18 February 2008: Prof. Paul Zinder’s short documentary Uno Degli Ultimi (One of the Last) has been awarded a First Prize – Jury’s Choice Award from the 2008 Black Maria Film and Video Festival. The festival, an international juried competition, tours universities and film festivals all over the United States each year.

The jurors for the 2008 Black Maria Film and Video Festival included: Mary Fessenden, Director of Cornell Cinema, Richard Herskowitz, Director of the Virginia Film Festival, Cara Longo, Manager of Acquisition and Programming for the Sundance Channel, and Peggy Parsons, Curator of Film at The National Gallery of Art.

Uno Degli Ultimi is a portrait of Mauro Selvetti, a 78-year-old Italian peasant who picks olives, grapes, and cherries on his picturesque farm. Framed by the beauty of the Italian landscape, Mauro offers anecdotes and advice, proving himself a wise and profound man of the earth.

The making of Uno Degli Ultimi was a true AUR collaboration. Prof. Zinder directed and photographed the film, Prof. Maurizio Marmorstein and Prof. Zinder produced it, and AUR Multimedia Lab Technician Heather Marie Miller edited.