Student Academy Award winners announced and head to London this year

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted 15 students as winners of the 51st Student Academy Awards competition, from 2,683 entries from 738 colleges and universities worldwide. 

Scroll down for the winners.  

The presentation ceremony for its annual international student film competition will be held in London this year. 

The event is traditionally held at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, but will take place at London’s ODEON Luxe Leicester Square next month.  

In partnership with the BFI London Film Festival, the ceremony which focuses on the discovery of emerging filmmakers will be held on Monday 14 October. It is taking place outside of the US to emphasise the organisation becoming “more global in focus.”  

“As a leader in our international film community, and as our organisation becomes more global in focus, the Academy is thrilled to bring the Student Academy Awards to London this year,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer. 

It also makes sense considering the increasing number of non-English language films nominated during awards season, like The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, The Society of the Snow, Io Capitano and Robot Dreams this year. Check out our ranking of the 2024 European Oscar contenders.  

Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall won a total of six European Film Awards last year and nabbed five Oscar nominations, winning Best Original Screenplay. Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest also scored five Oscar noms, and won both Best International Feature Film and Best Sound. 

This year’s winners of the 51st Student Academy Awards are:  

Alternative/Experimental 

• Akshit Kumar, bonVoyage pour monVoyage, National Institute of Design, India 
• Birdy Wei-Ting Hung, A Brighter Summer Day for the Lady Avengers, San Francisco State University 
• Dori Walker, In Living Memory, Brown University

Animation 

• Florian Maurice, Maxime Foltzer & Estelle Bonnardel, Au Revoir Mon Monde, MoPA 3D Animation School, France 
• Kei Kanamori, Origami, Digital Hollywood University, Japan 
• Spencer Baird, Student Accomplice, Brigham Young University

Documentary 

• Rishabh Raj Jain, A Dream Called Khushi (Happiness), New York University 
• Hannah Rafkin, Keeper, School of Visual Arts 
• Aaron Johnson, The 17%, Chapman University

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Narrative 

• Pavel Sýkora & Viktor Horák, The Compatriot, Filmová Akademie Miroslava Ondříčka v Písku, Czech Republic
• Jens Kevin Georg, Crust, Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, Germany 
• Robin Wang, Neither Donkey nor Horse, University of Southern California

First-time honours went to National Institute of Design, Digital Hollywood University and Filmová Akademie Miroslava Ondříčka v Písku. 

All Student Academy Award-winning films will be eligible to compete for the 97th Oscars in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film category. The Academy shared that past winners have gone on to receive 67 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 12 awards. 

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The 51st Student Academy Awards will take place on Monday 14 October. The Oscars take place on 2 March 2025. 

Additional sources • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, British Cinematographer