2023 Awards

Grand Jury Award Winners

Best Feature Film – Drama – Donut
Best Feature Film – Horror – Abruptio
Best Feature Film – Thriller – Mind Thief
Best Featurette – Comedy – What Else Is On?
Best Featurette – Horror – Strawberry
Best Short Film – Animation – When Mama & Me Lived Outside
Best Short Film – Comedy – Priding Oneself
Best Short Film – Documentary – Full of Wonder: the art of Angie DeBord
Best Short Film – Drama – Let’s Pretend I’m Talking About You
Best Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – A Part of You
Best Short Film – Horror – D.O.D.
Best Short Film – Sci-Fi – Solus
Best Web Series – SLOANE and the COSMIC SCHLEP
Best Music Video – CROOKS – Heart Of Vengeance
Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Scoot
Best Screenplay – Short Film – Zits
Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series – Goofy Foot
Best Director – Feature Film – Evan Marlowe, Abruptio
Best Director – Featurette – Jordan Pfeifer, Strawberry
Best Director – Short Film – Daniel Pradilla De Bedout, Let’s Pretend I’m Talking About You
Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Evan Marlowe, Abruptio
Best Screenplay – Featurette – Jordan Pfeifer, Strawberry
Best Screenplay – Short Film – D.O.D.
Best Performance by a Full Cast (Including Puppeteers) – Abruptio
Best Performer in a Lead Role – Comedy – Andrew Saunders, Priding Oneself
Best Performer in a Lead Role – Drama – Anaïs Noveras, Good Filipino Kids
Best Performer in a Lead Role – Horror – Faye Tamasa, Terror Firma
Best Performer in a Lead Role – Thriller – Angelique Pretorius, Mind Thief
Best Performer in a Supporting Role – Comedy – Regina Melzer, Annie and the Scar
Best Performer in a Supporting Role – Drama – Pavli Serenetsky, Donut
Best Performer in a Supporting Role – Horror – Burt Thakur, Terror Firma
Best Cinematography – Sebastián Rodríguez, Let’s Pretend I’m Talking About You
Best Cinematography – Alex Wohlin, The Call of Water

Filmmakers Award Winners

Outstanding Music Video – A Beautiful Escape
Outstanding Director – Music Video – Snorre Fuglsang Ruhe, CROOKS – Heart Of Vengeance
Outstanding Screenplay – Music Video – Snorre Fuglsang Ruhe, CROOKS – Heart Of Vengeance
Outstanding Performance – Music Video – Hayley Wen, A Beautiful Escape
Outstanding Short Film – Animation – Robots Don’t Tell Jokes
Outstanding Director – Animation – Kelli Caldwell, Robots Don’t Tell Jokes
Outstanding Screenplay – Animation – Tiny Gray-Garcia, When Mama & Me Lived Outside
Outstanding Short Film – Comedy – Hey Alexa
Outstanding Short Film – Comedy – Margot’s Off the Market
Outstanding Director – Comedy – Peter Macaluso, Priding Oneself
Outstanding Screenplay – Comedy – Peter Macaluso, Priding Oneself
Outstanding Acting – Cast – Comedy – Margot’s Off the Market
Outstanding Acting – Individual – Comedy – Ammanda Brooke Perrin, Margot’s Off the Market
Outstanding Short Film – Drama – The Funeral Photographer
Outstanding Short Film – Drama – The Story of This Life
Outstanding Director – Drama – Ashley Thompson, The Funeral Photographer
Outstanding Director – Drama – Alex Jiang, The Story of This Life
Outstanding Screenplay – Drama – Mark Strauss, The Funeral Photographer
Outstanding Acting – Cast – Drama – The Funeral Photographer
Outstanding Acting – Individual – Drama – Andy Sun, The Story of This Life
Outstanding Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – BREARTH
Outstanding Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – The Examination of a Species
Outstanding Director – Experimental/Arthouse – A Part of You
Outstanding Screenplay – Experimental/Arthouse – Seejon Thomas, The Examination of a Species
Outstanding Acting – Cast – Experimental/Arthouse – The Examination of a Species
Outstanding Acting – Individual – Experimental/Arthouse – Kibrea Carmichael, A Part of You
Outstanding Short Film – Horror – Mamu
Outstanding Short Film – Horror – The Erl King
Outstanding Director – Horror – Kaya Tone, The Call of Water
Outstanding Screenplay – Horror – Jim Vendiola, Pretty Pickle
Outstanding Acting – Cast – Horror – The Call of Water
Outstanding Acting – Individual – Horror – Abi Van Andel, Bad Trails
Outstanding Director – SciFi – Jonathan Brooks, Solus
Outstanding Short Film – SciFi – Pleroma
Outstanding Screenplay – SciFi – Pleroma
Outstanding Acting, Cast – SciFi – Hey Alexa
Outstanding Acting, Individual – SciFi – Stevie Lynn Jones, Hey Alexa

