Film academy honors 16 Student Academy Award winners

"I'd like to thank the academy" is a phrase many only ever get to say in front of their bathroom mirrors. But 16 student filmmakers actually got to utter those words on stage Thursday at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in Beverly Hills.

Not only that: They're all also eligible to compete in the 2020 Academy Awards. That's the power of the Student Academy Awards, an event that is now in its 46th year.

It was an emotional night for many, like Kalee McCollaum of Brigham Young University.

"I never thought those words would come out of my mouth," she said on the stage flanked by two giant Oscar statuettes in the Samuel L. Goldwyn theater. McCollaum won the gold medal for animation for her short, "Grendel."

Winners are now eligible for the animated short, live action short and documentary short categories at the Oscars.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who co-directed "The Lego Movie," presented the animation awards, deadpanning that "no one ever thanks the presenter."

"I opened three envelopes, I got two paper cuts," Miller said.

Winners join an esteemed list of past Student Academy Award winners like Pete Docter, Cary Fukunaga, Spike Lee, Patricia Riggen and Robert Zemeckis.

"Queen & Slim" director Melina Matsoukas, who presented the narrative awards, said she had joked earlier about how she was never invited to the awards when she was a film student.

"Now I understand why, that was incredible," Matsoukas said, following a highlight reel of the projects.

Zoel Aeschbacher, of Switzerland, took the gold prize in the international narrative category for his drama, "Bonobo," about how a broken elevator affects the residents of a public housing unit.

"I wasn't expecting the gold one," he said, nervously telling the audience that he bought a special suit for the event.

Princess Garrett, of Villanova University, who won for her documentary short, "Sankofa," about the loss of African identity in black males, gave a spirited speech alongside her large crew.

"Being complacent is not the answer," Garrett said. "If you are not fighting to end the problem, you are the problem."

Some were a little less enthusiastic about the spotlight, however.

"After all those speeches I think I might be too shy for this kind of situation," said Yifan Sun, of Poland, who won the gold medal in the international documentary category for "Family," about a girl adopted by a Belgian family who finds her birth family in China.

Presenter Rory Kennedy assured her that she did "a fantastic job."

And Asher Jelinsky, who is gender nonbinary, won the domestic narrative category for "Miller & Son," about a trans woman who works at an auto shop during the day and can be herself at night. Authenticity in casting was of utmost importance to Jelinsky.

"This film would have not been nearly as impactful without your talent," Jelinsky said to the film's star, Jesse James Keitel.

There were 1,615 entries from 360 colleges and universities around the world. Categories recognized include narrative, documentary, animated and alternative/experimental productions by American and international college students.

Winners are voted on by members of the film academy. This year a record 752 members participated.

The Student Academy Awards is a tradition dating back to 1973 that helps spotlight emerging talent. Tickets to the ceremony are free to the public, who stand in line outside hoping to get a spot in the room.

"You are the future of film: a future that is diverse, international and very bright," said film academy president David Rubin. "On behalf of all the members of the academy, we can't wait to see the stories you next tell."

The 2019 Student Academy Award winners:

— "Patron Saint," Georden West, Emerson College

— "Game Changer," Aviv Mano, Ringling College of Art and Design

— "Grendel," Kalee McCollaum, Brigham Young University

— "Two," Emre Okten, University of Southern California

— "Daughter," Daria Kashcheeva, Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts, Prague

— "All That Remains," Eva Rendle, University of California, Berkeley

— "Sankofa," Princess Garrett, Villanova University

— "Something to Say," Abby Lieberman and Joshua Lucas, Columbia University

— "Family," Yifan Sun, The Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School, Lodz

— "Miller & Son," Asher Jelinsky, American Film Institute

— "The Chef," Hao Zheng, American Film Institute

— "Tree #3," Omer Ben-Shachar, American Film Institute

— "Bonobo," Zoel Aeschbacher, Ecole Cantonale d'Art de Lausanne (ECAL)

— "Dog Eat Dog," Rikke Gregersen, Westerdals Kristiania University College

— "November 1st," Charlie Manton, National Film and Television School

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).

Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.

That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.

In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.

Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.

In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.

“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.

Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.

It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.

“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.

It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.

While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.

“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.

Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.

Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)