Many film students imagine walking down the red carpet at the Academy Awards in anticipation of receiving a coveted Oscar.

This dream can become reality when students submit entries to the 28th Annual Student Academy Awards, sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Academy sponsors this event to encourage young filmmakers with no professional experience and also to have their work previewed by the same people who judge the Oscars. The films will be viewed by the Academy membership in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The Academy judges films in the categories of alternative, animated, documentary and narrative.

There is also a special category for foreign film entries.

The alternative category encompasses films that explore the boundaries of modern filmmaking with new techniques and methods.

The animation category includes cel, clay and computer animation as well as other techniques.

Documentaries are judged as film essays whose purpose is to inform or move the audience.

The narrative film portrays life or some aspect of life by telling a story to the viewer.

All the submissions must be part of an accredited college or university's curriculum and must have been completed after April 2, 2000. Entries will only be accepted on half-inch VHS (NTSC) videotape.

However, if chosen as a finalist, the student must submit a 16mm format or larger within seven days to the Academy.

National winners will be flown to Los Angeles for a week of meeting and greeting with Hollywood executives and an awards ceremony.

The presentation will take place at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater on June 10.

Along with the award, winning students will receive monetary prizes ranging from $2,000 to $5,000.

Students wishing to submit a film must do so by the April 2 deadline in order to be considered for this year.

Applications can be obtained from the Academy's Web site, www.oscars.org/saa.

Or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, California 90211, Attn: Student Academy Awards.