TAU alumnus Meyer Levinson-Blount wins a Student Academy Award

It’s not every day that a film student gets to live every creator’s dream — to walk the red carpet, hear the applause in a glittering New York theater, and win one of the most coveted prizes in the film world.
Meyer Levinson-Blount, a graduate of Tel Aviv University’s Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, did exactly that when he won second place in the narrative category of the Student Academy Awards for his film Butchers’ Mark.

“At the end of the evening, we found ourselves sitting in a restaurant, trying to understand what had just happened,” Levinson-Blount recalls. “And what happened is simple: thanks to Tel Aviv University, we got to experience a once-in-a-lifetime evening — something not everyone gets to have.”

The Oscar was waiting for them. Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi

A Global Stage for Emerging Filmmakers

The Student Academy Awards, granted annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, aim to nurture the next generation of filmmakers around the world.
The competition is considered one of the most prestigious and influential in the field, with thousands of films submitted each year from academic institutions worldwide. Winners are selected for artistic quality, originality, and creative courage, and the award is widely regarded as a gateway to the international film industry.

Like the Halls of TAU’s Film Department — Only with a Tuxedo

Levinson-Blount says he truly grasped the significance of the moment only when he arrived at the ceremony at New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom:
“There was a red carpet at the entrance, journalists interviewing the winners, and inside a big open bar and a giant Oscar statue for photos,” he shares. “The night before, we stayed up late working on the speech — I even prepared a pitch document with a QR code for our next productions. At the event, we met filmmakers, producers, and academics — it felt like home, just like the corridors of TAU’s Film Department, only with tuxedos.”

The film’s plot, inspired by Meyer’s experience working at a supermarket in the fall of 2023, follows Samir, an Arab butcher in Tel Aviv accused of removing posters of the hostages, who sets out on a journey to prove his innocence.
The film explores themes of suspicion and racism in the wake of the October 7 events, portraying their complexity from a human, sensitive, and thought-provoking perspective.

From the film Butchers’ Mark. Actor Omer Samir

Gratitude and Partnership

Levinson-Blount, who immigrated to Israel from the United States about a decade ago, expressed heartfelt thanks to his creative partners after the win:
“I’m overjoyed for this opportunity — I prayed a lot for this moment,” he said. “Thank you to Oron Caspi, the film’s producer, and Omer Samir, the lead actor — I couldn’t have done it without you.”