BAFTA Announces Winners Of The 2019 Student Film Awards

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners of the 2019 BAFTA Student Film Awards presented by Global Student Accommodation (GSA) in a gala ceremony and presentation on July 9 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

The BAFTA Student Film Award for Animation was awarded to Léo Brunel, Loris Cavalier, Camille Jalabert and Oscar Malet from École des Nouvelles Images, France for "Hors Piste." TheBAFTA Student Film Award for Documentary was awarded to Ingrid Holmquist and Sana Malik from Columbia University for "Guanajuato Norte." The BAFTA Student Film Award for Live Actionwas awarded to Asher Jelinsky from American Film Institute for "Miller & Son."

The Special Jury Prize was presented to Rikke Gregersen from Kristiania University College, Norway for "Dog Eat Dog."

Additionally, the BAFTA-GSA Short Film Commissioning Grant was awarded to Drama Del Rosario from New York Film Academy for his documentary, "I'm Okay (And Neither Are You)," and Lola Blanche Higgins from AFI Conservatory for her short film project, "Kissy and the Shark." Drama Del Rosario and Lola Blanche Higgins will share the USD 12,000 commissioning grant, which was launched this year to provide filmmakers with a platform to raise awareness and encourage change in how wellbeing is understood amongst 15 to 25-year-olds.

The Special Jury of industry luminaries included actress and writer Jillian Bell (Brittany Runs a Marathon, 22 Jump Street, Office Christmas Party), director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4), director Aurora Guerrero (Mosquita y Mari, Los Valientes, Pandora's), director Victoria Mahoney (Seven Seconds, Yelling to the Sky), cinematographer Michael McDonough (Leave No Trace, Winter's Bone, Bosch), actress Andrea Riseborough (Birdman, Oblivion).

Following a record number of submissions for this year's Awards, the finalists have been selected from over 550 submissions by students at film schools in 38 countries across the world. The finalist filmmakers were from France, Norway, the Czech Republic, Lebanon, China, the U.K. and the U.S. The finale week in Los Angeles also included a series of curated meetings, tours and industry experiences for the traveling filmmakers.

"I was very surprised at how human every single story I saw was - everything from the documentaries to the live action fiction to the animation, everything was so extremely human and personal. I cried with laughter and then I cried with tears of emotion just at how amazing they all were," said Special Jury member Josh Cooley. "I'm not worried about the future of filmmaking at all. All I know is I'm gonna get stock in Kleenex because these films were so emotional in such great ways. I'm so honored to be here."

"I think that across the board, the craftsmanship [of the films] was really high so that doesn't surprise me, it excites me. It makes me feel hopeful for this new generation of filmmakers. I think what sort of put me at ease and made me feel like 'right on!' was that a lot of the films tried to tell stories that have a social, cultural, political story to it, and I think that right now it's something that is important to do with film," said Special Jury member Aurora Guerrero.

GSA's Global COO, James Granger, who presented the 2019 BAFTA-GSA Short Film Commissioning Grant, said, "We're immensely proud to have launched this initiative alongside BAFTA and could not have hoped for more deserving winners. As global leaders in student living, we know how important positive mental health and student wellbeing are to a thriving society, and we fully believe that projects such as Lola's and Drama's can make a real difference. We're certain BAFTA's support will be invaluable to them both, and we can't wait to see the final result of all their hard work."

For the first time, Netflix sponsored the BAFTA Student Film Awards, as a continuation of their support of BAFTA's worldwide initiatives, including the BAFTA Breakthrough Brits program, championing the next generation of creative talent across film, games and television in the U.K. and internationally.

In 2018, the BAFTA Student Film Award for Animation presented by LAIKA was awarded to Beth David and Esteban Bravo from Ringling College of Art and Design for "In a Heartbeat." TheBAFTA Student Film Award for Documentary was awarded to Lindsey Parietti from the University of the West of England, U.K. for "Blood Island," while the BAFTA Student Film Award for Live Action was awarded to Kevin Wilson Jr. from New York University for "My Nephew Emmett." The Special Jury Prize was presented to Lucia Bulgheroni from National Film and Television School, U.K. for "Inanimate." The panel of industry luminaries included Amy Adrion (Half the Picture), Jen McGowan (Kelly & Cal, Rust Creek), Justin Simien (Dear White People), Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure, Cool Runnings), Kim Yutani (Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival) and writing duo Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais (The Commitments, Flushed Away). The finalists were selected from over 460 films submitted by schools in 35 countries, with each school submitting their best films for consideration.