The 40th annual Student Academy Awards took place last night in Beverly Hills, California, with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoring 16 students from colleges and universities around the world. The ceremony was hosted by actor/writer/director and 1978 Student Academy Award winner Bob Saget. Saget took home an award at the 1978 ceremony for his film Through Adam’s Eyes, a black and white film about a boy who receives reconstructive facial surgery which Saget made while at Temple University’s film school. Notable presenters from the 2013 ceremony included writer-director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry, Carrie) and actors Clark Gregg (Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers), Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) and Academy Award-nominated actress Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild).

The Student Academy Awards are an exciting time for the entertainment industry in that they put emerging film makers that represent the newest, most promising faces of the film industry in the spotlight. Oftentimes delivering ingenious concepts and ideas, the awards inspire film makers at every level of the industry, from students and nominees to executives and esteemed film makers. Famous past recipients of the Student Academy Awards include 1975 recipient Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Cast Away, Flight), 1979 and 1980 recipient John Lasseter (chief creative officer at Pixar and director of Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, and Cars 2), 1983 recipient Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, 4 Little Girls, Malcolm X), and 2005 recipient Cary Fukunaga (Jane Eyre, It).

Last night’s winners included:

Alternative

Gold: “Bottled Up,” Rafael Cortina, Occidental College

Silver: “Zug,” Perry Janes, University of Michigan

Bronze: “The Compositor,” John Mattiuzzi, School of Visual Arts

Animation

Gold: “Dia de los Muertos,” Lindsey St. Pierre and Ashley Graham, Ringling College of Art and Design

Silver: “Will,” Eusong Lee, California Institute of the Arts

Bronze: “Peck Pocketed,” Kevin Herron, Ringling College of Art and Design

Documentary

Gold: “A Second Chance,” David Aristizabal, University of Southern California

Silver: “Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists,” Rachel Loube, School of Visual Arts

Bronze: “Win or Lose,” Daniel Koehler, Elon University

Narrative

Gold: “Ol’ Daddy,” Brian Schwarz, University of Texas at Austin

Silver: “Josephine and the Roach,” Jonathan Langager, University of Southern California

Bronze: “Un Mundo para Raúl (A World for Raúl),” Mauro Mueller, Columbia University

Foreign Film

Gold: “Miss Todd,” Kristina Yee, National Film and Television School, United Kingdom

Silver: “Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland

Bronze: “Tweesprong (Crossroads),” Wouter Bouvijn, RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, Belgium