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2025 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror
After a traumatic event, Sam reunites with a former friend turned Neo-Shaman—only to suspect the healing ritual offered hides a darker intent.
Director(s): Mark Perceval-Maxwell
Writer(s): Mark Perceval-Maxwell
Producer(s): Mark Perceval-Maxwell, Ben Perry
Country: United Kingdom
Los Angeles Premiere
2025 Official Selection: Short Film – Comedy
A work-obsessed assassin sent to “retire” her coworker is shocked to discover her target is pregnant and infuriated by how baby-proofed a nursery can be.
Director(s): Annie Girard, Diana Wright
Writer(s): Annie Girard, Diana Wright
Producer(s): James Bristow, Kourtney Gleason, Matt Danner, Rachel Parsons
Key Cast: Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Yara Martinez, Wilson Bethel
Country: United States
An overly ambitious paperboy delivers newspapers at the dawn of the most important day in human history.
Director(s): Daniel Alexander Edelen
Writer(s): Daniel Alexander Edelen
Producer(s): Daniel Alexander Edelen, Joshua Carlin
Key Cast: Cyrus Schmit, Onthineal Westman, Matt Dy
Country: United States
World Premiere
Death comes for a bitter, depressed widow who doesn’t fight back – he’s happy to die but before he goes he wants to have one last “magic” adventure with the daughter he never got it right with.
Director(s): JT Doran
Writer(s): JT Doran
Producer(s): Hao Li
Key Cast: Joe Chan, Emily Fan, Dominic Wong, Xiao Ping Wang, Mia Yu
Country: United States
Los Angeles Premiere
With his drag look grotesquely sexualized at 64, filmmaker Tim Lienhard describes his sexual self-development in this autofictional film essay. The journey in the film goes from Berlin to a porn festival in Torremolinos to Pride Week in Gran Canaria.
Director(s): Tim Lienhard
Writer(s): Tim Lienhard
Producer(s): Tim Lienhard
Key Cast: Robert Royal, Rosa von Praunheim, Jonas Lawitzke, Enrico Wohlfahrt, Rüdiger Fuck, Timo Opalla, Roy Gerwenat
Country: Germany
World Premiere
Feature Film – The Man With the Silver Case
Featurette – Good Girls Get Fed
Short Film – We Have Notes
Best Feature Film – Animation – Home is somewhere else
Best Feature Film – Comedy – Hanky Panky
Best Feature Film – Documentary – King Of The Butterflies
Best Feature Film – Drama – Marco Polo
Best Feature FIlm – Experimental/Arthouse – Nyctophobia
Best Feature Film – SciFi – Quantum Suicide
Best Featurette – Documentary – Culture vs war. Liberov
Best Featurette – Experimental/Arthouse – Cyano Sun Suite
Best Featurette – Horror – White Gaze
Best Featurette – Sci-Fi – Nauru
Best Short Film – Animation – Moving Day
Best Short Film – Comedy – The Word
Best Short Film – Dance – Herbarium
Best Short Film – Documentary – The Bare You
Best Short Film – Drama – Happy Ending
Best Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – Wesley Loses His Penis
Best Short Film – Horror – Wake
Best Short Film – Sci-Fi – ID EST
Best TV/Web/Streaming Series – Bento Banana 3-4
Best Immersive Short – AR/VR/MR/360 – Vanilla Lily
Best Director – Feature Film – The Man With the Silver Case – Colin Best
Best Director – Featurette – Good Girls Get Fed – Kelly Lou Dennis
Best Director – Short Film – We Have Notes – Jordan McKittrick
Best Screenplay – Short Film – Happy Ending – Élodie Yung & Jonathan Howard
Best Screenplay – Feature Film (Unproduced) – Spitting Fire – Angie M. Comer
Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series (Unproduced) – Sorta Rican – Eric Rivera
Best Screenplay – Short Film (Unproduced) – Bev and Beauregard Simon – Alysha Haran
Best Lead Perfromer – Feature Film – Look At Me – Taylor Olson
Best Lead Perfromer – Featurette – Cyano Sun Suite – Tawhida Tanya Evanson
Best Lead Perfromer – Short Film – On Earth, as it is in Heaven – Jamie McShane
Best Supporting Perfromer – Feature Film – Look At Me – Stephanie MacDonald
Best Supporting Perfromer – Featurette – Nauru – Alessandra Vitanis
Best Supporting Perfromer – Short Film – We Have Notes – Madeleine Coghlan
Best Cast Perfromance – Feature Film – Hanky Panky
Best Cast Perfromance – Featurette – Good Girls Get Fed
Best Cast Perfromance – Short Film – The Word
Best Cinematography – Feature Film – The Man With the Silver Case – Jay Keitel
Best Cinematography – Featurette – Nauru – João Paulo Casalino
Best Cinematography – Short Film – Wake – David Khayznikov
Best Production Design – Feature Film – Quantum Suicide – Rafael Ceppetelli
