Student Academy Awards honor 10

The Academy Awards are the grandest recognition someone in entertainment can receive. The Student Academy Awards then hope to be a predictor of future success.

USA Today reports that Heather Burky, from the Art Institute of Jacksonville (Fla.), took a prize in the documentary section for Lost Country, which looks at three Cuban expatriates who fought Fidel Castro.

Burky’s win was one of the highlights as she didn’t get in to film making until after the birth of her third child, when she was 33.

The student awards are organized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which also administers the annual Academy Awards. Recipients of Student Academy Awards have earned 43 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight Academy Awards.

USA Today reports that past winners include such big names as Spike Lee, Pixar’s John Lasseter, and Trey Parker of South Park fame.

The Associated Press reports that half of the 10 winners hailed from Southern California.

The complete list of winners was as follows:

Animation

Eyrie, David Wolter, California Institute of the Arts (Valencia)
The Jockstrap Raiders,Mark Nelson, University of California-Los Angeles
My Little Friend, Eric Prah, Ringling College of Art and Design (Sarasota, Fla.)

Documentary

Dying Green, Ellen Tripler, American University (Washington, D.C.)
Hiro: A Story of Japanese Internment, Keiko Wright, New York University
Lost Country, Heather Burky, Art Institute of Jacksonville (Fla.)

Narrative

Nani, Justin Tipping, American Film Institute (Los Angeles)
Narcocorrido, Ryan Prows, American Film Institute (Los Angeles)
Under, Mark Raso, Columbia University (New York)

Alternative

The Reality Clock, Amanda Tasse, University of Southern California

The Student Academy Awards, represented by a gold medal, were established in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level.

(Photo courtesy of www.oscars.org)