the Royal Family of Monaco, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA honors six student filmmakers in the nation. Chukwu will receive $24,000 to produce her next film, Chidinma and Buchi, which will be shot in her native country of Nigeria late this year.

Chukwu and the other honorees will also be feted at the annual black-tie Princess Grace Awards Gala, held in the presence of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, on October 21 in New York City.

Chidinma and Buchi is "a story about two feuding cousins (who) discover a unique way of bridging the cultural differences and communication barriers between them," notes the foundation's Web site.

Chinonye's most recently completed film, Igbo Kwenu!, received a PIFVA Subsidy Grant from the independent film community and was honored with both the "Best Motion Picture Award" and "Best Screenplay Award" at the 2009 Diamond Screen Festival.

National in scope, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA is dedicated to identifying and assisting emerging talent in theater, dance, and film by awarding grants in the form of scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships. Working in conjunction with nominating schools and non-profit companies, the Princess Grace Awards recognize the talent of individual artists in theater, dance, and film. Princess Grace of Monaco, known to millions of movie lovers as Grace Kelly, died in 1982.

Visit the foundation online.

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