Brandeis Language Oscars
Brandeis Language Oscars is a fun competition among students who are finishing their second semester of a language study.
Students in the level-20 courses create an original video that showcases their creativity and conversational skills in the target language. Each participating language selects one video to represent their group at the Language Oscars during a festive viewing event. A jury panel consisting of faculty members from all participating languages votes to select the first- and second-place winners, who receive cash prizes.
This WLC initiative was launched in spring 2013 to showcase language-learning at Brandeis and is supported by the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences.
2026 Brandeis Language Oscars Winners
Enjoy all the participating videos in the 2026 Language Video Competition. Multilingual, with English subtitles. Created by second-semester language students.
For more events and activities, follow Brandeis Language Learning on Instagram.
Presented by the World Languages and Cultures Committee and Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences.
First Place - Russian
The Class / Класс
Jaclyn Torikashvili’ 28, Arwen King’ 26, Cassidy Flanagan’ 27
Instructor: Irina Dubinina
Second Place - Arabic
The teacher on the mountain / الأستاذة في الجبل
Janna Houjazy’ 29, Jelle Mustefa’ 29, EM Clemens’ 28, Stella Barr’ 28
Third Place - French
The False Cognates / Les Faux Amis
Molly Budde’ 29, Levi Cox’ 27, Andres Toussieh’ 29, Hannah Waldron’ 27
Instructor: Sophia Niehaus
Participated videos
Past Winners
Expand All
2025 Brandeis Language Oscars Winners
First Place - Italian
Io sono italiano / I am Italian
Joe Viola: 26’, Caroline Burke: ‘28, Helen Wang: ‘28 Simon Peng: ‘28, Instructor: Paola Servino
Second Place - Japanese
オタクの妄想 / Otaku Delusions
Julia Catanese ‘28, David Granik ‘28, Larry Liang ‘26, Ming-Shih Wang ‘25
Instructor: Hisae Fujiwara
Third Place - Korean
꽃보다 여자 / Girls Over Flowers
Precious Opoku-Kissi 28’, Trisha Lahiry 25’, Cecilia Rao 26’, Alex Zhang 27’
Instructor: Eun-Jo Lee
Special Mentions:
Best acting:
French: Un rendez-vous raté / A failed date
First Place: Russian Studies
Сватовство по-русски / Russian Matchmaking
Creators: Alexandra Jenkin '25, Annaliese Merritt '26, Nachum Sullivan '27 Instructor: Irina Dubinina TA: Jenia Zaretskaia
Second Place: Korean Studies
에반의 언어와 문화쇼 / Evan's Culture Show
Creators: Evan Keleti '26, Janet Hu '26, Jacob Cha '26, Rosemary Sun '27 Instructor: Eun-Jo Lee
Third Place: Italian
Omicidio Nel Giorno della Fest della Donna / Murder of Women’s Day
Creators: J Minichello '27, Lillie Singleton '26, Lance Zima '27, Andy Horrigan '27
Instructor: Paola Servino
First Place: German Studies
Gemeinschaft Der Bins / Fellowship of the Bins. Creators: Joe Viola '26, Casey Shea Dinkin '26, Hana Miller '25. Instructor: Kathrin Breuer.
Second Place: French and Francophone Studies
Le poisson mort / The Dead Fish. Creators: Jacqueline Floro '25, Caroline Hall '23, Aaron Rosendorf '26, Maya Thomas '26. Instructor: Sophia Niehaus.
Third Place: Russian Studies
Зелёная армия / The Green Army. Creators: Thomas Musser '26, Sofia Conte '26, Anna Sewald '26. Instructor and TA: Valeriya Kozlovskaya, Irina Dubinina, Mariia Makarova.
First Place: Italian Studies
"La felicità sopra I soldi" ("Happiness Over Money"). Creators: Olivia Spelman ’21, Max Le Blanc ’22, Gavi Klein ’22. Instructor: Paola Servino.
Second Place: Chinese Language Program
"Our Movie" (我们的电影). Creators: Noah Rovner-Frydman ’21, William Robitaille ’21, Henry Wasserman ’21, Matt Robin ’22. Instructor: Jian Wei.
Third Place: French and Francophone Studies
"Princesse Blanche Neige En France" ("Princess Snow White in France"). Creators: Catherine Chen, Coco Zhang ’22. Instructor: Martine Voiret.
First Place: Chinese Language Program
"It's Complicated." Kenny Sim’19, Vincent Lee’18, Youbin Ahn’20, Rachel Kim’19. Instructor: Jian Wei.
Second Place: Hispanic Studies
"La caperucita roja" ("Little Red Riding Hood"). Yixuan Li’20, Amy Ollove’21, Brianna Lackwood’21. Instructor: Azlin Perdomo.
First Place: German Studies
"Bobrat." Cam Braunstein '19, Julia Haynes '20, Arianna Unger '18, Libby Williams '20. Instructor: Kathrin Seidl.
Second Place: Japanese Language Program
"The Turtle Inside My Dream." Jingyuan Huang '17, Allison Tien '20, Nancy Tran '20, Charlie Weld '20. Instructor: Hisae Fujiwara.
Third Place: Italian Studies
"Euro-Cultura." Samuel Chakmakjian '17, Tiffany English '19, Jade Lara '17. Instructor: Paola Servino.
First Place: French and Francophone Studies
"Le Fabuleux destin de Brandeis." Creators: Yuntian Lu, Morgan Mayback, Naomi Soman.
Second Place: Japanese Language Program
"School Break." Creators: Qianyi Gong, Alana Hodson, Maia Reyes, Amy Zou.
Third Place: Hispanic Studies
"Brandeis Hombre." Creators: Karekin Johnson, Nick Krebs, Andrew Lee.
First Place: French and Francophone Studies
“I Love You, My Weird Mother.” Creators:Amy Li, An Yan, Jing Zhao.
Second Place: Japanese Language Program
"The Letter." Creators: Joyce Hsiao, Julie Kim, Sae Yong Lee, Amy Trankiem.
Third Place: German Studies
"Inglourious Custards."
First Place: German Studies
"Wilkommen zu Brandeis." Creators: Nate Britten, Yanique Seac, Fei Xu.
Second Place: Japanese Language Program
"Oliver's Story." Creators: Christina Capshaw, Jessica Lu, Austin Luor, Jianshuo Qiu.
First Place: Chinese Language Program
"Dream Girl." Creators: Aya Abdelaziz and Ben Lovenheim.
Second Place: Russian Studies
"Secret Love." Creators: Tiffany Johnson, Suzanne Rothman, Ellyn Sherman.