53RD STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS® TO BE HELD AT TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TIFF)
CEREMONY FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FILM AWARDS
WILL BE PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ROLEX
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that the presentation ceremony for the 53rd Student Academy Awards® (SAA) will be held at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) inside TIFF Lightbox on Monday, September 14, 2026, in partnership with Rolex.
In collaboration with TIFF, Student Academy Award winners will have access to attend the festival and market, and they will experience education panels and networking opportunities. In addition, winners will have exclusive access to Academy members to support their career advancement.
“As the Academy becomes increasingly global, we are delighted to bring this year’s Student Academy Awards to TIFF. These filmmakers are the future of our industry, and we are thrilled to platform their work at this important international festival,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor. “We sincerely thank TIFF for their support and our long-standing Student Academy Awards partner, Rolex, which shares our deep commitment to fostering emerging filmmakers.”
“We’re honored to welcome the Academy and the Student Academy Awards to our 51st edition of the Festival,” said Anita Lee, TIFF’s Chief Programming Officer. “Championing the next generation of global storytellers is central to our mission, including through initiatives like TIFF Next Wave, and we're proud to celebrate this year’s student filmmakers as they engage with industry leaders and audiences from around the world here in Toronto.”
The annual competition is open to full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students who have completed an intermediate-level or final graduation film as part of their coursework. Students are asked to submit their films online using FilmFreeway, a widely used festival and competition platform. Each year, college and university film students from all over the world compete for awards and cash grants, with films being judged in the following categories: Alternative/Experimental, Animation, Documentary and Live Action Narrative. Complete rules and a link to the online submission platform are available at www.oscars.org/saa.
The winners of the 53rd Student Academy Awards competition will be announced in August. All Student Academy Award-winning films will be eligible to compete for the 99th Oscars® in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film category. Past winners have gone on to receive 70 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared 15 awards.
Rolex is supporting the Student Academy Awards through its partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, reflecting its ongoing commitment to fostering excellence, achievement and the transfer of cinematic knowledge to the next generation.
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.
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ABOUT THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world's premier film organization and is home to a global membership of more than 11,000 of the most accomplished film industry artists and leaders. The Academy connects global audiences – its members, the film industry, and film fans – through their shared passion for making and watching films. The Academy does this by recognizing and celebrating the arts and sciences of moviemaking through renowned awards for cinematic achievement, including the Oscars®, the Governors Awards, and the Scientific and Technical Awards. The Academy’s affiliated charitable organization, the Academy Foundation, serves a public benefit through its robust educational, preservation and cultural activities. This includes the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the world's largest global film museum, the Academy Collection, the largest film-related collection in the world, and talent development programs for emerging artists. Year-round, the Academy creates opportunities for all communities to engage with the film world.
ABOUT ROLEX AND CINEMA
Rolex celebrates human achievement as a journey marked by milestones, emotions and defining moments. For more than half a century, the brand has partnered some of the world’s most talented artists and leading cultural institutions to promote excellence and the transmission of artistic heritage, creating a link between the past, present and future.
Through the Perpetual Arts Initiative, a broad portfolio of arts that extends through architecture, cinema, dance, music, literature, theatre and visual arts, the brand confirms its long-term commitment to global culture. The company has had close ties with the film industry for decades, its watches playing a role in numerous films, including Oscar®-winning masterpieces. Since 2017, Rolex has supported the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving as Proud Sponsor of the Oscars®, hosting the event’s Greenroom, as well as supporting the Governors Awards, which recognize lifetime achievement and humanitarian efforts in the film industry. Rolex also sponsors Film at Lincoln Center as Official Partner and Exclusive Timepiece. The company promotes achievement through Testimonees such as James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Zendaya and Jia Zhang-Ke. It also assists in the preservation of film history for future generations as a Founding Supporter of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, as a partner of The Film Foundation and through its support to the National Film and Television School in the UK.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ROLEX AND CINEMA, GO TO
https://newsroom.rolex.com/world-of-rolex/perpetuating-arts-and-culture/rolex-and-cinema/rolex-and-cinema-2026
ABOUT TIFF
TIFF is a not-for-profit cultural organization with a mission to transform the way people see the world through film. A global leader in film and entertainment, TIFF initiatives include the annual Toronto International Film Festival® in September; TIFF Lightbox, which features five cinemas, plus learning and entertainment facilities; the Donald Shebib TIFF Film Circuit, an innovative national distribution programme; and TIFF: The Market launching in 2026. The organization generates an estimated annual economic impact of $240 million CAD. TIFF Lightbox is generously supported by contributors including the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, the Reitman family (Ivan Reitman, Agi Mandel, and Susan Michaels), The Daniels Corporation, and RBC. For more information, visit tiff.net.
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