Princess Grace Statue Award, 2003

Princess Grace Award
Undergraduate Film Scholarship, 1994
Purchase College

Additional Grants:
• 2008 Special Project Award

LIBERTY KID is the second feature written and directed by Ilya Chaiken, whose acclaimed debut feature MARGARITA HAPPY HOUR premiered at Sundance 2001 and proceeded to such prestigious festivals as Los Angeles and Toronto before receiving distribution from Wellspring. She returned to Sundance in 2004 with the comedic short “The 100 Lovers of Jesus Reynolds”.

Since premiering at the 2007 Los Angeles FIlm Festival and winning the Best Feature Award at the New York International Latino FIlm Festival, LIBERTY KID has received rave reviews and is currently being broadcast on HBO. It will be released on DVD in the Fall of 2008 by Kino Films.

Chaiken first received attention for her short films: “The Actress,” and “Match Flick,” and was granted a Statue Award for Film from the Princess Grace Foundation in 2003. She studied filmmaking at SUNY Purchase.