2026 Festival winners & nominess

~BEST NARRATIVE SHORT~

WINNER: “The Drive”

RUNNER-UP: “UN-DEAD”

NOMINEES:

“Bloom”

“The Fabulous Flocks”

“The Sessions”

~BEST DOCUMENTARY~

WINNER: “Greensboro Massacre”

RUNNER-UP: “Houdini II: A Beautiful Day to Die”

NOMINEES:

“Love Song for a Wailing Earth”

“Through Hardship- Finding the Limit”

“The Other Roe”

~BEST STUDENT NARRATIVE SHORT~

WINNER: “The Drive”

NOMINEES:

“Iridescent”

“Origin”

~BEST STUDENT DOCUMENTARY~

WINNER: “Doc Watson: One of the People”

NOMINEES:

“Distant Dreams”

“An Eternal Sound”

~BEST ANIMATED FILM~

WINNER: “Bloom”

NOMINEES:

“Iridescent”

“The Rabbit Ballet”

~BEST COMEDY~

WINNER: “Ms. Rossi 3: Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob”

NOMINEES:

“UN-DEAD”

“Crazy B!*#h”

~BEST HORROR~

WINNER: “Imago”

NOMINEES:

“Holidays with Catfish”

“Trevor Lies”

~BEST DIRECTOR OF A NARRATIVE SHORT~

WINNER: Brody Atticus Van Arnam- “The Drive”

NOMINEES:

Bo Webb- “UN-DEAD”

Vince Eisenson- “The Sessions”

~BEST DIRECTOR OF A DOCUMENTARY~

WINNER: Simon Bonneau- “Through Hardship- Finding the Limit”

NOMINEES:

Laura Seel- “Greensboro Massacre”

Scott Lawrence Kirschenbaum- “Love Song for a Wailing Earth”

~BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT~

WINNER: Brian D. Jones & Jordan Brooks- “Thickly Settled”

NOMINEES:

Lilly Eliana Levin- “Wildfire Kitchen”

Campbell Haas- “Origin”

~BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY~

WINNER: Shah Ram Najarian- “Gladiator Baby”

NOMINEES:

Kai Lendzion- “Love Song for a Wailing Earth”

Kadri Koop- “Curtains”

~BEST EDITING~

WINNER: Scott Gorman- “Thickly Settled”

NOMINEES:

Juan Blanco Garcia- “Curtains”

Alexander Frasse- “Forget Me Not”

~BEST WRITING~

WINNER: Alexander Julian III- “The Sessions”

NOMINEES:

A.B. Osborne- “Iridescent”

Joseph S.S. Galyean- “Unheard Voice”

~BEST ACTOR~

WINNER: Bobby J. Brown- “The Sessions”

NOMINEES:

Josh Aaron McCabe- “Thickly Settled”

Erik Street- “The Drive”

~BEST ACTRESS~

WINNER: Diana Simonzadeh- “The Solution”

NOMINEES:

Tabitha Lucille Bass- “A Game in the Dark at Midnight”

Laura Garofoli- “Zona Cesarini”

~BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR~

WINNER: Naheem Garcia- “Thickly Settled”

NOMINEES:

Brian Huskey- “UN-DEAD”

John Demers- “The Drive”

~BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS~

WINNER: Kate Wilson- “The Fabulous Flocks”

NOMINEES:

Ella Loudon- “Thickly Settled”

Danielle Renee Vivarttas- “Eye for an Eye”

~BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING~

WINNER: “Sticks & Holler”

NOMINEES:

“The Sessions”

“Ms. Rossi 3: Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob”

~BEST EMERGING ARTIST~

WINNER: Fiona Maria- “Settlement”

NOMINEES:

Campbell Haas- “Origin”

Onie Maceo Watlington- “Fairy Tale”

~BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN~

WINNER: Allegra Deneroff- “The Fabulous Flocks”

NOMINEES:

Arielle Himmel- “Forget Me Not”

Nolan Ramos- “A Game in the Dark at Midnight”

~BEST SOUND DESIGN~

WINNER: Simon Bonneau- “Through Hardship- Finding the Limit”

NOMINEES:

Dan Luna- “Static Skies”

AJ Dimmitt- “Unheard Voice”

~BEST VISUAL FX~

WINNER: Chum FX & Acho Studio- “Imago”

NOMINEES:

Tygue Gold- “Holidays with Catfish”

Elastic Pictures- “Static Skies”

~BEST WARDROBE~

WINNER: Allegra Deneroff & Kevin Whitley- “The Fabulous Flocks”

NOMINEES:

Ken Viteri-Lynn- “A Game in the Dark at Midnight”

Michelle Bucci & Danielle Herrera Boivin- “Forget Me Not”

~BEST SPECIAL FX MAKEUP~

WINNER: Megan Amberly Grant- “Trevor Lies”

NOMINEES:

David Blanton- “Holidays with Catfish”

Crystal Flores- “UN-DEAD”

~BEST ON-SCREEN CHEMISTRY~

WINNER: Michelle Bucci & Danielle Herrera Boivin- “Forget Me Not”

NOMINEES:

Macie Love & Tyler Patrick Smith- “Tandem”

Shannon Hoffman & Miguel Gonzalez-Floyd- “Masterpiece”

~BEST CHOREOGRAPHY~

WINNER: Bayland Rippenkroger- “UN-DEAD”

NOMINEES:

“The Rabbit Ballet”

Hamed Nasrabadian- “Gladiator Baby”

~BEST ORIGINAL SONG OR SCORE~

WINNER: Elizabeth Leslie- “The Border at Tolstoi”

NOMINEES:

Tristan Arostegui- “Iridescent”

Jesse Haugen- “Masterpiece”

~THE PATHFINDER AWARD~

WINNER: “Imago”

NOMINEES:

“The Rabbit Ballet”

“Gladiator Baby”

~THE MOUNTAIN STRONG AWARD~

WINNER: “Love Song for a Wailing Earth”

NOMINEES:

“After Helene”

“A Little Goldfish”

~THE SPIRIT OF ASHEVILLE AWARD~

WINNER: “Holidays with Catfish”

NOMINEES:

“Bloom”

“Songs of the Storm”

~THE TOKIYASDI AWARD~

WINNER: “Honoring Long Person”

NOMINEES:

“Prayer for Change”

“Love Song for a Wailing Earth”

Photo by Jeffrey DeCristafaro @jeffrey_decristafaro_official