April 23, 2020
Los Angeles – The Directors Guild of America (DGA) today announced that the application period for the 26th Annual DGA Student Film Awards is now open. The awards are designed to honor, encourage and bring attention to exceptional direction by diverse student filmmakers in film schools and select universities across the country.
Over the years, the DGA Student Film Awards have highlighted dozens of African American, Asian American, Latino and Women filmmakers. Winners of the DGA Student Film Awards in each category will receive a $2,500 prize from the DGA and have their films screened in a ceremony at the DGA Theater on future dates to be determined.
A number of past winners have gone on to enjoy successful directing careers, including:
- Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II, Grown-ish, Rapture, The Land)
- Jon M. Chu (In the Heights, Crazy Rich Asians, Now You See Me 2; G.I. Joe: Retaliation)
- Ryan Coogler (Black Panther; Creed; Fruitvale Station)
- Nicole Kassell (Watchmen; Castle Rock; Westworld; The Americans)
- Patricia Riggen (Surveillance; Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan; Miracles From Heaven; The 33)
- Sylvain White (The Rookie; Slender Man, The Americans; Stomp the Yard)
This year’s application period runs to October 16, 2020, and the winners in each category will be announced in November.
Eligible films must be made in the 2019/2020 school year (September 2019 through August 2020), and produced as a student project under the supervision of a faculty member. Dramas, comedies and documentaries are all eligible. Animated films, experimental films, commercials, music videos and webisodes are not eligible. Applicants must be enrolled in, or be a recent (one-year) graduate from, an accredited post-secondary institution located in the United States and selected by the DGA. Eligible films are those in which students hold every major crew position.
The DGA Student Film Awards application and submission process is entirely online.
For more information, or to apply, visit the Student Film Awards page.