Congratulations to Deborah Chow, the winner of the 2022 CUFF Andrew Sarris Award!

A 2004 alumna of the MFA Film Program, Chow is the director of all six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a highly anticipated new series set to premiere on Disney+ this May. In 2019, she became the first female director within the Star Wars franchise with The Mandalorian, for which she directed two episodes. She has directed episodes for some of the most successful television series of the past decade: Better Call Saul, American Gods, The Man in the High Castle, Jessica Jones, Snowfall, and Mr. Robot, among others.

Chow will accept the award remotely at Screenwriting Night on Monday, May 16 at 7pm at the Riverside Theater. Click here for tickets.

About Deborah Chow
Deborah Chow is a filmmaker of Chinese-Australian descent who has directed extensively in film and television. She has worked on such shows as Mr. Robot, Jessica Jones, and American Gods, and won a NAACP Image Award for Better Call Saul, in addition to being recently honored with a DGC Visionary award. She also directed on the first season of The Mandalorian, the first Star Wars television show created by Jon Favreau, and is currently in production on Obi-Wan Kenobi, a limited series for Lucasfilm.

About the Andrew Sarris Award

Named for the world-renowned critic, theorist and film program professor, the Andrew Sarris Award was created by film students to honor outstanding artistic achievement of distinguished alumni. In addition to teaching at Columbia, Andrew Sarris worked extensively as a film critic and is the author of numerous books, including the landmark, American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929-1968 and many other influential works.

Past Andrew Sarris Award Winners

2021 – Cherien Dabis (Film ’04)

2019 – Phil Johnston (Film ’04)

2018 – Laura Ricciardi (Film ’07) and Moira Demos (Film ’08) 

2017 – Ben Odell (Film ’04)

2016 – Annemarie Jacir (Film ’02)

2015 – James Ponsoldt (Film ’05)

2014 – Jennifer Lee (Film ’05)

2013 – Adam Davidson (Film ’91)

2012 – Malia Scotch Marmo (Film ’88)

2011 – Greg Mottola (Film ’91)

2010 – Simon Kinberg (Film ’03)

2009 – Kathryn Bigelow (Film ’81)

2008 – Kimberly Peirce (Film ’96)

2007 – Ron Nyswaner (Film ’81)

2006 – Nicole Holofcener (Film ’88)

2005 – Jeffrey Sharp (Film ’01) & Jay Russell (Film ’85)

2004 - Sabrina Dhawan (’02) & Al Berger (’83)

2003 - Shari Springer Berman (’95) & Robert Pulcini (’94); James Mangold (’99)

2002 - Lisa Cholodenko (’97)

2001 - Andrew Sarris