Here Are The Winners of the 2017 BAFTA Student Film Awards

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced the winners of its 2017 Student Film Awards in a gala ceremony and presentation at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.    The vote for the first ever BAFTA Student Film Award for Animation presented by LAIKA resulted in a tie between Alicja Jasina from the University of Southern California for “Once Upon a Line” and Kal Athannassov, John McDonald and Echo Wu from Ringling College of Art & Design for “The Wishgranter.”  The BAFTA Student Film Award for Documentary was awarded to Daphne Matziaraki from University of California, Berkeley for “4.1 Miles.” The BAFTA Student Film Award for Live Action was awarded to Jimmy Keyrouz from Columbia University for “Nocturne in Black.”

The Special Jury Prize was also presented to Daphne Matziaraki from University of California, Berkeley for “4.1 Miles.”  The panel of Hollywood luminaries included BAFTA and Oscar-nominated directors Ron Clements and John Musker (Moana, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog), Oscar® nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, BAFTA-winning actor Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four), Emmy® nominated director/producer David Gelb (Chef’s Table), and BAFTA-nominated editor Joan Sobel (Nocturnal Animals).

This year as reported by the Hertfordshire Herald, the BAFTA Student Film Awards underwent an international expansion, and this year’s finalists were selected from over 400 submissions by students at film schools in 15 countries across the world, including Argentina, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, India, Israel, Lebanon, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.