Award Winners: August 2025

Best Short of the Season (Special Jury Award)

A Thousand Years by Bryce Ferendo (USA)

Best Foreign-Language Short of the Season (Special Jury Award)

(+33) by Sean Nam (France)

Award of Excellence (Special Jury Mention)

All the Men’s Hangers by Sabrina Lassegue (USA)

Award of Excellence (Special Jury Mention)

Land of Forgotten Echoes by Layne Marie Williams (USA)

Best Short of the Season – Runner-up (Special Jury Mentions)

Clocking Out by Joshua Mueller (Germany)

First Light by Kristopher Roller and Alex Broadstock (USA)

Henry and the Horrible Thing by Phynley Joel (USA)

The Father, the Daughter and the Hostage by Itamar Kasirer (Israel)

The Mud Flower by Khushi Manish Gandhi (India)

The Tenets of Belrose-Marr by Jett Ross Tessaro (USA)

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

Outstanding Achievement Award (Indie Short): The Wind by Jeremy Patsy and Jonathan Elias (USA)

Best Drama Short: All the Men’s Hangers by Sabrina Lassegue (USA)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Drama Short): Treu (Faithful) by Hansjoerg Thurn (Germany)

Best Student Short: The Tenets of Belrose-Marr by Jett Ross Tessaro (USA)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Student Short): The Father, the Daughter and the Hostage by Itamar Kasirer (Israel)

Honorable Mention (Student Short): I Love You More Than Dinosaurs by Tyler Coon (USA)

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

Outstanding Achievement Award (Documentary Short): Requiem In White – Our Dying Glaciers by Harry Putz (Austria)

Best Comedy Short: Hard to Say by Haojie Yan (China)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Comedy Short): Playland by Pele Alexandria Kudren (USA)

Honorable Mention (Comedy Short): Forward Thinking by Antonio Harper and Abby Burton (USA)

Best Romantic Comedy Short: Coconut + Pistol by Gregory Caruso (USA)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Romantic Comedy Short): 4 Parties by Warren Myers (USA)

Honorable Mention (Romantic Comedy Short): Mary and Gus by Dmitriy Usov (USA)

Best Dark Comedy Short: My Dead Dad’s Funeral by Jamie Manelis (USA)

Honorable Mention (Dark Comedy Short): Magdalene’s Total Home Cleaning by Jon Ollom (USA)

Honorable Mention (Crime Short): For Love or Money by Jose Mcgee (USA)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Film Noir Short): Thirty Seven Dollars by Ashish Sharma (Singapore)

Honorable Mention (Film Noir Short): Rosewood by Brae McKee (Australia)

Best Thriller Short: Clocking Out by Joshua Mueller (Germany)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Thriller Short): Dilemma by Trevan Jay Hiatt (USA)

Honorable Mention (Thriller Short): Side Spin by Nick Betancurt (USA)

Honorable Mention (Horror Short): Bathory by Fredis Antonio Flores (USA)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Sci-Fi Short): The Itch by Gordon Phillips (Mexico)

Best Fantasy Short: (+33) by Sean Nam (France)

Best Western Short: Caesar’s Cache by Ralph C. Schulz (Switzerland)

Best Animation Short: Blu’s by Rajesh PK (India)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Animation Short): Where the Rain Stops by Dojin Kim (South Korea)

Honorable Mention (Animation Short): Dogs of Bishkek by Viktor Niksdorf (Russia)

Best Children Short: Henry and the Horrible Thing by Phynley Joel (USA)

Honorable Mention (Children Short): Tatters!: A Puppet Story by David Alan Stanek (USA)

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

Outstanding Achievement Award (Women Short): The Mud Flower by Khushi Manish Gandhi (India)

Honorable Mention (Women Short): Best Mom Ever by Chaewon Suh (USA)

Best LGBTQ Short: Iss Taraf by Shrey Leena Shah (India)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Microfilm): Lady Henze by Eduardo Cantón Torres (USA)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Experimental Short): Anomalia by Delphine Sicard Malafosse (France)

Honorable Mention (Experimental Short): Doing Nothing, Going Nowhere by Brandon Houser (USA)

Best Music Video: Losing Ace by Sally Dora Clack-Manning (UK)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Music Video): Victoria – We Don’t Get Along (Crumbs Of A Modern Tragedy) by Victoria Karakoleva (Bulgaria)

Honorable Mention (Music Video): Aakhyun Baat by Sidh Bhoj (India)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Screendance Short): Chorale by Sandrick Mathurin (Canada)

Honorable Mention (Screendance Short): Path by Ian Eastwood (USA)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Web Series & TV Pilot): Embodying the Goddess by Rabia Khan (USA)

Best Mobile Short: Fiona’s Day Is Off by Jo Cattell (USA)

Honorable Mention (Trailer/Teaser): The Mud Flower by Khushi Manish Gandhi (India)

Best Short Script: The Bubble by Theodore Inoue (USA)

Outstanding Achievement Award (Short Script): Gators by Linda Kampley (USA)

Honorable Mention (Short Script): Journey Through the Dark by Erin Cuellar (USA)

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