2023
SHORTLIST
NOMINEES
Annual Gala
AND
WINNERS
PRESENTED BY
MAIN CATEGORIES
BEST FILM OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Cognition | Ravi Ajit Chopra
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Dying to Sleep | Paris Dylan
Donut | John Conn
The Search For Audur | Lydur Arnason
D.O.A. | Kurt St. Thomas
The Seasons, Four Love Stories | Paul Schwartz
Teller's Camp | Jared Zabel
Midlife | Aric Grooms & Matt Williams
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BEST NARRATIVE SHORT
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Resilient | Simin Vaswani
Evenveil | Sam Balcomb
The Last Dinner | Marie-Ange Casalta
The Do Over | Jonathan "Dakari" St. Aimee
Ms. Goodwitch | Joseph D. Charafi
Trespasser | Christopher Reith
Passage | David M. Massey
Pandora's Adversaries | Jason Harley
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BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Transformation | Sierra Productions
Origami In The Garden | Barbara Bentree & John Rangel
Case for Kindness | Steven Sawalich
Zero Gravity | Thomas Verrette
Catching Giants | Ashley Scott Davison
#ButGod | Kevin McAfee
MoveMe South Africa | Briana Evigan & Maynard Kraak
Fire & Iceland | April Anderson, Martin Chytil
Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story | Mary O'Leary
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BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Conquista | Joshua Moroles & Robert Espericueta
Amara and Ry'Shauna | Katie Cohen & A.D. Freese
Song & Spirit | Gage Masterson
Farewell to a Legend: The Last Blast | Bryn Downing
Water | Barb Barton
T.H.E. Human Side | Emiko Carlin & Nathan Crumrine
Shopping Cart People | Duffy Hecht
Wildlife In Our Backyard | William Freund
Breaking & Entering: Women of the LAPD | Lida Nasseri
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BEST DRAMA
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Lucy's Last Song | Robert Craighead
Darking Way | Zsolt Pozsgai
Fragments | Matthew Luppino
The Can | Shadow C. LaValley & Danielle Purdy
Blind Truth | Laura Burnett
Girl Unscripted | Tara Veneruso
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BEST HORROR/THRILLER
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: The Search For Audur | Lydur Arnason
Naked Zombie Girl Is Back! | Rickey Bird
4 A.M. | Gregory Da Silva
Lineage | Finnegan Haid
Rock Inn | Fon Davis
Blind Truth | Laura Burnett
Trespasser | Christopher Reith
Burn | Judson Vaughan
Killing Georgia Jones | Margot Ott
​
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BEST SCI-FI/FANTASY
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Cognition | Ravi Ajit Chopra
The Eye: Calanthek | Aaron Sims
Yorktown: A Time to Heal | Da Han
Pandora | Sebastien Cascio
Ms. Goodwitch | Joseph D. Charafi
The Dead Driver | Rachel Jacob
Atone | Joseph Daniel Rodriguez
Portals | Steven Helgoth
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Resilient | Simin Vaswani
Santa Guerra | Samantha Casella
Rum 444 | Peter Svenzon
You Don't Deserve This | Shaun Rylee
The Wisteria Manor | Michelle R Arthur
Precious Balance Walk | Felicia Konrad & Johan Haugen
Pink Booth Confessions | Millie Heckler
Pit & Pendulum | J. Aldric Gaudet
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BEST INSPIRATIONAL FILM
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Transformation | Sierra Productions
Let Me Be Me | Dan Crane, Katie Taber
Something in the Clouds | Johnny Ray & Josh Sikkema
Resilient | Simin Vaswani
The Devoted | Zsolt Pozsgai
The Can | Shadow C. LaValley & Danielle Purdy
Dad | Joshua Leomiti
Do Something Extraordinary | Virginie Dulauroy & Augustin Dulauroy
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BEST MUSIC VIDEO
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Space Table Symphony | Mayk Azzato
