Meet your Top Screen 2026 Jury Prize winners

L-R: Zoe Bryant (Jury Prize first runner up), Jake Symes (Jury Prize winner) and Andrew Nguyen (Jury Prize second runner up)
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L-R: Zoe Bryant (Jury Prize first runner up), Jake Symes (Jury Prize winner) and Andrew Nguyen (Jury Prize second runner up)

 

The VCAA congratulates the Top Screen 2026 Jury Prize winners:

  • Winner: Jake Symes from Padua College, Mornington for the film Embers of the past
  • 1st runner-up: Zoe Bryant from Footscray Highschool for the animation Connecting Materials
  • 2nd runner-up: Andrew Nguyen from Balwyn High School for the film Steady, As She Goes

Each year, the VCAA awards Top Screen Jury Prizes to VCE Media students from the previous year, to celebrate outstanding filmmaking talent and encourage further development of skills and passion. 

This award is supported by the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) and ACMI.

The Jury Prize winners were selected by an esteemed panel of industry judges, including Kate Fitzpatrick, Senior Programmer at MIFF, Garry Westmore, Senior Producer, Schools Programs at ACMI, and Alice McShane, Conference Programmer at the Australian International Documentary Conference.

Winners received a MIFF multipass, an ACMI membership, and are invited to join the MIFF Schools Youth Jury for 2026. MIFF Schools is an initiative that aims to enrich the cinema experience for younger viewers and returns in 2026 as part of MIFF’s 74th edition. School bookings for MIFF open 7 May.

View the 2026 Top Screen program, now showing at ACMI until Tuesday 5 May and at Geelong Arts Centre for one-day only on Monday 11 May.