Student Academy Awards are organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), to recognize the efforts filmmakers at the graduate and undergraduate level. These awards are meant to honor and encourage the budding filmmakers, primarily in the United States. In Student Academy Award ceremony, the awards are given under four categories - alternative (experimental film), animation, documentary and narrative.
Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has laid down certain rules of application for the filmmakers who want to enter their films for Student Academy Awards. All entrees for the awards must be submitted electronically. In addition, one must print a hard copy of the entry form and submit it together with the DVD of his film, to the appropriate Regional Coordinator. For the entry to be officially completed, the hard copy must contain the applicant’s signature (as the filmmaker), along with the signature of the applicants supervising faculty advisor.
Two different deadlines are provided by the Academy for Student Academy Award applicants - one for the domestic applicants and the other for the foreign applicants. For the year 2009, the deadline for the domestic applications is April 1 and for the foreign applications, the last date is March 24. The student filmmakers must submit their application before or on the said date, as per the rules of the academy.