BEST OF THE FEST
our 2026 awards
This year we received 479 film submissions from 50 countries, totaling an incredible 131 hours, 5 minutes, and 37 seconds of storytelling from around the world.
and were narrowed down to this year’s unique and exciting slate of films. From these films, the festival directors suggested 24 films for award consideration to our Festival Judges.
THE DECISION
Our Festival Judges decided the winners of Best of the Fest, Best Short Narrative, Best Short Doc, Best Short Animation, Best Director, Best Performance, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Musical Score and Audience Award. For a total of $7,000 in awards!
the 2026 Winners
WINNER: BEST OF THE FEST
The boys and the bees
dir. Arielle knight
(USA, 19min)
Traces a family’s journey toward freedom, nurturing their bees and their young sons amid Georgia’s shifting seasons while they learn to care for the land that sustains them.
WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The boys and the bees
dir. Arielle Knight
(USA, 19min)
Traces a family’s journey toward freedom, nurturing their bees and their young sons amid Georgia’s shifting seasons while they learn to care for the land that sustains them.
WINNER: BEST COMEDY SHORT
WE WERE HERE
dir. Pranav Bhasin
(India, 10min)
Convinced that technology is replacing them, three retired Indian uncles threaten to take over the jobs of household appliances. But when one of their children lands a job at an A.I. company, it rattles their crusade. What happens when the future arrives and no one tells you? And what do you do then, to remind the world that you were here?
WINNER: BEST narrative SHORT
rooftop lempicka
dir. Hằng Lương Nguyễn
(Vietnam, 20min)
2002 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. While her mother is expecting their second child, young Thi befriends Ngoc, a club waitress who has just moved in as a tenant in their family home. As their friendship grows, she discovers that Ngoc is secretly a sex worker. Meanwhile, an art book of Tamara de Lempicka’s female nudes, stolen from a bookshop, silently bears witness.
WINNER: BEST ANIMATED SHORT
winter in march
dir. Natalia Mirzoyan
(Russia, 16min)
Helpless in the face of a repressive state, a young couple leaves their home — an escape that turns into a surreal nightmare.
WINNER: BEST DIRECTOR
Ant Roberson
"At What Cost"
(USA, 20min)
Ant Roberson is a writer, director, and educator from Richmond, Virginia, and a recent M.F.A. graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Guided by a belief in possibility, he tells grounded, character-driven stories set within high-concept worlds, using genres like Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller, and Adventure as vessels for cultural insight, philosophy, and emotional truth. His work redefines the visual language of underrepresented communities, proving that race, location, or economic status is never a barrier to dreaming boldly.
Beyond filmmaking, Ant empowers the next generation through his nonprofit, OneKid United, which provides mentorship, creative education, and community programs for youth in Los Angeles and Orlando. To Ant, the impossible is often just an undiscovered possibility.
WINNER: BEST PERFORMANCE
Satish Kashyap, Arindol Bagchi, Dvendra Dodke, Shubham Kujur, Kalpana Gagdekar, Yash Gonsai
"We were here"
dir. Pranav Bhasin
WINNER: BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Victor Tadashi Suarez
"Still standing"
DIR: Victor Tadashi Suarez, Livia Albeck-Ripka (USA, 10min)
The urban wildfire that tore through Altadena, California, in January 2025 was among the most destructive in history, destroying more than 9,000 homes and structures. Thousands more homes were left standing. But they are toxic. Despite the health risks, many insurance companies claim these homes are habitable. This short film, shot on 16mm, documents the transformation of intimate space into an alien and hazardous landscape, and follows residents grappling with an impossible question: Should they risk their health to return home?
STILL STANDING was shot on 16mm film. Co-directors Suarez and Albeck-Ripka wanted to transfer the hazardous air onto the medium itself to get at the idea of capturing what was invisible, letting the film be contaminated by the environmental dust and debris.
They shot the film only from the inside of the toxic homes to communicate the feeling of being trapped and suffocated, and to tell this story from the perspective of the homes themselves. Many of the homes were like time capsules, frozen on Jan. 7, 2025, with their calendars and Christmas decorations still up, some with tables set and presents just opened. Stepping inside these homes felt like walking around Pompeii, or some sci-fi world where people just suddenly vanished. They wanted to communicate that to the audience.
WINNER: BEST EDITING
Misha Karpenko
"We're fine"
Dir. Misha Karpenko (USA, 24min)
Misha Karpenko is a Ukrainian filmmaker and editor based in Los Angeles. Originally from Ukraine, he has lived and studied in the U.S. for the past 10 years. His work spans music videos, commercial content, and short films. He has directed videos for Kalush Orchestra and bbno$, and produced commercials for global gaming brands such as World of Tanks and Rise of Kingdoms. With a strong background in cinematography and post-production, Karpenko is drawn to stories of resilience and identity, often captured through intimate behind-the-scenes perspectives.
WINNER: BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Yakov Kreizberg
"Anyone lived in a pretty how town"
Dir. Daniel Kreizberg (Lithuania, Monaco, United States, 8min)
Based on the E.E Cummings poem of the same name, this movie follows the primary characters anyone and no one transcend their cynical community to develop a profound love relationship, and is scored with a personal touch: the final recording of director Daniel Kreizberg’s late father Yarov Kreizberg.
WINNER: AUDIENCE AWARD
Guardians of anatolia
dir. Elif Koyutürk Hazen
(USA, 25min)
GUARDIANS of ANATOLIA follows a Sarıkeçili Yörük family on a long distance seasonal migration through the Taurus Mountains. Through an intimate, immersive lens, the film reveals a way of life shaped by movement, interdependence, and deep connection to land. As external pressures intensify, this ancient rhythm persists—fragile, embodied, and profoundly present.
WINNER: Best Short Film Screenplay
Reunited
Jason Lor
A boy is visited by an old man who claims to be him from the future with an important message that may change his future forever.