ACADEMY REVEALS 2025 STUDENT ACADEMY AWARD® WINNERS

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted 14 students as winners of the 52nd Student Academy Awards® competition. This year, the Student Academy Awards competition received 3,127 entries from 988 colleges and universities worldwide. The 2025 winners join the ranks of such past Student Academy Award® winners as Patricia Cardoso, Pete Docter, Spike Lee, Patricia Riggen and Robert Zemeckis.

The presentation ceremony for the annual international student film awards will be held on Monday, October 6, at 6:00 p.m. ET. It will take place this year at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City during the New York Film Festival, in partnership with Rolex.

The winners are (listed alphabetically by category):

Alternative/Experimental
Mati Granica, “flower_gan,” London College of Communication, United Kingdom
Xindi Zhang, “The Song of Drifters,” University of Southern California
Vega Moltke-Leth, “Without Perfection,” University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Animation
Sofiia Chuikovska, Loïck du Plessis D’Argentré & Maud Le Bras, “The Shyness of Trees,” Gobelins, France
Tobias Eckerlin, “A Sparrow’s Song,” Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Lucas Ansel, “The 12 Inch Pianist,” Rhode Island School of Design

Documentary
Rebeka Bizubová, “Confession,” Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia
Jane Deng, “I Remember,” New York University 
Tatiana McCabe, “Tides of Life,” University of the West of England Bristol, United Kingdom

Narrative
Meyer Levinson-Blount, “Butcher’s Stain,” Tel Aviv University, Israel
Jan Saczek, “Dad’s Not Home,” Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, Poland
Zefan Wang, “Kubrick, Like I Love You,” Columbia University 

First-time honors go to students from the University of Copenhagen, Gobelins, Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, London College of Communication and University of the West of England Bristol.

Gold, silver and bronze placements in the four award categories will be announced at the ceremony. In addition, winners will have a robust weekend of education programming, networking opportunities and exclusive access to Academy members to support their career advancement.

All Student Academy Award-winning films will be eligible to compete for the 98th Oscars® in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film category. Past winners have gone on to receive 69 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared 15 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.

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ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is home to a global membership of more than 11,000 of the most accomplished film industry artists and leaders. The Academy recognizes and celebrates all aspects of the arts and sciences of moviemaking through renowned awards for cinematic achievement, including the Oscars®. With the largest film-related collection in the world, the Academy is a leader in the fields of conservation, preservation and exhibition of film-related objects and materials. Through its Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Academy presents powerful exhibitions, screenings and programs about cinema’s past, present, and future. The Academy also inspires young artists and creates opportunities for underrepresented communities to engage with the film world. Across all initiatives, the Academy connects global audiences – its members, the film industry, and film fans – through their shared passion for making and watching films.

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 Swiss watchmaker’s long-standing relationship with cinema forms an integral part of this philosophy. 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 supports 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, known for recognizing 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 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.

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-2025

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