The 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Design Awards, and Special Awards winners will be announced during the Film & TV Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, March 12, along with all the Short Film Program winners, which are eligible for Jury Awards within their respective screening categories.

Awards Screening Categories

• Narrative Feature Competition: World premieres showcasing the art of storytelling by emerging voices.
• Documentary Feature Competition: World premieres of captivating, real stories by emerging voices.
• Narrative Short Competition: Exceptional storytelling that captivates, surprises, and excites.
• Documentary Short Competition: Authentic storytelling that captivates, surprises, and excites.
• Midnight Short Competition: Indulge your cravings for horror, gore, and dark comedy.
• Animated Short Competition: A whirlwind tour of hand drawn, stop-motion, and digital revelries.
• Music Video Competition: A range of classic, innovative, and stylish work showcasing the scope of music video culture.
• Texas Short Competition: Vibrant work filmed in, inspired by, or connected to the Lone Star State.
• Independent TV Pilot Competition: Discover new pilots from indie talent.
• Poster Design Competition: Uniquely illustrated prints designed to reflect the themes, tone, and characters of a festival selection.
• XR Experience Competition: World premieres of mind bending immersive art.

In addition to the Jury Awards, all Film and TV projects are eligible for Audience Awards in their various sections, with voting certified by Maxwell Locke & Ritter.

SXSW is proud to be an official qualifying festival for the Academy Awards® Short Film competition. Winners of our Best Animated, Best Narrative and Best Documentary Short Film categories become eligible for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards (Oscars). Any British Short Film or British Short Animation that screens at SXSW is eligible for BAFTA nomination. Films are also eligible for the Independent Spirit Awards.

The Film & TV Awards honor the superlative creativity demonstrated by the film, TV, XR, and design talent in the SXSW Film & TV Festival program.

Stay tuned for the 2025 winners to be announced on March 12 during the Film & TV Awards Ceremony.

FEATURE FILM GRAND JURY AWARDS

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

Jury Award Winner: Bob Trevino Likes It
Director/Screenwriter: Tracie Laymon, Producers: Tracie Laymon, Sean Mullin, Edgar Rosa, Felipe Dieppa

Special Jury Award for Performance: Maria Rodríguez Soto, Mamifera

Special Jury Award for Filmmaking: Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, We Were Dangerous

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

Jury Award Winner: Grand Theft Hamlet
Directors/Screenwriters: Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, Producers: Rebecca Wolff, Julia Ton

Special Jury Award for Bravery and Empathy: Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons, We Can Be Heroes

SHORT FILM COMPETITION GRAND JURY AWARDS

Presented by You42

Jury Award Winner: Dissolution
Director/Screenwriter: Anthony Saxe, Producers: Thomas Lopez, Anthony Saxe

Special Jury Award: Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz, Trapped

Documentary Short Competition

Jury Award Winner: Remember, Broken Crayons Colour Too
Directors/Screenwriters: Shannet Clemmings, Urša Kastelic, Producers: Filippo Bonacci, Gabriel Grosclaude

Special Jury Award Winner: David Gauvey Herbert, Frank

Midnight Shorts Competition

Jury Award Winner: Transylvanie
Director: Rodrigue Huart, Screenwriters: Rodrigue Huart, David Alexander Cassan, Axel Würsten, Producer: Lucie Vigier

Special Jury Award Winner: Eros V, Meat Puppet

Animated Shorts Competition

Jury Award Winner: Wander to Wonder
Director: Nina Gantz, Screenwriters: Nina Gantz, Simon Cartwright, Daan Bakker, Stienette Bosklopper

Special Jury Award Winner: Phoebe Jane Hart, Bug Diner

Music Video Competition

Jury Award Winner: Célen - 'Mom told you so'
Director/Screenwriter: Cécile Cournelle

Special Jury Award for Technical Wizardry: Joe Nicolosi, The Burning Hell - 'All I Need'

Texas Shorts Competition

Jury Award Winner: Jedo's Dead
Director/Screenwriter: Sara Nimeh, Producers: Michael Mittelstaedt, Jeff Walker, Ellyn Church