Andromede The Symphonic Short Film | Bryane Da Cunha & Thibaut Vuillermet
Övergivenheten | Hanna Oldenburg, Johan Kuurne
Microscope | Konstantyn Napolov
Elvis Presley - Unchained Melody | Alex Pellerano
Dance With Destiny | Alan J. Chriest
Good Vibes | Xiang "Shawn" Cao
A Feast That Never Comes | Maria Juranic & Ex-Fiancée
Niagara Falls | Victor Bellomo & Tara Sickmeier
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BEST FEATURE SCRIPT
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Flash Card | Joseph Stephen Meadows
Wolves Of Midtown | Anthony Sarracco
The Four of Us Are Dying | Jesse Dorian
As Scared As You | Jesse Dorian
Wolf Street | Frank P. Mancuso & Chris Adams
Blood, Scum & Neon Lights | Brett Howard Nelson
What Kind of Woman | Israela Margalit
Monstra | Samantha Garcia & Allison Garcia
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BEST SHORT SCRIPT
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Pripyat | Alicia Hayes
Aping Edwin Porter | James O'Donnell
Karma Is A Bitch! | Stephanie Whitmoyer
Her Name, Mercy | Justin Moodie
Tóxico | Rubia Lima & Rafael Henrique Lima
Appearances | Joan Tofteland
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BEST WOMAN FILMMAKER
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: The Dead Driver | Michelle L. Silva
Blind Truth | Laura Burnett
You Don't Deserve This | Shaun Rylee
MoveMe South Africa | Briana Evigan
Always By Your Side | Katie Hardyman
Rings of the Unpromised | Michelle R Arthur
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SOCIAL AWARENESS AWARD
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: The Water Wall | Andrea Sambuccetti
Catching Giants | Ashley Scott Davison
The Natural Law | Amish Shah & Lindsey Ward
Compassion Spreads Like Wildfire: The Vicki Minor Story | Scott E. Briggs
Things We Shouldn't Talk About | Robbie Kruithoff
Aion | Giulio Meliani
ADDITIONAL CATEGORIES
BEST DIRECTOR/FEATURE
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Crypto Shadows | James Fox
Let Me Be Me | Dan Crane, Katie Taber
Murder, Anyone? | James Cullen Bressack
The Way Home | Darius Stevens Wilhere
Case for Kindness | Steven Sawalich
Dying to Sleep | Paris Dylan
Rekindling Christmas | James Ganiere
1660 Vine | Patricia McGregor
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BEST DIRECTOR/SHORT
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: The Do Over | Jonathan "Dakari" St. Aimee
The Eye: Calanthek | Aaron Sims
Pale Ember | Brad Tobler
Cognition | Ravi Ajit Chopra
Relativity | Jules Rebuffat, Hugo Astesano, Guillaume Hulot, Loic Remy, Loic Ciaux & Benjamin Matthys
Resilient | Claire Chubbuck
The Dead Driver | Rachel Jacob
Passage | David M. Massey
Chateau in the Loire | Terry Ross
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BEST PRODUCER
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Resilient | Simin Vaswani & Harish Vaswani
Case for Kindness | Steven Sawalich
Tito | Anthony Notarile, Andy Tworischuk
Conquista Documentary | Joshua Moroles & Robert Espericueta
Spilled Paint | Beth Wheatley
Girl Unscripted | Tara Veneruso & Eric Keith
Our Triumphant Holy Day | Greg Di Roma
Trolled | JF F Uranday
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BEST ACTOR
OF THE YEAR
★ Winner: Rock Inn | James Hong
Transformation | Brian Austin Green
Roses Are Blind | Daniel Davis
Heroes | Roberto Sanchez
The Studio | Cengiz Dervis
The Way Home | Cayetano Arámburo
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BEST ACTRESS
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: The Can | Zoë Yeoman
Murder, Anyone? | Galadriel Stineman
Cinema Rebel | Tessa Farrell
Chronicles of Jessica Wu | Helena-Alexis Seymour
Lucy's Last Song | Brea Bee
Transformation | Stacie Hill
