Academy Announces Medal Placement For 2011 Student Academy Award® Winners

Beverly Hills, CA – Fifteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored Saturday night (June 11) as winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards® competition. For several days, they had participated in a slate of industry-related activities and social events culminating in the awards ceremony, which featured as presenters actress Jennifer Garner, Oscar®-nominated animator John Musker, and Academy Award-winning producer Edward Zwick alongside Academy President Tom Sherak at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

photo: ©A.M.P.A.S

The 2011 winners are:

Alternative category
     Gold Medal*:   “The Vermeers,” Tal S. Shamir, The New School, New York
     * Only one medal was awarded in the Alternative category.

photo: ©A.M.P.A.S

Animation category
     Gold Medal (tie):   “Correspondence,” Zach Hyer, Pratt Institute, New York; and
                                      “Dragonboy,” Bernardo Warman and Shaofu Zhang, Academy of Art University, California
     Bronze Medal:       “Defective Detective,” Avner Geller and Stevie Lewis, Ringling College of Art and
                                        Design, Florida

photo: ©A.M.P.A.S

Documentary category
     Gold Medal:       “Vera Klement: Blunt Edge,” Wonjung Bae, Columbia College Chicago
     Silver Medal:      “Imaginary Circumstances,” Anthony Weeks, Stanford University
     Bronze Medal:   “Sin Pais (Without Country),” Theo Rigby, Stanford University

photo: ©A.M.P.A.S

Narrative category
     Gold Medal:     “Thief,” Julian Higgins, American Film Institute, California
     Silver Medal:    “High Maintenance,” Shawn Wines, Columbia University
     Bronze Medal:  “Fatakra,” Soham Mehta, University of Texas at Austin

photo: ©A.M.P.A.S

Foreign Student Film category
     Gold Medal:     “Tuba Atlantic,” Hallvar Witzo, The Norwegian Film School, Norway
     Silver Medal:    “Bekas,” Karzan Kader, Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts, Sweden
     Bronze Medal:  “Raju,” Max Zaehle, Hamburg Media School, Germany

photo: ©A.M.P.A.S

While all winners knew they would each receive an award, their placement – Gold, Silver or Bronze – was not revealed until the ceremony. Gold Medal award winners received cash grants of $5,000, Silver Medal award winners received $3,000 and Bronze Medal award winners received $2,000.

Pictured here are Oscar®-winning producer Edward Zwick (left) and Soham Mehta winner of the bronze medal in the narrative film category for “Fatakra.” ©A.M.P.A.S.

The U.S. students first competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region was permitted to send to the Academy up to three finalists in each of the four categories. Academy members then screened the finalists’ films and voted to select the winners. The foreign student winners were selected by Academy members at special voting screenings from a pool of 52 entries from 32 countries.

credit: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 43 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards. At the 83rd Academy Awards earlier this year, 2010 Student Academy Award winner Luke Matheny took home the Oscar for Live Action Short Film for “God of Love.” Tanel Toom, another 2010 Student Academy Award winner, also was nominated in the Live Action Short Film category for “The Confession,” and John Lasseter, a 1979 and 1980 Student Academy Award winner, was a nominee in the Adapted Screenplay category for “Toy Story 3.”

ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

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