The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored its global student winners at the 52nd Student Academy Awards ceremony on Oct. 6. The celebration, held at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City, featured remarks by Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor, as well as awards presentations by filmmakers Craig Brewer, Jon M. Chu and Alex Woo.
This year’s Student Academy Awards winners were chosen from a total of 3,127 entries received from 988 colleges and universities around the globe. Gold, Silver and Bronze placements were announced in each category, and students were presented with trophies during the ceremony. First-time honors went to the University of Copenhagen, Gobelins, Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, London College of Communication and the University of the West of England Bristol.
The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to provide an opportunity for emerging talent to showcase their work within the industry. All student Academy Award-winning films are eligible to compete for the 98th Oscars in the categories of animated short film, live action short film or documentary short film. Past winners have gone on to receive 69 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 15 awards.
See below for the full list of 2025 Student Academy Award winners, listed alphabetically by category.
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