Academy Honors Best of Student Filmmakers : Movies: A drama about college study habits and an animated short with dancing G.I. Joes are among the medal-winners at 18th annual ceremony.

Dressed in standard black attire or traditional suits with “personal statement” ties, honored student filmmakers gathered at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Sunday night for the 18th annual Student Academy Awards, which have previously honored filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Saget.

Four films were honored out of 306 national entries for categories in best animation, best drama, best documentary, and the Directors Guild Student Award. An Honorary Foreign Film Award was presented to one recipient out of 23 films entered in the competition from 18 different countries. All of the winners were awarded cash prizes and trophies.

The winner of the Gold Medal Award for the best dramatic film was Steve Pearl of Loyola Marymount University for his 27-minute film titled, “The Dog Ate It,” a film about a college student whose horrible study habits are mystically transformed overnight, giving him a new edge on life. Pearl also received the Directors Guild Student Award, which includes a 13-week internship observing a director at work, a $1,000 stipend and travel expenses. Pearl has already signed with Robinson Weintraub Gross and Associates.

“I’d like to think (the film) is autobiographical for anyone in college who thinks that they can get it done at the last minute,” the 29-year-old Pearl said. “I used a professional dog, but my dog does eat everything.”

In the foreign film category, filmmaker Zsuzsa Boszormenyi, 22, of Szinhaz-Es Filmmuveszeti Foiskola film school in Budapest won for a documentary titled “Once Upon A Time,” a 22-minute film that captures the beginning of a relationship between an elderly woman and her 4-year-old foster daughter.

Winning the Gold Medal for animation was Gregory P. Grant of the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara for his film, “Ode To G.I. Joe.” The five-minute film brings G.I. Joes to life after a boy leaves his room, with the military dolls dancing in unison to the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There,” doing the limbo, taking photographs of themselves and diving into the boy’s fish aquarium.

Sue Marcoux from Stanford University won a Gold Medal for best documentary for an autobiographical film titled “Twinsburg, OH: Some Kind of Weird Twin Thing.” The 27-minute film follows Marcoux, 24, and her identical twin sister, Michelle, as they reunite at a twins convention in Ohio after the two have had a falling out. Marcoux sold the film to PBS, which will air it in June, she said.

Other winners in the Dramatic Awards category were Jim Lincoln and Lisa Swain of Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., both of whom received Silver Medal Awards for their film “Turtle Races.” The 56-minute film is about a runner who discovers through an injury that there is more to a race than just winning. And recipients of the Bronze Medal in the Dramatic Awards category were Dan Moran and Joel Kuchan of Columbia College in Chicago for their film “Andy’s Got a Girlfriend,” a film about a boy who tries to follow in his father’s footsteps as a star athlete, but finds his true path when he meets his first love.

These filmmakers are now eligible to compete in the Oscars next year with their award-winning films or new films. Adam Davidson’s “The Lunch Date” won the Gold Medal for best dramatic student film last year, the Directors Guild award for a student film and the Academy Award for best short dramatic film. He is currently co-scripting a film with Milos Forman.