The Student Academy Awards

One of the Academy's most popular annual events is the Student Academy Awards ceremony, which honors outstanding student filmmakers from across the country and abroad.   This year's winners will follow in some formidable footsteps. Past Student Academy Award winners have earned 45 Oscar nominations (individual or collaborative), directed two films that received the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film, received a Special Achievement Oscar, and won or shared eight Academy Awards. Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis, John Lasseter, Pete Docter and Trey Parker are among the Student Academy Award winners who went on to prominent filmmaking careers.

Awards are presented in five categories: alternative, animation, documentary, foreign and narrative. The finalists are announced in advance, but their placement - gold, silver or bronze medal - is not revealed until the June 9 ceremony. Notable Academy members will serve as presenters, and clips from each of the winning films will be shown. Following the awards presentation, the gold medal-winning films will be screened in their entirety.

Admission is free, but advance tickets (limit of 4) are required. Visit the Awards section of oscars.org to learn more about this year's awards and the rich history of this program.