Another film, The Chef, directed by Hao Zheng from the American Film Institute, won the silver medal in the Narrative (Domestic Film Schools) category. The film, a dark comedy drama set in a future where all laborious work is done by androids, focuses on Pu, a Chinese chef in his 60s who is ordered to teach one of them his cooking skills.

"The award is not only for me, but also for the many Chinese students who come to the United States to study film art," says the young director, noting that he hopes to show Chinese culture to the Western world through his films.

The producer and co-writer of The Chef, Deng Yixian, says the story is a thought-provoking look at the historical pattern of human development and its future.

Another co-writer of the film, Kong Leqi, attributes the success of the film to teamwork, noting that those integral to the production hail from China and other Asian countries.

The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Among them, previous Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 62 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 12 awards.

This year, the Student Academy Awards competition received a total of 1,615 entries from 255 US colleges and universities and 105 applications from international schools. The filmmakers' works are judged in seven categories-four domestic school categories (animation, documentary, narrative and alternative) and three international school categories (animation, documentary and narrative).