Academy Announces Winners for 2008 Student Academy Awards®

Beverly Hills, CA – Eleven students from eight colleges and universities have been named winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 35th Annual Student Academy Awards competition. They will participate in a week of industry-related activities and social events, culminating in the awards ceremony on June 7 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. One film student from Germany has also been selected to receive this year’s Honorary Foreign Film award.

The winners are (listed alphabetically by film title within category):

Alternative
“Circles of Confusion,” Phoebe Tooke, San Francisco State University
“Viola: The Traveling Rooms of a Little Giant,” Shih-Ting Hung, University of Southern California

Animation
“Simulacra,” Tatchapon Lertwirojkul, The School of Visual Arts
“The Visionary,” Evan Mayfield, Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida
“Zoologic,” Nicole Mitchell, California Institute of the Arts

Documentary
“As We Forgive,” Laura Waters Hinson, American University, Washington, D.C.
“If a Body Meet a Body,” Brian Davis, University of Southern California
“Unattached,” J.J. Adler, Columbia University

Narrative
“A Day’s Work,” Rajeev Dassani, University of Southern California
“Pitstop,” Melanie McGraw, University of Southern California
“The State of Sunshine,” Z. Eric Yang, Florida State University

Honorary Foreign Film
“On the Line (Auf der Strecke),” Reto Caffi, Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, Germany

While the U.S. winners know they will each receive an award, their placement – Gold, Silver or Bronze – will not be revealed until the June 7 ceremony. In addition to a trophy, Gold Medal winners receive $5,000, Silver Medal winners receive $3,000 and Bronze Medal winners receive $2,000. The Honorary Foreign Film winner receives $1,000 in addition to a trophy.

The U.S. students first competed in one of three regional competitions. Each of those regions was permitted to send as many as three finalist films in each of four award categories. Academy members then screened the finalists’ films and voted to select the winners.

“On the Line (Auf der Strecke),” the Honorary Foreign Film winner, was selected from a pool of 43 entries representing 29 countries.

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 35 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared six Academy Awards. Two former Student Academy Award winners were nominees at the 80th Academy Awards held earlier this year – James Longley and Amanda Micheli were nominated in the Documentary Short Subject category (for different films).

Tickets for the 35th Annual Student Academy Awards presentation ceremony, at which the Gold Medal-winning films and the Honorary Foreign Film will be screened in their entirety, are free and now available. A maximum of four tickets may be requested online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office, by mail, or by calling the Student Academy Awards department at (310) 247-3000, ext. 130. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 7, at 6 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Doors open at 5 p.m. All seating is unreserved.