Beverly Hills, Calif. – Thirteen students from 11 colleges and universities were honored as winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 37th Annual Student Academy Awards competition. For several days, they had participated in a slate of industry-related activities and social events culminating in the awards ceremony, which featured as presenters Oscar-nominated actor Jeremy Renner, Oscar-nominated animator Henry Selick, and director Penelope Spheeris at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
The 2010 winners are:
Alternative*
• Gold Medal: “Surface: Film from Below,” Varathit Uthaisri, Parsons The New School for Design, New York
• Silver Medal: “Multiply,” Emily Henricks, University of Southern California
* Only two medals were awarded in the Alternative category.
Animation
• Gold Medal: “Departure of Love,” Jennifer Bors, Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida
• Silver Medal: “Dried Up,” Isaiah Powers and Jeremy Casper, Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri
• Bronze Medal: “Lifeline,” Andres Salaff, California Institute of the Arts
Documentary
• Gold Medal: “Yizkor (Remembrance),” Ruth Fertig, University of Texas at Austin
• Silver Medal: “Rediscovering Pape,” Maria Royo, City College of New York
• Bronze Medal: “Dreams Awake (Suena Despierto),” Kevin Gordon and Rebekah Meredith, Stanford University, California
Narrative
• Gold Medal: “God of Love,” Luke Matheny, New York University
• Silver Medal: “Down in Number 5,” Kim Spurlock, New York University
• Bronze Medal: “The Lunch Box,” Lubomir Kocka, Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia
Honorary Foreign Film
“The Confession,” Tanel Toom, The National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, United Kingdom
While U.S. winners knew they would each receive an award, their placement – Gold, Silver or Bronze – was not revealed until the ceremony. Gold Medal award winners received cash grants of $5,000, Silver Medal award winners received $3,000 and Bronze Medal award winners received $2,000. The Honorary Foreign Film winner received a $1,000 cash grant. The U.S. students first competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region was permitted to send as many as three finalist films in each of four award categories. Academy members then screened the films and voted to select the winners. “The Confession,” the Honorary Foreign Film winner, was selected from a pool of 61 entries representing 36 countries.
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 40 Oscar nominations and have won or shared seven awards. At the 82nd Academy Awards earlier this year, Pete Docter, who earned a Student Academy Award in 1992, took home the Oscar for Animated Feature Film for “Up.” He also earned a nomination for the original screenplay for the film. Additionally, Gregg Helvey, a 2009 Student Academy Award winner, received his first Oscar nomination in the Live Action Short Film category for “Kavi.”