The Avon Theatre – Deborah & Chuck Royce Cinema Arts Center announces the 15th Annual Avon Scholarship Awards Essay Contest. The contest is open to high school seniors in public and private schools throughout Fairfield and Westchester Counties, graduating in Spring 2024, with the opportunity to win scholarships totaling $8,500.
Students are asked to submit a 500-750-word essay on “Film Matters” based on a film they have seen in a movie theater or online released in 2023 or 2024. The film can be a feature, animated, documentary, short, or foreign language film. Students are invited to share how the film impacted them personally. Questions to answer include: Did the film change your mind about something? Did the film make you feel seen or accepted? Did the film inspire you?
Seniors do not need to be a film major to enter the contest. Gap Year students are not eligible to complete.
“We live in a world where we seem to share little in common with those of different backgrounds,” said Deborah Goodrich Royce, author and Avon co-founder. “But a fine film reminds us that this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Avon Scholarship Awards asks students to look at themselves and others through the lens that cinema provides. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu—whose work is often featured at the Avon—put it succinctly when he said, ‘Cinema is a mirror by which we often see ourselves.’ We at the Avon are very proud of the many students who have participated over the years in this important—and transformative—act of reflection.”
The essays will be read by two independent judges from a panel of professional journalists, published authors, editors, educators, and filmmakers. An additional pair of judges will read the top finalists. The contest winners will receive cash prizes as follows: First Place—$2,000; Second Place—$1,500; Third Place—$1,000; and eight Honorable Mention winners will receive $500 each. The deadline for submission is Monday, May 20.
An awards reception and ceremony will be held at the theater at 272 Bedford Street, Stamford, on June 6. Sue Baker, an Avon Board member and chair of the Education Initiative Committee, will introduce the winners and present them with their prizes totaling $8,500. Donations to the Avon Red Carpet auction and Annual Appeal campaign help support the Scholarship Awards Essay Contest.
Past scholarship award winners have attended various colleges and universities, including the University of Connecticut, Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Yale University, Wellesley College, the University of Richmond, the University of Texas, Georgetown University, Bowdoin College, Pomona College, and many others.
For more information and to submit an essay, visit www.avontheatre.org/education/. If you have any further questions about the contest, please contact Louisa Greene at lgreene@avontheatre.org.
