Czech filmmaker Viktorie Štěpánová has received a Silver Student Academy Award for Volklore, an experimental short examining how traditional Czech and Moravian folklore is changing in the age of social media.
Štěpánová received the award in the Alternative/Experimental category during a ceremony connected with the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this year’s Student Academy Award winners in August.
The recognition also makes Volklore eligible for consideration at the Academy Awards in the short film categories, giving Štěpánová’s graduation project a potential path from Prague film school to the Oscars.
‘Volklore’ takes Czech traditions into the social media era
Volklore was made as Štěpánová’s graduation film at the Center for Audiovisual Studies at Prague’s Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts, better known internationally as FAMU.
The film explores the transformation of Czech folklore in contemporary society, particularly the ways traditional culture intersects with social media and modern forms of self-presentation.
Its international recognition comes just months after Volklore made its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival earlier this year, providing another showcase for the Czech production before its Student Academy Award success.
“I had a wonderful experience. I won the silver prize, but I feel like we’re all winners,” Štěpánová told Czech News Agency after receiving the award. “I’m also very happy that I was able to showcase Czech and Moravian traditions here.”
According to Czech production company Cinefila, Volklore is the first Czech film to receive a Student Academy Award in the Alternative/Experimental category.
The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to recognize emerging filmmakers from colleges and universities around the world. Winning films have historically provided an early international platform for directors who later established major filmmaking careers.
For Volklore, the award also carries an additional benefit: Student Academy Award winners become eligible for consideration at the Academy Awards, provided they meet the relevant category requirements.
Štěpánová joins Czech filmmakers honored by the Academy
Štěpánová is the latest in a line of Czech filmmakers to receive recognition from the Student Academy Awards.
In 2024, Viktor Horák and Pavel Sýkora received a Student Academy Award for their short drama Krajan (The Compatriot). Czech animator Daria Kashcheeva won in 2019 for Daughter, her FAMU graduation film, which subsequently earned a nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the Academy Awards.
Marie Dvořáková was honored in 2017 for Who’s Who in Mycology, while one of the best-known Czech recipients remains Jan Svěrák, who won a Student Academy Award in 1989 for the mockumentary Ropáci (Oil Gobblers).
Svěrák later returned to the Academy Awards as an established filmmaker, winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for Kolya in 1997.
The latest Student Academy Award comes during another notable year for Czech involvement at the Oscars. Mr. Nobody Against Putin, directed by David Borenstein and Russian teacher Pavel Talankin and made with Czech co-production involvement, won Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Academy Awards.
With its Silver Student Academy Award secured, Volklore now has an opportunity to extend its international festival run as it moves into the next stage of awards consideration.
