Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Oscar winner was first MySpace Film user




LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Oscar winner "West Bank Story," a short film directed by Ari Sandel of Los Angeles, was the first film profiled on MySpace Film.

"West Bank Story" won the Oscar for best live-action short film Sunday during the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

Sandal created "West Bank Story" while earning his master's degree in film production at the University of Southern California, MySpace said. The short film is a musical comedy about David, an Israeli soldier, and Fatima, a Palestinian fast food cashier, who fall in love while their families fight each other for business at their falafel stands in the West Bank.

MySpace said it chose Sandel and "West Bank Story" to be the first featured filmmaker and film on the site a year ago. MySpace said more than 50,000 filmmakers now use MySpace to raise awareness and promote their films through MySpace Film.

Two Oscar-nominated documentaries were also recently featured on MySpace Film, "Iraq in Fragments" and "Jesus Camp."

The image “http://www.backseatfilmfestival.com/images/client_billboards/MySpace.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.