The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today will honor 18 student winners from colleges and universities around the world at the 47th Student Academy Awards ceremony, to be held virtually for the first time.
The Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards will be announced and presented by experimental filmmaker Shunsaku Hayashi, Oscar-winning animator Glen Keane, Oscar-winning filmmaker and 1983 Student Academy Award winner Spike Lee, and filmmakers Dawn Porter and Lulu Wang. Hosted by actor-director Eugenio Derbez, the ceremony is available now on StudentAcademyAwards.org.
The animation and experimental medalists are:
Animation (Domestic Film Schools)
Gold: Ciervo – Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma, Rhode Island School of Design
An emotionally haunting and visually beautiful experience, Ciervo tells the story of a young girl who holds violence, submission and independence in an uneasy balance as one morphs into the other.
Silver: Mime Your Manners – Kate Namowicz and Skyler Porras, Ringling College of Art & Design
An arrogant man named Julian is transformed into a mime. Given a taste of his own medicine, he must grow to be a better person to be freed.
Mime Your Manners | Animated Short Film from Kate Namo on Vimeo.
Bronze: Hamsa – Daniela Dwek, Maya Mendonca and Chrisy Baek, School of Visual Arts
A young Israeli girl is oblivious to the historical conflict she lives in. On a trip to the market, her mother reinforces her fear of “the other.” However, when chaos strikes she finds that the people she was once afraid of are not so bad.
Animation (International Film Schools)
Gold: The Beauty – Pascal Schelbli, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
What if plastic could be integrated into sea life? Take a deep breath and dive into a world, where feelings of guilt dissolve amongst the mysterious depths of the ocean. A world where we encounter bizarre creatures and discover eerily beautiful landscapes. Unfortunately, our air doesn’t last forever and we have to realize that nature alone can’t solve this issue.
All Student Academy Award-winning films are eligible to compete for 2020 Oscars in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Subject category. Past winners have gone on to receive 64 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 13 awards.
The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to provide a platform for emerging global talent by creating opportunities within the industry to showcase their work. The 2020 winners join the ranks of such past Student Academy Award winners as Patricia Cardoso, Pete Docter, Cary Fukunaga, Spike Lee, Trey Parker, Patricia Riggen and Robert Zemeckis.
