Annual Award Winners 2025-2026

Best Indie Short: Dizzy by Zac La Roc (USA)

Best Drama Short: Watching Walter by Mitch Yapko (USA)

Best Student Short: A Thousand Years by Bryce Ferendo (USA)

Best Documentary Short: First Light by Kristopher Roller and Alex Broadstock (USA)

Best Comedy Short: Outrage! by Ivette Ivanova (Bulgaria)

Best Romantic Comedy Short: Cottonmouth by Ama Anane (USA)

Best Dark Comedy Short: Thanks For Eating Me by Louis English (UK) 

Best Crime Short: Public by Sam Knight (USA)

Best Film Noir Short: Where The Shadows Wait by Riley Robbins (USA)

Best Thriller Short: The Father, The Daughter, and the Hostage by Itamar Kasirer (Israel)

Best Horror Short: The Pearl Comb by Ali Cook (UK)

Best Sci-Fi Short: Focal Point by Raphael Buisson (USA)

Best Fantasy Short: Satomi by Rayner Wang (Hong Kong/Japan/USA)

Best Western Short: Land of Forgotten Echoes by Layne Marie Williams (USA)

Best Animation Short: Where the Rain Stops by Dojin Kim (South Korea)

Best Children Short: Patakha by Rohit Relan (USA)

Best Women Short: The Most Beautiful Among Mothers by Mahmoud Abu Jazi (Palestine)

Best LGBTQ Short: Silim by Alexander Cruz De Ocampo (USA)

Best Microfilm: Unruly by David Ernesto Herrera (UK)

Best Experimental Short: Dans by Maria Garcia (Mexico)

Best Music Video: Strolling Down Brighton Pier by Kenny McCracken (UK)

Best Female Director: Sabrina Lassegue for All the Men’s Hangers (USA)

Best Male Director: Ali Cook for The Pearl Comb (UK)

Best Student Female Director: Sahar Ghorishi for Whispers of Home (USA)

Best Student Male Director: Bryce Ferendo for A Thousand Years (USA)

Best First Time Female Director: Ama Anane for Cottonmouth (USA)

Best First Time Male Director: Carmine Carpenito for Come and Find Me (Switzerland)

Best Actress: Jess Haring for We’ve Been Trying to Reach You (USA)

Best Actor: David Alan Graf for Focal Point (USA)

Best Supporting Actress: Allison Dayne for A King’s Curtain (USA)

Best Supporting Actor: Ali Cook for The Pearl Comb (UK)

Best Young Actress: Ashi Sharma for Patakha (USA)

Best Young Actor: Fflyn Edwards for Come and Find Me (Switzerland)

Best Acting Duo: Stephen Tobolowsky and Gareth Williams for Watching Walter (USA)

Best Ensemble Cast: Nevena Kalaudova, Zhoreta Nikolova, Asen Blatechki, Marinela Angelova, Gerasim Georgiev-Gero, and Ivette Ivanova for Outrage! (Bulgaria)

Best Original Screenplay: Mohammed Al Zawari for Saeed’s Day (Saudi Arabia) 

Best Cinematography: Adrien Bourguignon for Focal Point (USA)

Best Editing: Raphael Buisson for Focal Point (USA)

Best Original Score: Raphael Sommer, Björn Pankratz, and Vali Herrera for Come and Find Me (Switzerland)