AFDA films selected as candidates for Student Oscars

The films nominated for the most sought-after awards in cinema are: Johannesburg fourth-year narrative film Mallemeule, directed by Jaco van Bosch; third-year Johannesburg animation film Lullaby from the Crypt, directed by Keenan Lott and Raven Davids; and fourth-year Johannesburg documentary film Ko Ga Cherenyane, directed by Sibonokuhle Myataza. The candidates were selected from over sixty AFDA graduation films.

The three films have also been nominated for the CILECT Prize, the largest and most prestigious International Association of Film and Television Schools.

The Oscar for Best Foreign Student Film was won by AFDA in 2006 with the film Elalini, directed by Tristan Holmes, and the film Kanye Kanye, directed by Miklas Manneke, was a finalist for Best Foreign Film in 2013.

Behind the scenes on the production of Mallemeule.

The Student Academy Awards is an international student film competition conducted by the Academy and the Academy Foundation. Each year over 1,700 college and university film students from all over the world compete for awards and cash grants, with films being judged in seven categories, four domestic school categories (Animation, Documentary, Narrative and Alternative) and three international school categories (Animation, Documentary and Narrative). The presentation ceremony is a popular event that is annually attended by a capacity audience in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Past winners have gone on to receive 57 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 10 awards. The 2016 Student Academy Award winner received an Oscar nomination in the Documentary Short Subject category: Daphne Matziaraki, a Gold Medal winner in the Documentary category for 4.1 Miles. Past Student Academy Award winners include acclaimed filmmakers Pete Docter, Cary Fukunaga, John Lasseter, Spike Lee, Trey Parker and Robert Zemeckis.

In 1972, the Academy established the Student Academy Awards to provide a platform for emerging global filmmakers by creating opportunities within the industry to showcase their work.

The 45th Student Academy Awards presentation will be held on Thursday, October 11, at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

AFDA would like to congratulate the cast and crew on this prestigious nomination and wish them the best of luck when the finalists and winners are announced later this year.