The Academy announced medal placements for the 52nd Student Academy Awards on October 6 in New York, naming winners across four categories from a field of 3,127 entries representing 988 colleges and universities worldwide. Gold medals went to Xindi Zhang’s “The Song of Drifters” (Alternative/Experimental, University of Southern California), Tobias Eckerlin’s “A Sparrow’s Song” (Animation, Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, Germany), Tatiana McCabe’s “Tides of Life” (Documentary, University of the West of England Bristol, UK) and Jan Saczek’s “Dad’s Not Home” (Narrative, Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, Poland). Silver medals were awarded to “Without Perfection” by Vega Moltke-Leth (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), “The 12 Inch Pianist” by Lucas Ansel (Rhode Island School of Design), “Confession” by Rebeka Bizubová (Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia) and “Butcher’s Stain” by Meyer Levinson-Blount (Tel Aviv University, Israel). Bronze medals went to “flower_gan” by Mati Granica (London College of Communication, UK), “The Shyness of Trees” by Sofiia Chuikovska, Loïck du Plessis D’Argentré and Maud Le Bras (Gobelins, France), “I Remember” by Jane Deng (New York University) and “Kubrick, Like I Love You” by Zefan (Columbia University).
The ceremony, held at the Ziegfeld Ballroom during the New York Film Festival with support from a long-time Academy partner, marked the first time the event took place in New York. Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor and CEO Bill Kramer delivered remarks, and presenters included filmmakers Jon M. Chu, Craig Brewer and Alex Woo, along with Actors Branch Governor Lou Diamond Phillips. The Academy noted several first-time institutional honorees this year, including the University of Copenhagen, Gobelins, the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, the London College of Communication and the University of the West of England Bristol.
All winning films are now eligible to compete for the 98th Oscars in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film categories, continuing a pipeline that has historically yielded dozens of nominations and more than a dozen statuettes for former student winners. Additional coverage highlighted that medal placements carry cash awards and that the New York ceremony followed the August announcement of this year’s 14 winners.
