Student filmmakers received awards Saturday night at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., from presenters including actor Gary Oldman, director John Landis, animator Andreas Deja and Robert Rehme, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first vice-president.

Twelve students from eight U.S. colleges and universities received gold, silver and bronze medals and cash prizes in four film categories at the Academy's 36th annual Student Academy Awards ceremony.

Columbia University student Liz Chae won the gold medal in the documentary category for The Last Mermaids, a film about female Korean divers.

Kavi, a short film about an Indian boy forced to work, by the University of Southern California's Gregg Helvey, took the top prize for narrative films.

Pajama Gladiator, a computer-animated short film about a boy who is caught stealing cookies, by Glenn Harmon of Brigham Young University, took the gold in the animation category.

And Robyn Yannoukos of the University of California, Los Angeles, took the first prize in the alternative category for Alice's Attic.

Winners of gold medals received $5,000 US; $3,000 US for silver medals; and $1,000 US for bronze medals.

The honorary foreign film award went to Per Hanefjord of the Dramatiska Institutet in Stockholm for Elkland.

Established in 1962 by the Academy to support university and college filmmakers, past winners include comedian and actor Bob Saget, director Spike Lee, director Robert Zemeckis and South Park creator Trey Parker.