Best Production Design – Featurette – Nauru – Juh Guedes
Best Production Design – Short Film – On Earth, as it is in Heaven – Amy Vuckovich
Best Sound Design – Feature Film – The Man With the Silver Case – Mark Binder
Best Sound Design – Featurette – Cyano Sun Suite – Shae Brossard & Tyler Crawford
Best Sound Design – Short Film – Intertitle – Alex Michael Jones
Best Feature Film – Comedy – All the Wrong Ingredients
Best Feature Film – Documentary – Hong Kong – Final Days of Freedom
Best Feature Film – Drama – Look At Me
Best Short Film – Animation – Hoang the Paper Boy
Best Short Film – Comedy – The Feeling Expert
Best Short Film – Drama – You Look So Good
Best Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – Girl Upstairs
Best Short Film – Horror – Vessel
Best Short Film – Sci-Fi – REVERIE
Best Immersive Short – The Carrier
Best Screenplay – Feature Film – A Nightmare’s Reverie – Lianna Perry Fountain
Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series – Transitions – Rachael CG Cudlitz
Best Screenplay – Short Film – Fear – Noelle Ann Mabry
Outstanding Short Film – Animation – Anansi the Spider
Outstanding Director – Animation – Moving Day – Sean Mirkovich
Outstanding Screenplay – Animation – Hinter-Land – Christopher Angus
Outstanding Cast Performance – Animation – Anansi the Spider – Daniel Jennings, Elijah Gallimore-Repole & Jared Hall
Outstanding Originality – Animation – Nostalgia Transplant
Outstanding Short Film – Comedy – V-Card
Outstanding Director – Comedy – The Word – Rob M. Neilson
Outstanding Screenplay – Comedy – The Word – Colin Ochs, Rob M. Neilson, Sam Demaris & Billy D. Washington
Outstanding Cast Performance – Comedy – The Word
Outstanding Originality – Comedy – V-Card
Outstanding Short Film – Drama – Rites of Passage
Outstanding Director – Drama – On Earth, as it is in Heaven – Michael Cudlitz
Outstanding Screenplay – Drama – The Unreliables – Jen Robyn Jacobs & Adam Linkenhelt
Outstanding Cast Performance – Drama – On Earth, as it is in Heaven
Outstanding Originality – Drama – Intertitle
Outstanding Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – PANG
Outstanding Director – Experimental/Arthouse – Wesley Loses His Penis – Brennan Thomas McGee
Outstanding Screenplay – Experimental/Arthouse – Wesley Loses His Penis – Brennan Thomas McGee
Outstanding Cast Performance – Experimental/Arthouse – Wesley Loses His Penis
Outstanding Originality – Experimental/Arthouse – PANG
Outstanding Short Film – Horror – The Wheel
Outstanding Director – Horror – Wake
Outstanding Screenplay – Horror – The Wheel
Outstanding Cast Performance – Horror – Vessel
Outstanding Originality – Horror – You’re Dirty Now
Outstanding Short Film – Sci-Fi – OVERCLOCKED : Origins
Outstanding Director – Sci-Fi – ID EST – Shayda Frost
Outstanding Screenplay – Sci-Fi – REVERIE – Kelli Horan
Outstanding Cast Performance – Sci-Fi – REVERIE
Outstanding Originality – Sci-Fi – Somniscience
Exceptional Filmmaking – Village of Death: Oradour-sur-Glane 1944
Exceptional Filmmaking – The 10,000 Mile Bridge
Exceptional Filmmaking – The Spectacular Absence Of God
Exceptional Filmmaking – At Ten Weeks
Exceptional Filmmaking – I DID
Exceptional Filmmaking – I’ll Be There
Exceptional Filmmaking – Oh My Sweetheart
Exceptional Filmmaking – Talia
Best In Fest – Determined by the festival’s official selection committee, this category was added because overall awards can help make us eligible to be an Oscar Qualifying festival. (We learned that our idealistic belief that awards should be divided by genre was getting in the way of that and we’d really like to become an Oscar Qualifying festival. If you know someone… hook us up!)
Grand Jury Awards – Determined by the festival’s official selection committee.
Filmmakers Awards – Determined by a panel of filmmakers whose films have been Official Selections previous years and given only to short films.
Audience Awards – Determined by highly scientific instruments to measure audience satisfaction.
Programmer’s Prize – Determined by festival programmer Jeff Howard as a reward for his hard work. Importantly, having his own awards means he never has to put his finger on the scale for the other awards.
Feature Film – The Man With the Silver Case
Featurette – Good Girls Get Fed
Short Film – We Have Notes
Best In Fest – Determined by the festival’s official selection committee, this category was added because overall awards can help make us eligible to be an Oscar Qualifying festival.