Audience Award Winners

A Brush With Death
A Little Help?
Annie and the Scar
Fish
Gnaw
Matched
Spirits

Programmer’s Prize

Back Home
Backwoods
Bro Code
Estate Sale
Exercised
Flakkus
Good Filipino Kids
Magic Box
Noman
Tax Time
Test Drive
Watcher

Award Definitions/Explanations

Grand Jury Awards – decided by the festival’s official selection committee.
Filmmakers Awards – given only to short films, these are decided by the Filmmakers Board a panel of filmmakers whose films have been Official Selections previous years.
Audience Awards – decided by highly scientific instruments placed throughout the theater to determine audience satisfaction.
Programmer’s Prize – festival programmer Jeff Howard, who watches thousands of films submitted to multiple festivals every year, needs to acknowledge that this festival’s official selections represent the top 8% of the films submitted and that it is truly ridiculous to give not give awards to films that truly represent the cream of the crop.

FILA 2023 Complete Schedule

FILA 2023 Screening & Events Schedule

All events take place at:
LOOK Dine-In Cinemas
128 Artsakh Avenue
Glendale, California 91206

Click to Purchase Tickets

Wednesday, June 21 @ 8 PM
FILA 2023 Opening Night Mixer
LOOK Dine-In Cinemas – Main Bar

Thursday, June 22 @ 6 PM
Program 1 – Visionary & Shocking
What Else Is On?
Crooks – Heart Of Vengeance
A Part of You
The Erl King

Thursday, June 22 @ 7 PM
Program 2 – Truth & Revelation
When Mama & Me Lived Outside
Bad Trails
The Story of This Life
Pretty Pickle

Thursday, June 22 @ 9 PM
Program 3 – Comedy & Calamity
Tax Time
Matched
Sloane and the Cosmic Schlep

Friday, June 23 @ 6 PM
Program 4 – Dynamic & Futuristic
Pleroma (Trailer Only)
Estate Sale
Back Home
Solus

Friday, June 23 @ 8 PM
Program 5 – Bold & Haunted
A Beautiful Escape
Spirits
Test Drive
Good Filipino Kids

Friday, June 23 @ 10 PM
Feature Film – Drama
Donut

Saturday, June 24 @ 6 PM
Program 7 – Magical & Fanciful
Margot’s Off the Market
Annie and the Scar
Fish
D.O.D.

Saturday, June 24 @ 8:15 PM
Program 8 – Terror & Flair
Exercised
Flakkus
Strawberry

Saturday, June 24 @ 10 PM
Feature Film – SciFi
Mind Thief

Sunday, June 25 @ 2 PM
FILA 2023 Screenplay Awards Ceremony

Sunday, June 25 @ 3 PM
Program 10 – Satire & Style
A Little Help?
Hey Alexa
Priding Oneself

Sunday, June 25 @ 4:30 PM
Program 11 – Avant-garde
Backwoods
The Examination of a Species
Let’s Pretend I’m Talking About You

Sunday, June 25 @ 6 PM
Feature Film – Horror
Abruptio

Sunday, June 25 @ 8 PM
FILA 2023 Closing Night Mixer
LOOK Dine-In Cinemas

Sunday, June 25 @ 8 PM
Virtual Screening Program Begins

Virtual Exclusives
A Brush With Death
BREARTH
Full of Wonder: the art of Angie DeBord
Gnaw
Magic Box
Mamu
Noman
Robots Don’t Tell Jokes
The Call of Water
The Funeral Photographer
Watcher

Sunday, July 1 @ Midnight
Virtual Screening Program Ends

CandyByte

2023 Official Selection: Screenplay – Short Film

Charlie, a successful smart home inventor, dies after celebrating the opening night of her latest smart home creation called CANDY. Charlie’s spirit enters into the apple-shaped device and controls CANDY while her caretaker, Billie, helps her to find her murderer. The two discover an unexpected secret. But will Charlie and Billie find the murderer before it’s too late?

Writer(s): Diana Foronda

Return to 2023 Official Selections – Screenplays

Bad Trails

2023 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

An exhausted new mother, at the end of her rope, is plagued by intrusive thoughts and feelings.

Director(s): Colin Garcia
Writer(s): Colin Garcia
Producer(s): Gary Leo Miller, Colin Garcia, Stuart McWhirter
Key Cast: Abi Van Andel, Tamara Dearing, Katherine Martin, Gracie Taylor, Dara Jade Tiller

Los Angeles Premiere!

Return to 2023 Official Selections – Films