Special Jury Award: Fatima Wardy, Hair Care

Independent TV Pilot Competition

Jury Award Winner: Marvin Is Sorry
Showrunners/Screenwriters: Brett Morrow, Alex Gehrlein, Jack Gacek, Director: Clint Pang

Special Jury Award: Zeke Nicholson, Halfrican American

Poster Design Competition

Jury Award Winner: 7 Beats Per Minute
Designer: John Godfrey

Special Jury Award Winner: Designer: Andrei Captan, If I Die in America

XR Experience Competition

Jury Award Winner: The Golden Key
Directors: Marc Da Costa, Matthew Niederhauser

Special Jury Award: Soul Paint
Directors: Sarah Ticho, Niki Smit, Producer: Anna Firbank, Screenwriter: Sarah Ticho

SXSW Special Awards

SXSW Best Of Texas Award: Preconceived
Directors: Sabrine Keane, Kate Dumke

Janet Pierson Champion Award: Kara Durrett, President of Pinky Promise Films

Kickstarter NextGen Award: Family
Director/Screenwriter: Benjamin Finkel

2024 Audience Award Winners

Headliners

Audience Award Winner: Monkey Man
Director: Dev Patel, Producers: Dev Patel, Jomon Thomas, Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Ian Cooper, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Christine Haebler, Sam Sahni, Antay Nagpal, Screenwriters: Dev Patel, Paul Angunawela, John Collee

Narrative Feature Competition

Audience Award Winner: Bob Trevino Likes It
Director/Screenwriter: Tracie Laymon, Producers: Tracie Laymon, Sean Mullin, Edgar Rosa, Felipe Dieppa

Documentary Feature Competition

Audience Award Winner: Resynator
Director: Alison Tavel, Producers: Kathryn Robson, Jon Lullo, Brendan Walter, Sara Nesson, Barbara McDonough, Christopher Noviello

Narrative Spotlight

Audience Award Winner: My Dead Friend Zoe
Director: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, Producers: Paul Scanlan, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, Terri Lubaroff, Ray Maiello, Mike Field, Richard Silverman, Robert Paschall Jr., Screenwriters: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, AJ Bermudez

Documentary Spotlight

Audience Award Winner: Clemente
Director: David Altrogge, Producers: Mike Blizzard, Mary Sabol, Sarah Altrogge, Jocelyn Hartnett, Stephen Turselli, Keith Ayers, Andrew Calvetti, Steve Burman, John Bennett Scanlon

Midnighter

Audience Award Winner: Oddity
Director/Screenwriter: Damian McCarthy, Producers: Katie Holly, Laura Tunstall, Evan Horan, Mette-Marie Kongsved

Visions

Audience Award Winner: Songs From the Hole
Director: Contessa Gayles, Producers: Contessa Gayles, Richie Reseda, David Felix Sutcliffe, Screenwriters: James "JJ'88" Jacobs, Contessa Gayles

Global presented by MUBI

Audience Award Winner: Bionico's Bachata
Director: Yoel Morales, Producer: Cristian Mojica, Screenwriters: Cristian Mojica, Yoel Morales

24 Beats Per Second presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Audience Award Winner: Faders Up: The John Aielli Experience
Directors: David Hartstein, Sam Wainwright Douglas, Producer: Shelby Hadden

Festival Favorite

Audience Award Winner: Sing Sing
Director: Greg Kwedar, Producers: Monique Walton, Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Screenwriters: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar

Narrative Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Can
Director/Screenwriter: Kailee McGee, Producers: JP Bolles, Kailee McGee

Documentary Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Frank
Director: David Gauvey Herbert, Producers: David Gauvey Herbert, Lance Oppenheim, Abigail Rowe, Nate Hurtsellers

Animated Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: A Crab in the Pool
Directors/Screenwriters/Producers: Alexandra Myotte, Jean-Sébastien Hamel

Midnight Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Meat Puppet
Director/Screenwriter: Eros V, Producers: Leah Draws, Masha Thorpe

Texas Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Sangre Violenta / Sangre Violeta
Directors: Edna Diaz, Arturo R. Jiménez, Producers: Maggie M. Bailey, Edna Diaz, Arturo R. Jiménez

