The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers.

Description

The awards were originally named the Student Film Awards and were first presented in 1973. The current name was adopted effective in 1991. Since 1975, the awards have been given annually. The event has been held in October since 2017 and usually takes place at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California. The awards offer prizes in four categories: alternative (experimental film), animation, documentary, and narrative. Gold, silver, and bronze awards may be given in each category, with accompanying cash grants of $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000, respectively, as of 2005. Since 1981, a separate award has been given annually to a student filmmaker from outside the United States – however in the 49th annual SAA (2022), the academy has merged its domestic and international categories to provide everyone with an equal footing. This reduced the 7 categories (4 domestic & 3 international) into 4 = narrative, animation, alternative/ experimental and documentary. Several award winners have gone on to significant achievement as filmmakers, including Robert Zemeckis, Bob Saget, Spike Lee, Trey Parker, Pete Docter and John Lasseter. Some of the award-winning student films have themselves been nominated for and/or won the Academy Award in the short film categories, including Chicks in White Satin, The Janitor, Karl Hess: Toward Liberty, The Lunch Date, 9, Quiero ser (I want to be...), Gang Cops, The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club, The Red Jacket, On the Line (Auf der Strecke), God of Love, The Confession, 4.1 Miles and Dcera (Daughter). To extend the impact and honor beyond the competition, a compilation presentation of the gold medal award-winning films is circulated each year free of charge to educational and non-profit organizations nationwide. Copies (and some elements) for over 90% of films honored with Student Academy Awards, along with recordings of many of the awards ceremonies, are held by the Academy Film Archive.

List of winners

1970s

1st Annual Student Film Awards – December 20, 1973

2nd Annual Student Film Awards – July 1, 1975

3rd Annual Student Film Awards – June 23, 1976

4th Annual Student Film Awards – May 22, 1977

5th Annual Student Film Awards – May 21, 1978

6th Annual Student Film Awards – June 3, 1979

1980s

7th Annual Student Film Awards – June 8, 1980

8th Annual Student Film Awards – June 7, 1981

9th Annual Student Film Awards – June 6, 1982

10th Annual Student Film Awards – June 5, 1983

11th Annual Student Film Awards – June 10, 1984

12th Annual Student Film Awards – June 16, 1985

13th Annual Student Film Awards – June 8, 1986

14th Annual Student Film Awards – June 7, 1987

15th Annual Student Film Awards – June 12, 1988

16th Annual Student Film Awards – June 11, 1989

1990s

17th Annual Student Film Awards – June 10, 1990

18th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 9, 1991

19th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 14, 1992

20th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 13, 1993

21st Annual Student Academy Awards – June 12, 1994

22nd Annual Student Academy Awards – June 11, 1995

23rd Annual Student Academy Awards – June 9, 1996

24th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 8, 1997

25th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 14, 1998

26th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 13, 1999

2000s

27th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 11, 2000

28th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 10, 2001

29th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 9, 2002

30th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 8, 2003

31st Annual Student Academy Awards – June 13, 2004

32nd Annual Student Academy Awards – June 12, 2005

33rd Annual Student Academy Awards – June 10, 2006

34th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 9, 2007

35th Annual Student Academy Awards – June 7, 2008

36th Annual Student Film Awards – June 13, 2009

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

2010s

37th Annual Student Film Awards – June 12, 2010

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

38th Annual Student Film Awards – June 11, 2011

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

39th Annual Student Film Awards – June 9, 2012

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

40th Annual Student Film Awards – June 8, 2013

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

41st Annual Student Film Awards – June 6, 2014

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

42nd Annual Student Film Awards – September 17, 2015

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

43rd Annual Student Film Awards – September 22, 2016

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

44th Annual Student Film Awards – October 12, 2017

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

45th Annual Student Film Awards – October 11, 2018

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

46th Annual Student Film Awards – October 17, 2019

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater

2020s

47th Annual Student Film Awards – October 21, 2020

Site: Virtual event

48th Annual Student Film Awards – October 21, 2021

Site: Virtual event

49th Annual Student Film Awards – October 20, 2022

Site: David Geffen Theater

50th Annual Student Film Awards – October 24, 2023

Site: Samuel Goldwyn Theater