(We learned that our idealistic belief that awards should be divided by genre was getting in the way of that and we’d really like to become an Oscar Qualifying festival. If you know someone… hook us up!)
Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Spitting Fire
Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series – Sorta Rican
Best Screenplay – Short Film – Bev and Beauregard Simon
Best Screenplay – Feature Film – A Nightmare’s Reverie
Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series – Transitions
Best Screenplay – Short Film – Fear
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Cuernavaca
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Goodnightmare
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Incubus
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – My Brother The Lion
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – On the Hook
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – The Complex
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – They Eat Their Own
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Whiskey Mountain Days
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series – Keaton – PILOT
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series – Monkey InthE Middle
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series – Vortex Pax
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Short Film – Gasp
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Short Film – Nails
Finalist – Best Screenplay – Short Film – The Revver
Best Feature Film – Animation – Home is somewhere else
Best Feature Film – Comedy – Hanky Panky
Best Feature Film – Documentary – King Of The Butterflies
Best Feature Film – Drama – Marco Polo
Best Feature FIlm – Experimental/Arthouse – Nyctophobia
Best Feature Film – SciFi – Quantum Suicide
Best Featurette – Documentary – Culture vs war. Liberov
Best Featurette – Experimental/Arthouse – Cyano Sun Suite
Best Featurette – Horror – White Gaze
Best Featurette – Sci-Fi – Nauru
Best Short Film – Animation – Moving Day
Best Short Film – Comedy – The Word
Best Short Film – Dance – Herbarium
Best Short Film – Documentary – The Bare You
Best Short Film – Drama – Happy Ending
Best Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – Wesley Loses His Penis
Best Short Film – Horror – Wake
Best Short Film – Sci-Fi – ID EST
Best TV/Web/Streaming Series – Bento Banana 3-4
Best Immersive Short – AR/VR/MR/360 – Vanilla Lily
Best Director – Feature Film – The Man With the Silver Case – Colin Best
Best Director – Featurette – Good Girls Get Fed – Kelly Lou Dennis
Best Director – Short Film – We Have Notes – Jordan McKittrick
Best Screenplay – Short Film – Happy Ending – Élodie Yung & Jonathan Howard
Best Screenplay – Feature Film (Unproduced) – Spitting Fire – Angie M. Comer
Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series (Unproduced) – Sorta Rican – Eric Rivera
Best Screenplay – Short Film (Unproduced) – Bev and Beauregard Simon – Alysha Haran
Best Lead Perfromer – Feature Film – Look At Me – Taylor Olson
Best Lead Perfromer – Featurette – Cyano Sun Suite – Tawhida Tanya Evanson
Best Lead Perfromer – Short Film – On Earth, as it is in Heaven – Jamie McShane
Best Supporting Perfromer – Feature Film – Look At Me – Stephanie MacDonald
Best Supporting Perfromer – Featurette – Nauru – Alessandra Vitanis
Best Supporting Perfromer – Short Film – We Have Notes – Madeleine Coghlan
Best Cast Perfromance – Feature Film – Hanky Panky
Best Cast Perfromance – Featurette – Good Girls Get Fed
Best Cast Perfromance – Short Film – The Word
Best Cinematography – Feature Film – The Man With the Silver Case – Jay Keitel
Best Cinematography – Featurette – Nauru – João Paulo Casalino
Best Cinematography – Short Film – Wake – David Khayznikov
Best Production Design – Feature Film – Quantum Suicide – Rafael Ceppetelli
Best Production Design – Featurette – Nauru – Juh Guedes
Best Production Design – Short Film – On Earth, as it is in Heaven – Amy Vuckovich
Best Sound Design – Feature Film – The Man With the Silver Case – Mark Binder
Best Sound Design – Featurette – Cyano Sun Suite – Shae Brossard & Tyler Crawford
Best Sound Design – Short Film – Intertitle – Alex Michael Jones
Grand Jury Awards – Determined by the festival’s official selection committee.
Best Feature Film – Comedy – All the Wrong Ingredients
Best Feature Film – Documentary – Hong Kong – Final Days of Freedom
Best Feature Film – Drama – Look At Me
Best Short Film – Animation – Hoang the Paper Boy
Best Short Film – Comedy – The Feeling Expert
Best Short Film – Drama – You Look So Good
Best Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – Girl Upstairs
Best Short Film – Horror – Vessel
Best Short Film – Sci-Fi – REVERIE
Best Immersive Short – The Carrier
Best Screenplay – Feature Film – A Nightmare’s Reverie – Lianna Perry Fountain
Best Screenplay – Pilot/Web Series – Transitions – Rachael CG Cudlitz
Best Screenplay – Short Film – Fear – Noelle Ann Mabry
Audience Awards – Determined by highly scientific instruments to measure audience satisfaction.