JAPANESE LANGUAGE
SCHOLARSHIP "AURORA" FOUNDATION Announces the 2nd annual
AURORA CHALLENGE GRANT Winner
For Immediate Release
Press contact: CEI
Tel: (323) 463-9929
Fax: (323) 464-8048
Los Angeles - July 24 - The Japanese Language Scholarship "AURORA"
Foundation is delighted to announce their second annual Aurora
Challenge Grant winner, Mr. Aaron Woolfolk. The grant is awarded
to a USA citizen who resides in California and has a unique dream,
in any field of endeavor, which is related to Japanese culture
and which would never be possible to realize without travelling
to Japan between fall of 2001 and summer of 2002. Japan. There
are no age limits or GPA/Scholastic achievement requirements.
The award goes to an individual with a creative dream or challenge
that if fulfilled, will contribute to global goodwill and intercultural
appreciation of mankind. The winner receives a $5000 value grant
and the recipient can travel anytime between the autumn of 2001
and summer 2002. By awarding this grant, the Aurora Foundation
hopes to help the winner enhance his/her pursuit of their truest,
most heartfelt dream by providing the opportunity for a once
in a lifetime experience.
Mr. Aaron Woolfolk was born & raised in
Oakland, California and currently resides in Los Angeles. He
is a graduate of University of California at Berkeley (Rhetoric,
Ethnic Studies, 1992) and Columbia University (Master of Fine
Arts in Film, 1998). His dream, for the last 10 years, is to
make an independent feature film entitled "Harimaya-bashi"
(The Harimaya Bridge). It is a drama about a bitter African-American
man, forced to travel to rural Japan after the tragic death of
his only son, in order to reclaim his son's art. There, he discovers
several secrets his son left behind. "Harimaya-bashi"
deals with themes of prejudice, stereotypes, and the search for
mutual understanding. It also serves as a metaphor for a bridge
between two lands and its significance on a father making an
unwanted journey.
Mr. Woolfolk has already written the script
and has previously written/directed/edited three short films.
His debut film, "Rage!" was multi-award winning including
a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Student Filmmaker Award. "Kuroi
Hitsuji" [Black Sheep] and "Eki" [The Station]
have appeared in several festivals and showcases around the world,
including the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. Both
films serve as the prologue to Woolfolk's dream project, "Harimaya-bashi".
With the help of the Aurora Challenge Grant, Aaron will return
to Japan to further develop his production plans. Although the
grant cannot cover the production costs of the film itself, the
Aurora Foundation hopes that the grant will help make Aaron's
dream a reality.
The grant includes attendance at the Aurora
Foundation Award Dinner on September 7th at the New Otani Hotel
& Gardens; and the Ryoko Moriyama "Aurora" Concert.
The scholarships will be formally presented at the Award Dinner.
Ryoko Moriyama, Japan's renowned singer and
songwriter who has been delighting audiences since her debut
in 1967, will be making her first Los Angeles appearance at benefit
performances at the Japan America Theatre on September 8-9, 2001.
The benefit concerts, presented in association with Creative
Enterprise International, Inc., the Japanese American Cultural
& Community Center, and Hiroaki Kaneko Office Co., Ltd..,
celebrate the 35th anniversary of Ms. Moriyama's career as a
performer and are a charitable fundraising event for the Aurora
Foundation (EIN: 31-1639219).
The Japanese Language Scholarship "AURORA" Foundation
is generously supported by the following corporate sponsors:
Panasonic, Toyota, Japan Airlines, California Bank & Trust,
Crystal Cruises/Shogun Cruises, Kinokuniya Book Stores, Koyo
Graphic International, Inc., the New Otani Hotel & Garden,
United Airlines. Media sponsors are BRIDGE U.S.A., Rafu Shimpo,
and United Television Broadcasting. Aurora is also supported
by the Consulate General of Japan, Los Angeles, Japan America
Society, The Japan Foundation and Language Center in Los Angeles,
JBA, JCCSC, JETRO, L.A. Seijo-kai, L.A. Tokyo-kai.
For more information, including sponsorship, please contact CEI
at (323) 463-9929 or by e-mail at CreativeEntpr@worldnet.att.net.
Please check the JLSF website at www.jlsf-aurora.org.
1st Aurora Challenge
Grant Winner
