Annual Award Winners 2026

Best Indie Short: Sweet Molly by J.C. McNaughton (USA)

Best Drama Short: Postman by Faizan Anees Bazmee (India)

Best Student Short: Puke Bitch by Sam Tricomo (USA)

Best Documentary Short: Human-Cannabis III: Tracing Green by Arthur Liou (USA)

Best Comedy Short: Kukuk: A Romani Soul Unbroken by Yonka Yancheva (Bulgaria)

Best Dark Comedy Short: Un Artiste Prétentieux (A Pretentious Artist) by Heidi Watson and Adrian Hooke (New Zealand)

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

Best Film Noir Short: The Verona by Robby Miller (USA)

Best Mystery Short: Our Father by Janelle Christa (USA)

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

Best Horror Short: Tretten by Maxime Vaux (France)

Best Sci-Fi Short: Memoria Obscura by David Christopher Nelson and Connor Ryan (USA)

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

Best Children Short: The Daughter’s Choice by Huimin Dong (China)

Best Women Short: Aicha by Sanaa El Alaoui (Morocco)

Best LGBTQ Short: In The Valley by Adam Van Dyke (USA)

Best Experimental Short: The Metamorph by Saeid Mohammadi (Iraq)

Best Microfilm: Unruly by David Ernesto Herrera (UK)

Best Female Director: MK McGehee for Brown Hare (USA)

Best Male Director: Joshua Mueller for The Boy & The Wolf (Germany)

Best Student Female Director: Ruya Yaman for Tooth Jerry (USA)

Best Student Male Director: Sam Tricomo for Puke Bitch (USA)

Best First Time Female Director: Anne Williamson for Bridget (Ireland)

Best First Time Male Director: Max Gladkov for The Path To Enigma (Netherlands/Russia)

Best Actress: Emily Goss for Brown Hare (USA)

Best Actor: Jorgie Goico for In The Valley (USA)

Best Supporting Actress: Bonnie Aarons for The Mortician’s Daughter (USA)

Best Supporting Actor: Veselin Anchev for Kukuk: A Romani Soul Unbroken (Bulgaria)

Best Young Actress: Yawei Wang for The Daughter’s Choice (China)

Best Young Actor: Adequin Reagan Meisenzahl for The Night The Sky Fell (USA)

Best Acting Duo: Joshua Anyasike and Will McFadden for Our Father (USA)

Best Ensemble Cast: Roselyne Geslot, Alexandra Kiwy, Igor Igrok, and Muriel Vanel for #ÇaGeth’s (France)

Best Original Screenplay: Sanaa El Alaoui for Aicha (Morocco)

Best Cinematography: Siddharth Chawla for Postman (India)

Best Editing: Michał Buczek for Aicha (Morocco)

Best Original Score: Alexander Taylor for The Mortician’s Daughter (USA)

Explore the award-winning projects below


#ÇaGeth’s by Jerome Jacob (France) – Best Ensemble Cast

Aicha by Sanaa El Alaoui (Morocco) – Best Women Short, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing

Bridget by Anne Williamson (Ireland) – Best First Time Female Director

Brown Hare by MK McGehee (USA) – Best Female Director and Best Actress

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

Human-Cannabis III: Tracing Green by Arthur Liou (USA) – Best Documentary Short

In The Valley by Adam Van Dyke (USA) – Best LGBTQ Short and Best Actor

Kukuk: A Romani Soul Unbroken by Yonka Yancheva (Bulgaria) – Best Comedy Short and Best Supporting Actor

Memoria Obscura by David Christopher Nelson and Connor Ryan (USA) – Best Sci-Fi Short

Our Father by Janelle Christa (USA) – Best Mystery Short and Best Acting Duo

Postman by Faizan Anees Bazmee (India) – Best Drama Short and Best Cinematography

Puke Bitch by Sam Tricomo (USA) – Best Student Short and Best Student Male Director

Sweet Molly by J.C. McNaughton (USA) – Best Indie Short

The Boy & The Wolf by Joshua Mueller (Germany) – Best Male Director

The Daughter’s Choice by Huimin Dong (China) – Best Children Short and Best Young Actress

The Metamorph by Saeid Mohammadi (Iraq) – Best Experimental Short

The Mortician’s Daughter by Elwood Quincy Walker (USA) – Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Score

The Night The Sky Fell by Matthew Arkema (USA) – Best Young Actor

The Path To Enigma by Max Gladkov (Netherlands/Russia) – Best First Time Male Director

The Verona by Robby Miller (USA) – Best Film Noir Short

Tooth Jerry by Ruya Yaman (USA) – Best Student Female Director

Tretten by Maxime Vaux (France) – Best Horror Short

Un Artiste Prétentieux (A Pretentious Artist) by Heidi Watson and Adrian Hooke (New Zealand) – Best Dark Comedy Short

Unruly by David Ernesto Herrera (UK) – Best Microfilm

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

Where The Shadows Wait by Riley Robbins (USA) – Best Crime Short

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