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
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