Music Video Competition

Audience Award Winner: Dillon Francis - 'LA on Acid'
Director/Screenwriter: Parker Seaman, Producers: Melissa Langaas, Parker Seaman

TV Program

TV Premiere

Audience Award Winner: STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.
Director: Jamila Wignot, Producers: Jamila Wignot, Kara Elverson

TV Spotlight

Audience Award Winner: Hacks Season 3 Premiere
Showrunners: Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, Director: Lucia Aniello, Producers: Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Michael Schur, David Miner, Morgan Sackett

Independent TV Pilot Competition

Audience Award Winner: Neo-Dome
Director: Bonnie Discepolo, Screenwriter: Matt Pfeffer, Producers: Anna Camp, Michael Johnson, Matt Pfeffer, Mark Pfeffer, Valerie Steinberg

XR Experience

Audience Award Winner: Last We Left Off
Directors: Connor Illsley, Jon Riera, Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley, Producers: Cameron MacLaren, Peter Fisher, Connor Illsley, Jon Riera, Screenwriter: Grayson Moore

XR Experience Spotlight

Audience Award Winner: Emperor
Directors: Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen, Producers: Oriane Hurard, Katharina Weser, Jeanne Marchalot, Screenwriters: Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen

XR Special Event

Audience Award Winner: Kiss/Crash
Director: Adam Cole

Narrative Feature Competition: Jake Coyle, writer and critic for The Associated Press; Robert Daniels, Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com; Joanna Robinson, podcaster and cultural critic for The Ringer

Documentary Feature Competition: Siddhant Adlakha, critic and entertainment journalist; David Fear, Senior Editor and film critic at RollingStone.com.; Lovia Gyarkye, critic at The Hollywood Reporter

Narrative Shorts Competition: Clementine Quittner, Co-CEO of Small Ideas production company; Kristian Mercado Figueroa, filmmaker; Chris Rosati, Vice President of Development and Production across Film & Television at Monkeypaw

Documentary Shorts Competition: Loren Hammonds, producer and curator of Film, Television, and Immersive work; Christine Kecher, Senior Commissioning Editor for Op-Docs; Tina Nguyen, VP of Documentary Programming at HBO

Animated Shorts Competition: Bryan Dimas, live-action Producer and advocate for DEI initiatives in the animation; Angeline Izquierdo, Shadowmachine; Ivana Kvesić, director of the Fantoche – International Animation Film Festival

Midnight Shorts Competition: Mariama Diallo, writer-director; Alex Kim, Vice President of IP Scouting and Acquisitions at Monkeypaw; Nick Romano, Creative Executive at 18Hz

Music Video Competition: Oualid Mouaness, director, writer, and producer; Kimberly Stuckwisch, film, commercial, theatre, and music video director and producer; Brittany Spanos, staff writer at Rolling Stone

Texas Shorts Competition: Cat Cardenas, writer and photographer; Barak Epstein, feature film producer; Chelsea Hernandez, filmmaker.

TV Pilot Competition: Kat Candler, filmmaker; Christine Dávila, Head of Development & Production at Ojalá; Caroline Vanstrom, Director of Development and Production at Fifth Season

Poster Design Competition: Oliver Barrett, artist and designer; Jenny Jacobi, CEO at Mutant; Kevin Tong, artist

XR Competition: Jimmy Cheng, XR distribution; Jacqueline Lyanga, founder and Executive Director of Global Cinematheque and the US Delegate for the Berlin International Film Festival; Landon Zakheim, Executive Director and co-founder of the Overlook Film Film Festival

Having your film selected for SXSW is prestigious in its own right. In addition, we're pleased to count ourselves among the festivals eligible for both Oscars Shorts, BAFTA qualification, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

What does this mean for you?

Oscars

Winners of the SXSW Animated, Documentary and Narrative Short Film categories become eligible for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards.

Here is more information about Oscars eligibility.

BAFTAs

Any British Short Film or British Short Animation that screens at SXSW is eligible for a BAFTA nomination.

Here is more information about BAFTA eligibility.

Film Independent Spirit Awards

All Feature films selected for SXSW are eligible for the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Here is more information about Film Independent Spirit Awards eligibility for feature films.