Top Shorts Winners - September 2026
Film of the Month
Boatlift 9/11 - Tricia Aurand, Dale Fabrigar
Best Narrative Film
Boatlift 9/11 - Tricia Aurand, Dale Fabrigar
Best Indie Film
Damascus - John Kestner
Best Comedy
The Talk - Jonathon Taylor Jones, Iman Nazemzadeh
Best Thriller
Valley Magenta - Dominic Ryan Gabriel
Best Sci-Fi
Pure - Moritz Samuel Kestenbaum
Best Inspirational Film
Boatlift 9/11 - Tricia Aurand, Dale Fabrigar
Best LGBTQ Film
The Talk - Jonathon Taylor Jones, Iman Nazemzadeh
Best Documentary
Read Receipts - Tenley Eakin Raj
Best Music Video
Superstar Dynamo - Dave Tourjé
Best Student Film
Paradox - Yuanwen Lu
Best Microfilm
Seasoning - John Bonner
Best Director
Boatlift 9/11 - Dale Fabrigar
Best First-Time Director
What the Wind Chime Heard - Yuhang Chen
Best Young Filmmaker
Before We Go Home - Yuxuan Wang
Best Actor
Pure - Mikail Merrick
Best Actress
Boatlift 9/11 - Sophia Helin
Best Actor in an Indie Film
The Talk - Jonathon Taylor Jones
Best Actress in an Indie Film
Recurrence - Izabela Ventsislavova Moneva
Best Supporting Actor
The Other End - Matthew Mirliani
Best Young Actress
Recurrence - Izabela Ventsislavova Moneva
Best Duo
The Neighbor - Kendall Dee Fier & John Cutolo
Best Cinematography
Mist Me - Zimo Liu
Best Editing
Boatlift 9/11 - Radu Ion
Best Score
Boatlift 9/11 - Oliver Goodwill
Best Trailer
All For Tomorrow - Russ Emanuel
Best Original Story
Pure - Nils Potdevin, Moritz Samuel Kestenbaum
Best Screenplay
Cuckoo - Christopher McGuinness
Best Drama Screenplay
Making Heroes - Jeff Reese
Best Comedy Screenplay
Director's Cut - Jeff Reese
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* Winners may order an official Top Shorts statuette
* Winners may order a review - FilmFreeway Gold members get $50 off
* Selected projects will qualify for the 14th Annual Top Shorts 2028