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: The Loyals | Victor Muñoz
Resilient | Clint Hromsco
Transformation | Sam Stinson
Nest | Todd Lien
1660 Vine | Chris Olson
Midlife | William English
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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Ombré Ma Fí - "Payment Withheld" | Maria Grazia Cucinotta
The Devoted | Nelly Fésűs
The Dead Driver | Susan LeBreque
The Can | Angela Grace Martin
Transformation | Tressa Ohler
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BEST ENSEMBLE
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Transformation | Eric Roberts, Stephen Baldwin & Brian Austin Green
Rock Inn | James Hong, Malcolm Madeira, Heidi Cox, Cynthia Zitter, Max Cutler & Gogo Lomo-David
Yorktown: A Time to Heal | George Takei, James Shigeta, J.J. Silvia, John Atkin, Stan Woo
Spin The Wheel | Neil Chase & David Heacock
1660 Vine | Patricia McGregor
The Lucid - "Hair" | Hannah Fierman, Drew Fortier, David Ellefson
Amber Road | B. Luciano Barsuglia
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BEST SCREENWRITER/FEATURE
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Donavan Emery, The Android & Himself | Jesse Dorian
Murder, Anyone? | James Cullen Bressack
Love In Italy | Sena Tunali
Hunger | Michael William Hogan
What Kind of Woman | Israela Margalit
Blood, Scum & Neon Lights | Brett Howard Nelson
The Paradiso | Bree Greene, George Chasco
Da Fast Lane | Raymond Williams Williams, David Vernon
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BEST SCREENWRITER/SHORT
OF THE YEAR
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★ Winner: Hanging Buddy | John R. Kestner
Black Constellation | Jaime Urquiza
Tóxico | Rubia Lima & Rafael Henrique Lima
Several of Myself | Joaquim Haickel, Coi Belluzzo, Angelica Coutinho & Júlia Antuerpem
Nest | Todd Lien
Appearances | Joan Tofteland
SPECIAL CATEGORIES
BEST WOMAN FILMMAKER
OF 2019-2021
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★ Winner: Dezmyre Volmeus
Tatiana Fedorovskaya | Monica Tidwell | Lane Forbes | Sara Hermann | Anastasia Kochetkova | Mehnaaz Nadiadwala | Swagata Naik | Kate Louise Pascoe | Marcela Cantú Serrano | Alessandra Guarino | Naomi Beukes-Meyer | Alina Reyzelman | Trista Suke | Catriona Blackburn | Lorena Sopi | Maria Diane Ventura | Rebecca Thomson | Hannah Andersen | Freia Titland | Taylor Hawthorne | Stephanie Carson | Ashley Rebecca Farley | Dianna Ippolito | Tamia Dow | Lois Brabin Platt | Sarah Wilson Thacker | Anna Zoll | Leilani Amour Arenzana | Charlie LaRose | Lauren Guglielmello | Maria Rotger | Roseline Gnapi | Vanessa Coleman | Zamarin Wahdat | Katie Austin | Caroline Treadway | Mia Corazon Aureus | Elizabeth Jane Findley | Sherry Yang | Susan Ruth Downs | Milagros Bernales Lavalle | Jamie Lou | Dorota Fórmanowska | Peachanda DuBose | Nina Brissey | Tyna Ezenma | Alicia Buckner | Anna Gerasimova | Ivy Wilson | Bilan Liao | Charlotte Rose Manning | Felicia Gonzalez Brown
SOCIAL AWARENESS AWARD
OF 2019-2021
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★ Winner: Something Ain't Right | Susan Ruth Downs, MD & Alex Voss
Glass World Project: Nature & Human | Raphael Sommer, Olivia Lina Gasche
Ocean Souls | Philip Hamilton
Viper Virus History in the Making | Celeste Locante Thorson
Belle-Ile In Acadie | Phil Comeau
The Box: Out of the Impossible | Ann Cabano
Red Zones | Luca Vullo
Lifelines | Meral Uslu, Paul Cohen, Martijn van Haalen, Maria Mok
Wild Is The Spring | Alda Massoud
Still Suffering | Diana Puzikova
The Dark Side of Green Energies | Jean-Louis Pérez & Guillaume Pitron
The Long Ride Home - Part 2 | Steve Haining
The Earned Life | Patryk Wezowski
Expedition Niger - Real Africa | Roberto Fischer
Swann | Antonio Petrone
A Vegas-sized thank you to our Title Sponsor
