Beverly Hills, Calif. – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is now accepting entries for the 2011 Student Academy Awards competition. Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, along with cash prizes, may be awarded to U.S. student filmmakers in the following categories: Alternative, Animation, Narrative and Documentary.
The Academy also announced a change in its foreign film category. Since 1981, the Academy has recognized student filmmakers from abroad by presenting a single Honorary Foreign Film award. This year, up to three foreign films will be honored with medals, the same as in the individual U.S. categories.
The U.S. competition is open to all full-time college and university students whose films are made within the curricular structure of a film program or class at their respective schools. The application for entry is available online at: http://www.oscars.org/saa. U.S. entries must be submitted by Friday, April 1, 2011.
The foreign film competition is also open to full-time college and university students, however, in this category entries are accepted only from schools that are members of the International Film Organization known as CILECT, and located outside the borders of the United States. The deadline to submit a foreign student film for consideration is Friday, March 25, 2011.
On Saturday, June 11, 2011, the 38th Annual Student Academy Awards presentation will be held at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Earlier this year, at the 82nd Academy Awards, former Student Academy Award winner Pete Docter took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film for "Up." Gregg Helvey, a 2009 Student Academy Award winner, was a nominee in the Live Action Short Film category for "Kavi." Since the program's inception, Student Academy Award winners have gone on to earn 40 Oscar nominations and have won or shared in seven Academy Awards.