Australian students won in four student and alumni categories at the 19th annual SAE International Awards, with three of four students from Byron Bay travelling to Frankfurt in Germany to accept their trophies.
Eight SAE students from Sydney and Byron Bay campuses have been honoured at the 19th annual SAE International Awards, winning in four categories.
Noah Malin from Byron Bay won student Best Film or TV Project for Chasing the Breeze, his short documentary on kitesurfing. Noah’s documentary explores the stories of Ballina kitesurfing enthusiasts Steve and Kenno. It’s also been screened at the Sony Catchlight Film Festival in Sydney and at the Byron Film Festival.
Trinket, a conceptual game trailer following the titular character’s adventures on the back of an ancient huntsman spider by fellow Byron students Jarmila Sustrova, Crystal Wilkes and Alisha Doherty-Hough also won in two categories. Jarmila and Crystal took out the Best Audio Project (Non-Music) category for students and Alisha won the Best VFX or 3D Production category for alumni.
Meanwhile, Sydney students Pranav Patil, Tommy Myihtoi, Albert Luong and Jesse Carturan won in the student Best VFX or 3D Project category for Project Pizzadou.
Best work recognised
The SAE awards recognise the best alumni and student work from SAE’s 48 campuses around the world. Winners receive an SAE International Awards crystal trophy alongside the honour of being celebrated by a distinguished global network of creatives.
The Sydney students and Noah watched the event via livestream from home, while Jarmila, Crystal and Alisha travelled to Frankfurt, Germany for the big evening.
Byron Bay student Noah Malin said, ‘Winning an international award feels incredible, and I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me along the way. There’s nothing quite like seeing my film on the big screen – it’s the ultimate reward.
‘This project took a lot of work to pull together, and I couldn’t have done it without my friend Bodhi, who was there helping out on most production days.’
Byron Bay student Crystal Wilkes spoke on behalf of the Trinket team. ‘It’s truly amazing and an incredible honour to be recognised for both the animation and audio aspects of Trinket in two distinct categories.
‘Initially, we thought it might be impossible for all of us to travel over to Germany together on short notice. However, the SAE community at the Byron Bay campus were incredibly supportive and encouraging of us to attend.’
SAE Acting General Manager Radovan Klusacek said, ‘The awards recognise the best alumni and student projects from across the world, and having our students win in four categories this year is confirmation of the talent, diversity and opportunities we have at our Australian campuses.
‘These awards have established themselves as a springboard to help students make it in the industry, so this is a huge achievement and opportunity for these students.’
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