The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted 14 students as winners of the 49th Student Academy Awards competition. This year, the Student Academy Awards competition received a total of 1,796 entries from 614 colleges and universities around the world.  

The 2022 winners join the ranks of such past Student Academy Award winners as Patricia Cardoso, Pete Docter, Spike Lee, Patricia Riggen, and Robert Zemeckis.

The winners are (listed alphabetically by category):

Alternative/Experimental

Olivia Peace, “Against Reality,” University of Southern California

Animation

Jan Gadermann and Sebastian Gadow, “Laika & Nemo,” Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg, Germany

Lachlan Pendragon, “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Griffith Film School, Australia

Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard and Nicolas Mayeur, “The Seine’s Tears,” Pôle 3D Digital & Creative School, France

Documentary

Shuhao Tse, “Found,” New York University

Jared Peraglia, “Here to Stay,” New York University

Gabriella Canal and Michael Fearon, “Seasons,” Columbia University

Narrative

Nils Keller, “Almost Home,” University of Television and Film Munich, Germany

Welf Reinhart, “Rooms,” University of Television and Film Munich, Germany

Freddy Macdonald, “Shedding Angels,” American Film Institute

First-time honors go to Pôle 3D Digital & Creative School.

All Student Academy Award-winning films are eligible to compete for 2022 Oscars in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film category.

Past winners have gone on to receive 65 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 14 awards. 

For the first time since 2019, students will participate in an in-person award ceremony on Thursday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles. The medal placements – gold, silver and bronze – in the four award categories will be announced at the ceremony.

The 49th Student Academy Awards ceremony on October 20 is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required. Tickets may be obtained online at oscars.org. The David Geffen Theater is located at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures at 6067 Wilshire Boulevard.

Starting this year, the Student Academy Awards no longer distinguish between domestic (U.S.-based) schools and international (non-U.S.-based) schools for categories.  

All eligible submissions, regardless of where they are from, now qualify for the competition category the filmmaker selected in their submission application.

The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to provide a platform for emerging global talent by creating opportunities within the industry to showcase their work.