California film schools enjoyed a clean sweep of the top honors at the Student Academy Awards on Thursday night, with students from Chapman University, the Academy of Art University, USC and the American Film Institute taking gold medals in the four categories open to U.S. films.
The Hamburg Media School in Germany won the gold medal in the Foreign Film category.
The 14 winning films (and 15 winning filmmakers) had previously been announced by the Academy, but the medal placement was a secret until Thursday’s ceremony at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The ceremony capped a week of events for the student winners.