The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is going to host its first-ever awards ceremony outside the US to honour student filmmakers in London.

Taking place on October 14 in Leicester Square, the event will mark the first international edition of the Academy’s prestigious Student Academy Awards. The move reflects the Academy’s increasingly global membership, which has expanded significantly in recent years.

Winners, pre-announced this week, will include Au Revoir Mon Monde, a French animated movie about a man trapped in a giant fish costume who attempts to race across a city as the world ends in a mysterious meteor shower. Others include an experimental movie about teenage sexual awakening from Taiwan, a short film set during China’s 1910 plague outbreak, and a documentary from a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Gold, silver and bronze placements for the winners will be announced at the ceremony, with all winning films eligible to compete at the main Oscars next March.

“As a leader in our international film community, and as our organisation becomes more global in focus, the Academy is thrilled to bring the Student Academy Awards to London this year,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer.

All films that receive a Student Academy Award will qualify for consideration in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, or Documentary Short Film categories at the 97th Oscars. Previous recipients of these awards have collectively earned 67 Oscar nominations, with 12 of them winning or sharing an Oscar. Past winners at the awards include Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis and Cary Fukunaga.

With around 20 per cent of its members now hailing from outside the US, the Academy continues to grow its global reach. This year, over half of the newly invited members were from overseas.