MEDIA CONTACT Academy Publicity  publicity@oscars.orgSeptember 14, 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AWARD PLACEMENTS REVEALED AT  2026 STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS® STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS CEREMONY HELD IN TORONTO WITH THE SUPPORT OF LONGTIME  ACADEMY PARTNER ROLEX

ALL WINNING FILMS NOW ELIGIBLE FOR 99TH OSCARS®

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tonight honored its student winners from colleges and universities around the world at the 53rd Student Academy Awards® ceremony. Gold, Silver and Bronze placements were announced and trophies presented during a ceremony held at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) inside TIFF Lightbox at Reitman Square, in partnership with Rolex. This year, the Student Academy Awards competition received 2,972 entries from 894 colleges and universities worldwide. With remarks by Academy CEO Bill Kramer, Academy Directors Branch Governor and Academy Museum Trustee Jason Reitman and Academy Foundation Board President and Casting Directors Branch Governor Kim Taylor-Coleman, the night’s category presenters included Actors Branch member Gemma Chan, Oscar® nominee and Documentary Branch member Liz Garbus and Actors Branch member Gael García Bernal.  The 2026 ceremony is available to view on the Academy’s YouTube channel with American Sign Language (ASL) here. High-resolution event photos will be available for download here.  The 2026 Student Academy Award placements are: Alternative/Experimental Gold: Lei He, “Drifting,” Duke University, United States Silver: Viktorie Štěpánová, “Volklore,” Filmová a Televizní Fakulta Akademie Múzických Umění v Praze (FAMU), Czech Republic Bronze: Nina Broers, “Where Is My Sex Drive?” St. Joost School of Art & Design, Netherlands Animation Gold: Jonathan Lally, Elio Molinaro & Nicolás Acevedo Ferraté, “COWS,” École Supérieure de Métiers Artistiques (ESMA), France Silver: Matthias Strasser, “The Panic Inside,” Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, Germany Bronze: Noran Fikri Alezabi, Xinyue Ma & Yulin Yue, “Gauze,” Gobelins, France Documentary Gold: Lara Dihmis, “The Last People of Petra,” New York University, United States  Silver: Jason Elliott, “I Want to Live,” National Film and Television School, United Kingdom Bronze: Arjun Fischer, “Artificial Love,” University of Southern California, United States Narrative Gold: Stanzin Jigmet, “The Dragon Letter,” Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (ESCAC), Spain Silver: Antoine Boulanger, “The Pichenotte,” Concordia University, Canada Bronze: Leon Korzyński, “Kamathipura Express,” Warsaw Film School, Poland First-time honors go to students from Concordia University, Duke University, École Supérieure de Métiers Artistiques (ESMA), Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (ESCAC), St. Joost School of Art and Design and Warsaw Film School. Academy members from all 19 branches are invited to opt in to view and vote for the Student Academy Awards. Voting is done by secret online ballot and tabulated by the independent accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Following the ceremony, winners are paired with Academy members and receive robust educational programming, networking opportunities, and exclusive access to Academy members to support their career advancement through the Academy Gold Mentorship Program and Alumni Network.  All Student Academy Award-winning films will be eligible to compete for the 99th Oscars® in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film category. The 2026 winners join the ranks of such past Student Academy Award winners as Patricia Cardoso, Pete Docter, Spike Lee, Patricia Riggen and Robert Zemeckis. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 70 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 15 awards. Rolex is supporting the Student Academy Awards through its partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, reflecting its ongoing commitment to fostering excellence, achievement and the transfer of cinematic knowledge to the next generation. The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to provide a platform for emerging global talent by creating opportunities within the film industry to showcase their work.# # #