The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday that 16 students have been selected as winners of the 53rd Student Academy Awards. The competition drew 2,972 entries from 894 colleges and universities worldwide.
For the first time, the ceremony will be held at the Toronto International Film Festival. The presentation takes place September 14 at TIFF Lightbox at Reitman Square, at 6pm ET, in partnership with Rolex. Gold, silver, and bronze placements across four categories will be announced at the event. All winning films are now eligible to compete for the 99th Academy Awards in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, or Documentary Short Film categories.
International schools made history in this cycle. According to The Wrap, all three Animation awards went to French institutions: ESMA took a spot with "COWS," Gobelins followed with "Gauze," and Film Academy Baden-Württemberg (Germany) rounded out the category with "The Panic Inside." The Narrative category was swept entirely by international schools, with winners from ESCAC in Spain, Warsaw Film School in Poland, and Concordia University in Canada.
Documentary winners include Jason Elliott of the UK's National Film and Television School for "I Want to Live," and Arjun Fischer of USC for "Artificial Love." The Alternative/Experimental category saw winners from Duke University (US), FAMU (Czech Republic), and St. Joost School of Art and Design (Netherlands).
Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to collect 70 Oscar nominations and win or share 15 awards. The competition's alumni include Pete Docter, Spike Lee, and Robert Zemeckis.