Ben Klein '12 Honored with St. 路加福音’s 校友 Artistic Achievement Award

St. 路加福音’s honored Ben Klein '12 with this year’s 校友 Artistic Achievement Award on May 20, 2022. 圣. 路加福音’s 校友 Artistic Achievement Award is given in recognition of an individual's contributions to, and professional achievements in, their chosen artistic field, 包括, but not limited to: performance arts, 视觉艺术, 设计, 编排, and composition.

Klein is a director and producer, whose film 的流亡者 debuted at Sundance Film Festival in January 2022 and won the Grand Jury prize 对你.S. 纪录片. A jury member said of the prize: "For the Grand Jury Prize, we recognize a film which is totally original, 分层, philosophical and non-linear — challenging our understanding of history. For celebrating the power of 纪录片 filmmaking and the responsibility of the filmmaker to examine the truth."

Klein was introduced by his classmate, friend, and fellow St. 卢克的 Jewish Affinity Group co-founder Dan Kagan '12. He then he spoke about his time at St. 路加福音’s and NYU as well as his career and the film. Klein mentioned several St. 路加福音’s teachers who had "the biggest impact" on him: former History Teacher John 萨金特, retired English Teacher Steve Flachsbart (both of whom were in attendance), 上学校 History Department Chair Jason Haynes, Assistant 校长 for 领导 & Innovation Jim Foley, 上学校 English Teacher Susan Doran, and Instrumental 音乐 Teacher Peter Valera.

After graduating from St. 路加福音’s in 2012, Klein earned his bachelor’s degree in film & television from NYU in 2016. 在那里, Klein met Christine Choy, a professor at NYU Tisch School of the 艺术 who is also an Academy Award-nominated producer and director. In 的流亡者, Klein and his co-director, Violet Columbus, finish a 纪录片 Choy started in 1989 about three exiled dissidents from the Tiananmen Square massacre. Klein described his relationship with Choy: "I first met Christine as a student of hers at NYU. I sought out her guidance and mentorship and we eventually collaborated on this film together. I firmly believe that the reason I did so is because I already knew the value of having great mentors and teachers at SLS."

"The film that I’m being honored for here today, 的流亡者," Klein said, "is a direct byproduct of [my] experiences studying with Mr. Flachsbart,奥. 萨金特, and the larger SLS community…the relationships I made here taught me that teachers were not just authority figures who handed out grades, but could be close friends, 知己, and mentors who enriched your life and deepened your passions. The bonds I made here changed the way that I thought, felt, and experienced the world. They made me a keen student, and one who wished to embrace our school’s motto: Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve."

Klein joins seven past 校友 Artistic Achievement Award recipients: Dominique Bandoo ’09, Marcus Smalls ’90, Jon Salamon '10, Kent Bloomer '53, Payton Cosell Turner '04, Peter Bush Swanberg '73, and John Henson '86. Congratulations, Ben! We are proud to call you a St. 卢克的校友.