Actor Randy Quaid (left), presents Columbia School of the Arts Alumnus David Kartch a Gold Medal Student Academy Award at the 28th Annual Student Academy Awards, held June 10, in Beverly Hills, CA. (Photo provided by A.M.P.A.S)

David Kartch, a 2000 MFA graduate of the Columbia University School of the Arts Film Division, has won the Gold Medal for best narrative film at the 28th Annual Student Academy Awards for his Columbia Masters Thesis film, "Zen and the Art of Landscaping." This marks the fourth time in five years that a Columbia Film Division filmmaker has won a Student Academy Award, and the third time a Columbia student has won in the narrative category, which is the most competitive category.

The Student Academy Award, accompanied by a $5,000 cash grant, was presented to Kartch by Oscar-nominated actor Randy Quaid ("The Last Detail," 1973) in a ceremony on June 10, at the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California.

Through the Student Academy Awards, established in 1972, the Academy recognizes and encourages this country's most promising new filmmakers. Past winners include Spike Lee, Trey Parker and Oscar winners John Lasseter and Robert Zemeckis.

Each year more than 300 college and university film students from all over the United States compete for awards and cash grants. Films are judged in four categories: animation, documentary, narrative and alternative.

"Zen and the Art of Landscaping," a comedy about a lawn care guy who finds himself the object of a thoroughly dysfunctional family, was first screened at the 2000 Polo Ralph Lauren Columbia University Film Festival.

"Comedy is difficult, but David has tremendous talent and a very sure touch," said Dan Kleinman, chair of the Film Division in the School of the Arts. He continued, "This honor is well deserved. We are very proud of David's achievement, and a bit stunned to find that we've won the gold medal four years out of five in the most competitive student film competition in the country."

Columbia's MFA program in Film trains students as screenwriters, directors, producers, and film historians. Recent graduates include Kimberly Peirce MFA '96, who directed and co-wrote with Andy Bienen MFA '96 the highly acclaimed Boys Don't Cry, winner of the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for best actress.