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Academy Announces Winners for 2009 Student Academy Awards®

May 18, 2009

Beverly Hills, CA (RPRN) 5/18/2009--– Twelve students from eight U.S. colleges and universities have been named winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 36th Annual Student Academy Awards competition. They will participate in a week of industry-related activities and social events, culminating in the awards ceremony on June 13 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. One film student from Sweden also has been selected to receive this year’s Honorary Foreign Film award.


The winners are (listed alphabetically by film title within category):
Alternative
“Alice's Attic,” Robyn Yannoukos, University of California, Los Angeles
“Matter in a Quiescent State, Prepares Itself to Be Transformed,” Kwibum Chung, School of Visual Arts, New York
Animation
“Kites,” Jed Henry, Brigham Young University
“Pajama Gladiator,” Glenn Harmon, Brigham Young University
“Sebastian's Voodoo,” Joaquin Baldwin, University of California, Los Angeles
Documentary
“The Last Mermaids,” Liz Chae, Columbia University
“A Place to Land,” Lauren DeAngelis, American University, Washington, D.C.
“The Wait,” Cassandra Lizaire and Kelly Asmuth, Columbia University
Narrative
“Bohemibot,” Brendan Bellomo, New York University
“The Bronx Balletomane,” Jeremy Joffee, City College of New York
“Kavi,” Gregg Helvey, University of Southern California
Honorary Foreign Film

“Elkland,” Per Hanefjord, Dramatiska Institutet, Sweden
While the U.S. winners know they will each receive an award, their placement – Gold, Silver or Bronze – will not be revealed until the June 13 ceremony. Gold Medal winners receive cash grants of $5,000, Silver Medal winners receive $3,000 and Bronze Medal winners receive $2,000. The Honorary Foreign Film winner receives a $1,000 cash grant.
The U.S. students first competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region was permitted to send as many as three finalist films in each of four award categories. Academy members then screened the finalists’ films and voted to select the winners.
“Elkland,” the Honorary Foreign Film winner, was selected from a pool of 57 entries representing 39 countries.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award® winners have gone on to receive 37 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared six awards. Two former Student Academy Award winners were nominees at the 81st Academy Awards held earlier this year – Pete Docter, who earned a Student Academy Award in 1992, received his fourth nomination for the Original Screenplay for “WALL-E,” and Reto Caffi, last year's Honorary Foreign Film award winner, received his first nomination for the live action short film “Auf der Strecke (On the Line).”

Tickets for the 36th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony, at which the Gold Medal-winning films and the Honorary Foreign Film will be screened in their entirety, are free and available now. A maximum of four tickets may be requested online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office, by mail, or by calling the Student Academy Awards department at (310) 247-3000, ext. 130. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 13, at 6 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Doors open at 5 p.m. All seating is unreserved.

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About the Academy
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.
©A.M.P.A.S.®
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
8949 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, CA 90211-1972
(310) 247-3000 | www.oscars.org | publicity@oscars.org

CONTACT: Tarrah Curtis – (310) 247-3090
tcurtis@oscars.org

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