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Individual Artist

Steven Bognar, Yellow Springs

Nominated By: Educational Video Publishing

View video tribute (2:52 minutes, 9.5M)

Steven Bognar, an independent film-maker for more than 20 years, has made a significant contribution to filmmaking in Ohio and nationally. Bognar’s output as a filmmaker includes three very different films, all of which have been featured at the Sundance Film Festival. It is quite rare for an artist to have all their major works presented at Sundance, where several thousand films compete for every slot each year. Even more remarkable is that all three films are of different genres—Personal Belongings, a full-length documentary about his father, a Hungarian immigrant who returns to Hungary both before and after the fall of Communism; Picture Day, a short film that his students co-produced as part of an Ohio Arts Council sponsored artist residency at Tussing Elementary in Pickerington; and Gravel, a short dramatic experimental piece about mother/daughter relationships. Bognar’s primary project for the last seven years, however, has been Lion in the House which examines the many issues a family must deal with when a child is diagnosed with cancer. Produced in partnership with Julia Reichert, this four-hour documentary will air over two days in spring 2006 on PBS. As a local artist Bognar has made significant contributions to his community and its youth by building a video program at Yellow Springs High School. Bognar has received numerous Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships and Arts in Education artist residencies in schools around the state. He is an effective community activist, champion for children and ambassador for the arts across Ohio and beyond. Bognar is a rare individual who is able to successfully combine his gifted artistry with his depth of understanding about humanity.