The following projects — including short films, TV and web series, and screenplays — are the finalists of the January monthly round, competing across 62 categories.
These finalists were selected from an official selection pool with a 49.8% acceptance rate, drawn from submissions representing 26 countries and a combined runtime of 37:56:42, in addition to short script entries.
The nominees represent the top 30.2% of all submissions.
Unlisted categories had no submissions meeting the minimum score threshold.
Categories marked TBA had two or fewer projects qualifying for awards consideration. Winners in these categories will be announced together with the rest of the award recipients.
Follow the links below to explore other sections:
Best Indie Short
Character Actor by Sam Anderson (USA)
Dead Cat by Caleb Hawn (USA)
Mother Country by Moges Ababu Belachew (Ethiopia)
Ogygia by Nina Charlotte Paterson (Denmark)
Thaye Yashoda by Sathya Narayanan R (India)
Best Drama Short
Change by Sayyed Gholamreza Hashemifard (Iran)
Dukh by Ajit Mann (UK)
Max by Adrien Boublil (France)
My Dearest Mother by Michael Bonello Ghio (Malta)
Ripple by Erick Juarez (USA)
Best Student Short
Hi Cobi by Noah Wyss Le Brocq (UK)
Pitching Kitsch by Yeeun Moon (South Korea)
Shenanigans by Michael D’Alessandro Lena (USA)
Toy by Jiayi Li (UK)
Where The Stars Meet by Benjamin Martin (South Africa)
Best Documentary Short
A World Unaware: When Every Bite Matters by Randall Ward and Justin Giugno (USA)
AYG (Dawn) by Arnold Ghazaryan, Siranush Vardanyan, and Maria Matinyan (Armenia/Germany)
Kailash by Aleksandr Larin (Cyprus)
Meeting the Ones Who Care by Coralie Bonnaire (France)
Will I See You Tomorrow? by Waad Al-Kateab and Wafa Mustafa (UK)
![AYG [dawn]](https://i0.wp.com/indieshortfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AYG.jpg?ssl=1)
Best Comedy Short
Robo Sapiens by Sam Clark and Olivia Miller (USA)
Sunny by Shelly Nagell (USA)
Vic and His Nanay by Jillian Janairo (USA)
Best Romantic Comedy Short
TBA
Best Dark Comedy Short
TBA
Best Crime Short
TBA
Best Thriller Short
Evening Class by Michael Clark Haney (USA)
Grafting by Jinyu Zhang (USA)
Road 21 by Marco Ferreira (USA)
Stay In The Car by Calvin Ghaznavi (USA)
To Shine Again by Marcell Leon Viragh (USA)
Best Film Noir Short
TBA
Best Horror Short
Road 21 by Marco Ferreira (USA)
The Night Alone by Yoko Higuchi (USA)
The Relic by David Borges (USA)
Best Sci-Fi Short
Pathos by Loick Matthias Peeters (Belgium)
Sweet Dreams by Gary David Alvarez (USA)
The Vagabond by David Debry (USA)
Best Fantasy Short
Eternal Eclipse by Julen X. Chavarria (USA)
The Pearl Comb by Ali Cook (UK)
The Sanguine by Patrick McNerney and Daniel Jones (USA)
Best Children Short
TBA
Best Women Short
Chocolate Birds by LouLou Brazill (USA)
Kukuk: A Romani Soul Unbroken by Yonka Yancheva (Bulgaria)
Lady Toy by Cat Masterson and Emily Wildwood (USA)
Marilyn’s Dark Paradise by Remi Gangarossa (USA)
Sleeping Princess by Callie Bacon (USA)
Best Microfilm
TBA
Best Experimental Short
Before Mount Rushmore: The Story of Spotted Tail by Aaron Liberman (USA)
Disenchanted by Dongbin Kim (South Korea)
Five More Minutes by Guto Azevedo and Diego Santana Claudino (Belgium)
Marilyn’s Dark Paradise by Remi Gangarossa (USA)
Nobody Nureddin by Amil Hakimdzhan (Finland)
Best Music Video
Lullaby by Oleksandr Shvets (Ukraine)
The Irrepressibles – Destination by Jack Willoughby (UK)
The Irrepressibles – In The Rhythm by Sam McGuire (USA)
Wtchcrft – Let’s Get This Party Over With by Fanny Ketter (USA)
You Are Special by Ilia Noyabrov (Ukraine)
Best Screendance Short
TBA
Best Web Series/TV Pilot
Earth To Mars by Jason Rosenblatt (USA)
Timewriter by Ryan Luevano (USA)
Wannabes by Giorgia Cadell (Ireland)
Best Web and New Media
TBA
Best Parody Short
TBA
Best Trailer/Teaser
TBA
Best Short Script
12 Minutes by Ben Havis (USA)
Brevity by Anthony T Riggs (USA)
Call Me Howie by Howard Brodsky (Canada)
Filotimo by Jessica Pappas and Allison Burnett (USA)
The Great Big Lesbian Yankee Swap by Nicholas B Parker (USA)
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