Thirteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored tonight (June 9) as winners at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 39th Annual Student Academy Awards. The medal placements were announced at the awards ceremony, which featured as presenters actors Laura Dern, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Greg Kinnear and Mena Suvari alongside Academy President Tom Sherak at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
The winners are:
Alternative
Gold Medal*: “The Reality Clock,” Amanda Tasse, University of Southern California
*Only one winner was selected in this category.
Animation
Gold Medal: “Eyrie,” David Wolter, California Institute of the Arts
Silver Medal: “The Jockstrap Raiders,” Mark Nelson, University of California, Los Angeles
Bronze Medal: “My Little Friend,” Eric Prah, Ringling College of Art and Design
Documentary
Gold Medal: “Hiro: A Story of Japanese Internment,” Keiko Wright, New York University
Silver Medal: “Dying Green,” Ellen Tripler, American University
Bronze Medal: “Lost Country,” Heather Burky, Art Institute of Jacksonville
Narrative
Gold Medal: “Under,” Mark Raso, Columbia University
Silver Medal: “Narcocorrido,” Ryan Prows, American Film Institute
Bronze Medal: “Nani,” Justin Tipping, American Film Institute
Foreign Film
Gold Medal: “For Elsie,” David Winstone, University of Westminster, United Kingdom
Silver Medal: “Of Dogs and Horses,” Thomas Stuber, Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Bronze Medal: “The Swing of the Coffin Maker,” Elmar Imanov, The International Film School Cologne, Germany
To see the journey of the 2012 Student Academy Award® winners, visit Studentacademyawards.tumblr.
Winning films will be featured at two upcoming events. On Sunday, June 24, the Palm Springs International ShortFest will screen the Gold Medal-winning films. The Festival takes place June 19-25. For ticket information, visit www.psfilmfest.org.
On Wednesday, June 27, at 7 p.m., the Academy, in partnership with The Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation for the National Archives, will screen the Gold Medal-winning films. The event is free and open to the public, and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.archives.gov.
The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared eight awards. At the 84th Academy Awards earlier this year, 2011 Student Academy Award winners Hallvar Witzø and Max Zähle were nominated in the Live Action Short Film category for “Tuba Atlantic” and “Raju,” respectively. James Spione, a Student Academy Award winner in 1987, earned a nomination in the Documentary Short Subject category for “Incident in New Baghdad.”