Ladakhi filmmaker Stanzin Jigmet has won Gold in the Narrative category at the 53rd Student Academy Awards for his short film The Dragon Letter, a Ladakhi and Catalan-language story set in a strict boarding school in the Himalayas.
The 14-minute film follows a shy 10-year-old boy struggling to write a letter to his sponsor abroad. As he attempts to produce the kind of letter expected of him, his effort reveals a truth that no perfect letter could express.
The Academy announced the award placements Sept. 14 at a ceremony held at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, in partnership with the Toronto International Film Festival. The Dragon Letter, directed by Jigmet while he was a student at the Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (ESCAC) in Spain, received Gold in the Narrative category.
The film was selected from 2,972 entries submitted by students at 894 colleges and universities worldwide. The Narrative category also awarded Silver to Antoine Boulanger’s The Pichenotte and Bronze to Leon Korzyński’s Kamathipura Express.
The Academy had announced the 2026 Student Academy Award winners in August, but the Gold, Silver and Bronze placements were revealed at the Sept. 14 ceremony. The Dragon Letter had therefore already been named a Student Academy Award winner before its Gold placement was announced.
All Student Academy Award-winning films are eligible to compete for the 99th Oscars in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film categories.
