Let’s hear it for the shorts!
Dreams came true in a big way after ten days of in-person film screenings and virtual platform watches on BitPix during the 2026 HollyShorts Film Festival. Incredible filmmakers and stories from around the world were applauded at the TCL Chinese Theatres on Aug. 23 where top winners were celebrated.
Vultures directed by Dian Weys took home the Best Short Film Grand Prize presented by Panavision. Along with HollyShorts’ highest honor, and an Oscar-qualifying award, Vultures receives a $60,000 Panavision camera package and three hours of complimentary legal consultation presented by Sheppard Mullin. The film also took home Best International, making it one of the standout films of our 22nd edition.
Other top awards included: Best Live Action – Pale Sun (Adrian Moyse Dullin & Jawahine Zentar); Best Animation
With Tapes and Toasts in the Car (Kiana Naghshineh) and Best Documentary The Time My Grandmother Was Held Hostage by Bank Robbers (Rosella Tursi).
Prize winners also included: Best Director: Faux Bijoux – Jessy Moussallem; Best Drama: Copy, Save – Alyssa Loh; Best Comedy: The Oracle – JJ Adler; Best Cinematography: The Kalgan Horse – Junxiong Zhu; Best Editing: HYENA – Altay Ulan Yang; Best Horror: Banshee – Peter Vass; Best Costume Design: Betty St. Clair – Syra McCarthy & Kyle Casey Chu;Best Stunts: Floor – Jo Bareun; Best International: Vultures – Dian Weys; Verse LA Presents Best Midnight Madness: The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much – Eric Jackowitz; Best Music Video: Weval – Open Up That Door – Bear Damen & Merijn Scholte Albers; Best Performance: I AM THE PRIZE – Russell Tovey; Best Producer: Laundreams – Directors Evie Ward-Drummond & Amber Gadd; Producers Nina Georgieff, Anna Sophia Duff, Maxine Peake, Tobi Kyeremateng & Slick Films; SAGindie Award: Them That’s Not – Mekhai Leel; Best Sports Documentary: ZINA – Vicky Wight; Best Sports Narrative: THE COLOSSEUM – Nabil Kechouhen; Social Impact Award: EXTREMIST – Sasha Molochnikov; Best Sci-Fi: IMPRINT – Ran Jing; Best Student Film: PANKAJA – Anooya Swamy; Kodak Best Shot on Film, 35MM: KINK – Carissa Gallo; Kodak Best Shot on Film, 16MM: GOBSTOPPER – Pippa Feldberg Collins; Kodak Honorable Mention: I THINK ABOUT KILLING YOU – Ran Ran Wang; Best TV: Do I Know You From Somewhere? – Alan Scott Neal; Best Web Series: Birth is for P*ssies – Hannah Shealy & Celine Sutter; Made in LA Award: CHRISTMAS ANGELS – Remington Hoffman & Ida Hoffman; Best Music Documentary: Reflections Under the Electric Sky – Devin J. Dilmore; Best Podcast: abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast; ISA Story Award: Know Your Lights – Al Benoit; Best TV Pilot: Rippers – Joseph Oliver Hooten; Best Feature Screenplay: Grave Command – Evelyn Davis; Best Female Screenplay: The PaRC – Morgan Grice; and Best Short Screenplay: The Death Row Cook – Jessica James.
The Fiddler’s Stroke, directed by Braden Barton, this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival + IMGN Short Film Fund recipient. The film receives a prize package valued at $25,000, including a $10,000 cash grant from IMGN, a Blackmagic Cinema 6K Camera from HollyShorts, Kodak production benefits and one-on-one mentorship opportunities with filmmakers and industry executives, including Oscar winners Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman.
