The British Academy of Film and Television Arts on Monday announced the 15 finalists for the 2026 BAFTA Student Awards, selected by BAFTA members from more than 600 entries from universities around the world across the Film, Games and Immersive categories.
This year’s selections span seven countries and feature representation for the first time from four schools – the University of Edinburgh, the Beijing Film Academy, the Higher School of Cinema and Audiovisuals of Catalonia, and the National Higher Institute of Presentation Arts and Publishing Technologies – and a female majority, with women representing 21 of the 31 students shortlisted.
An integral part of BAFTA North America’s year-round Learning, Inclusion and Talent programs, the BAFTA Student Awards are an international celebration of the next generation of creative talent in film, games and immersive narrative, inspiring the future of film, television and interactive media.
This year’s winners, who will be selected by a panel of judges including Joel Kim Booster, Heather Callow, Laura Karpman, Smriti Mundra and Nico Santos, will be revealed at an awards ceremony in Los Angeles – at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Meryl Streep Center for Theater Artists – on Friday, July 17. Award-winning and BAFTA-winning broadcaster Elle Osili Wood will host, and the event will be streamed live on Elview’s Twitch channel.
BAFTA will fly the finalists to Los Angeles ahead of the Student Awards Ceremony so they can take part in a curated Experience Week from Monday 13 July to Thursday 16 July, where they will visit film and games studios and take part in workshops with industry professionals and networking events. The week will also include the inaugural BAFTA Gaming Summit, which will be held at Elf’s LA office on Wednesday 15 July, and will be streamed live on the Elfyou Twitch channel, where finalists and viewers at home will have the opportunity to learn about career paths in gaming and get advice from emerging developers. (Elf will also provide a $15,000 grant to support an emerging female or non-binary female developer.)
“The BAFTA Student Awards are a launching pad for the next generation of creative talent, bringing students from around the world to Los Angeles for unparalleled access to industry leaders, peers and career-building opportunities,” said Courtney LaBarge-Bell, Executive Director of BAFTA North America. “We are thrilled that, as a key partner, Elf is supporting female and non-binary game developers with a dedicated grant and helping to expand Experience Week with the inaugural BAFTA Games Summit.”
“At elf, we believe talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not,” said Patrick O’Keefe, Chief Integrated Marketing Officer at elf Brands. “That’s why we’re partnering with BAFTA to honor and celebrate the future of film, gaming and immersive storytelling. What will start as a celebration, will evolve into building a path through accessibility, connection and exposure. When we invest in the next generation, especially women in film and gaming who have been historically underrepresented, we make the entire industry better. This is work, and we’re all in it.”
Below are the final projects (listed alphabetically in each category by film title, directors’ names, and school).
Animation provided by Crunchyroll
gauze
Nouran Fekri Al-Azabi, Nicholas Arroga, Xinyu Ma, Yulin Yu, Xiaonan Zhou
Gobelin, France
Sausaurus
Marie Lombard, Lisa Francillon, Alice Parmentier, Alexandra Bwinsky, Emma Pluchard, Florian Renner
Supinfocom Robica, France
The day I licked a pebble
Julie Atifi, Chloe Bernochon, Flavie Eliezer, Nathan Goose, Maud Kolassa, Marie Pigolet
MOBA School, France
documentary
66 days
Good Bzon
University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Strangers on our land
Zain Karam, Kelsey Oliver
University of California, Berkeley, United States
Speak straight, Duda
Eduardo Maya
University of Southern California, United States
Direct action
Yesterday’s children
Clara Diet Cordi
National Institute of Performing Arts and Propagation Techniques, Belgium
anger
Fran Moreno Blanco, Santi Pujol Amat
Higher School of Cinema, Audiovisual and Catalonia, Spain
The whispers of the waves
Patricia Shaw
Beijing Film Academy, China
games
Candilum
Eva Martinello, Mateo Gomez
Esart Digital, France
kiloton
Jack Morehart
New York University, United States
Wind and fog
Sammy Chuang
University of Southern California, United States
Immersive
lichtung
Aria Wolf
Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, Germany
room
Lee Chu
University of the Arts London, United Kingdom
Sonderambala
Tomis Firas
University of the Arts London, United Kingdom
