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THE 2025 SEASON WINNERS ARE HERE!
BEST FEATURE FILM
Sweetwater
Martin Guigui
(starring Everett Osborne, Kevin Pollak, Carry Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Herbert 'Flight Time' Lang)
In the fall of 1950, Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton makes history becoming the first Black basketball player to sign an NBA contract, and with his unique style of play forever changing the game of basketball.
In the fall of 1950, Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton makes history becoming the first Black basketball player to sign an NBA contract, and with his unique style of play forever changing the game of basketball.
BEST ACTION FILM
Gunner
Dimitri Logothetis
(starring Morgan Freeman and Luke Hemsworth)
A war veteran must use his elite combat skills to rescue his two sons after a family camping trip goes wrong and they are kidnapped by a ruthless drug gang.
A war veteran must use his elite combat skills to rescue his two sons after a family camping trip goes wrong and they are kidnapped by a ruthless drug gang.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
and
PANAVISION AWARD WINNER
Bad Omen
Connor Thomas
In 1800s Tennessee, a strict puritan farming village is haunted by disappearances every full moon. When a New York schoolteacher becomes the town’s prime suspect, her visit to a troubled student’s home uncovers a horrifying supernatural truth – one that turns accusation into terror and threatens to consume the entire town.
BEST SCREENPLAY FEATURE (40-130 PAGES) AND ADAM NOVAK PRIZE WINNER
Thanksgiving
Carol McCann
As the season of thanks approaches, Grace Harris, the sole paid employee of the Darryl F. Zanuck Museum and Historical Society of Wahoo, Nebraska comes face to face with her husband’s infidelity and her daughter’s shrinking small town aspirations. Deciding her only remedy is to return a recently purchased K-Mart nightgown to Turkey, Grace travels half way around the world to find its place of origin, and in this remarkable journey, discovers her own sense of place and worth.
BEST SHORT DRAMA
Diez Segundos
Gloria Laino
After years of guilt following the loss of his best friend, guilt worsened by blame from some of the townspeople, Fredi finds his peace through a mystical sign, and by finally accepting love and forgiveness from the one who mattered most.
BEST SHORT COMEDY
Better Fate Than Never
Isabella Blake -Thomas
When a 50 something LA Magazine writer is forced to pivot or quit, fate rewrites her story with an unexpected twist.
BEST SHORT SHORT DRAMA
and
BEST ACTOR
Hortencia & Clemente
Emanuel Loarca
"Til death do us part" & "Blood also means family"
BEST SHORT SHORT COMEDY
The Big Encounter
Nicole Azpeitia
In this mockumentary, a big foot believer goes on a journey to find the truth about Bigfoot and encounters a friendship that soon leads to a mysterious disappearance.
BEST COMEDY FILM
An American Abroad
Marcia Kimpton
An American Abroad is a romantic comedy that travels to 6 countries around the world. Pack your bags and take the journey with wacky, funny, crazy travel reporter Marcia as she navigates her new relationship with conservative, kind, smart Arnold, who isn’t so sure this relationship will work.
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Let Me Be
Dorit S Christensen
A professor’s life unravels after a student’s tragic accident, until his daughter helps him confront the pain he has long buried and rekindle his spark in life.
BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Betye Saar: Ready to be a Warrior
Angela Robinson Witherspoon
(featuring Betye Saar, John Legend, CCH Pounder, Alison Saar, Lezley Saar, Tracye Saar-
Cavanaugh, Tony Ramos, Tina Knowles-Lawson, Terrell Tilford, Dr. Joy Simmons)
Filmed over the course of 8 years, this award-winning documentary is a “love letter” to famed L.A artist Betye Saar as she navigates life as a Black Woman artist in America and around the world.
Cavanaugh, Tony Ramos, Tina Knowles-Lawson, Terrell Tilford, Dr. Joy Simmons)
Filmed over the course of 8 years, this award-winning documentary is a “love letter” to famed L.A artist Betye Saar as she navigates life as a Black Woman artist in America and around the world.
INTERNATIONAL IMPACT AWARD
Third Degree Burnout
Nivi Jaswal, Darren Suffolk
Discover the surprising link between your stress and the planet’s crisis. Third Degree Burnout uses groundbreaking research, expert insights, and humor to reveal how systemic change can turn things around.
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Haagua
Marc Antony Chavez, Octavio Aceves Coutiño
An Indigenous surf film that celebrates the timeless bond between humanity and the ocean, “Haagua” follows a group of Native American surfers as they revive ancestral traditions, blending cultural resilience with the art of surfing to honor the past and inspire the future.
BEST PILOT/WEB SERIES
Totally Sick
Adam Nadler
Two cynical, abrasive, potty-mouthed New Yorkers have the worst one-night stand ever only to discover that one of them is seriously ill.
BEST PODCAST
Re-Vamped with Juliet Landau
Juliet Landau, Deverill Weekes
Celebrating Todd McIntosh (podcast episode)
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Remember You Got Me
Janet Van Ham
Romance and friendship transcend stark differences as a woman reassures her lover and community of dance friends offering a hand in the darkness when the burden is too much to bear.
BEST COMMERCIAL CONTENT
Crave Promo Series
Norry Nevin
BEST LGBTQ FILM
The Last Take
Brian Foyster
Facing the end, a movie star from the golden age of Hollywood must reconcile with the only man he ever loved.
BEST DIRECTOR
Sae
Yusaku Mizoguchi
A young Japanese artist, Sae, finds her world turned upside down by tragedy in the dazzling yet unforgiving city of Los Angeles. Lost and alone in the aftermath, she discovers inner strength as she pursues her artistic dreams.
BEST DISABILITY AWARENESS FILM
PS Love Robby
Brian Thomas
“Aging gracefully with Autism”
BEST SET DEC, BEST SET DESIGN
and
BEST POSTER
The Pearl Comb
Ali Cook
In 1893, a fisherman’s wife becomes the first person to cure someone of tuberculosis. A doctor, intent on proving a woman’s place is in the home and not practising medicine, investigates - only to discover the source of her unearthly power.
BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT/TV PILOT/WEB SERIES
Most Hated
Dena Waxman
After Mariah’s perfect life collapses, she makes a character-defining mistake by having an affair with the world’s most famous married man—but the day she ends things, a scandalous sex video leaks and goes viral while his team expertly shields him, leaving her to lose everything. After hitting rock bottom, Mariah is forced to confront the double standard that destroys women and protects powerful men, so Mariah begins an unrelenting fight to reclaim her name, her career, and her future to get her life back.
MOST INNOVATIVE SCREENPLAY
The Weather Just Got Sexy
Zoë Greenbaum
BEST SCREENPLAY SEQUENCE
The Confessor Proof of Concept
Melissa Birks
An ambitious psychiatrist jeopardizes his career, marriage, and his own mental health when he fights to spare the life of confessed child killer Albert Fish. Inspired by true events.
BEST SCREENPLAY FEATURE - COMEDY (40-130 PAGES)
The Mrs
Mimi Karsh, Lia Aprile
BEST SCREENPLAY FEATURE - COMEDY (40-130 PAGES)
The Mrs
Mimi Karsh, Lia Aprile
When Mrs. Claus discovers she’s just “Santa’s wife” in every holiday movie ever made, she heads to Hollywood to write her own story. But the pressure of Christmas deadlines, creative egos, and the world’s neediest husband threaten the fate of her project… and Christmas itself.
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