The Student Academy Awards
Championing new voices in filmmaking
The Student Academy Awards provide a platform for emerging global talent by creating opportunities within the industry to showcase their work.
An enduring commitment to the future of cinema
The Student Academy Awards, supported by Rolex since 2017, are an international student film awards programme, and a cornerstone initiative of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Since their launch in 1972, the Awards have expanded their global reach and amplified their impact, reinforcing Rolex’s long-standing support for the preservation and advancement of cinematic arts.
Supporting the filmmakers of tomorrow
The annual Student Academy Awards have played a pivotal role in supporting young creatives who demonstrate originality, technical skill and a powerful narrative vision, at a crucial stage in their careers. Each year, college and university film students from all over the world submit films for consideration in the following categories: Animation, Documentary, Live Action Narrative and Alternative/Experimental.
Over the decades, the Student Academy Awards have been a launchpad for many prominent voices in the industry. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 70 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 15 awards. Among them is celebrated director and associate of the Perpetual Arts Initiative Spike Lee, who won a Student Academy Award in 1983 for his film Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, marking the early emergence of one of American cinema’s most influential storytellers.
