AWARD PLACEMENTS REVEALED AT 2025 STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS
STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS CEREMONY HELD IN NEW YORK CITY
WITH THE SUPPORT OF LONGTIME ACADEMY PARTNER ROLEX
ALL WINNING FILMS NOW ELIGIBLE FOR 98TH OSCARS®
LOS ANGELES, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tonight honored its student winners from colleges and universities around the world at the 52nd Student Academy Awards® ceremony. Gold, Silver and Bronze placements were announced and trophies presented during a ceremony held at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City, in partnership with Rolex. This year, the Student Academy Awards competition received 3,127 entries from 988 colleges and universities worldwide. With remarks by Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor, the night’s category presenters included Academy Actors Branch Governor Lou Diamond Phillips and filmmakers Craig Brewer, Jon M. Chu and Alex Woo. The 2025 ceremony is available to view here.
The 2025 Student Academy Award placements are:
Alternative/Experimental
Gold: Xindi Zhang, “The Song of Drifters,” University of Southern California
Silver: Vega Moltke-Leth, “Without Perfection,” University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Bronze: Mati Granica, “flower_gan,” London College of Communication, United Kingdom
Animation
Gold: Tobias Eckerlin, “A Sparrow’s Song,” Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Silver: Lucas Ansel, “The 12 Inch Pianist,” Rhode Island School of Design
Bronze: Sofiia Chuikovska, Loïck du Plessis D’Argentré & Maud Le Bras, “The Shyness of Trees,” Gobelins, France
Documentary
Gold: Tatiana McCabe, “Tides of Life,” University of the West of England Bristol, United Kingdom
Silver: Rebeka Bizubová, “Confession,” Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia
Bronze: Jane Deng, “I Remember,” New York University
Narrative
Gold: Jan Saczek, “Dad’s Not Home,” Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, Poland
Silver: Meyer Levinson-Blount, “Butcher’s Stain,” Tel Aviv University, Israel
Bronze: ZEFAN, “Kubrick, Like I Love You,” Columbia University
First-time honors go to 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.
All Student Academy Award-winning films are eligible to compete for the 98th Oscars® in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film category. 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. 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 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.
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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