Award Winners

Audience Awards

Films voted the winners by our audience members casting ballots at the theater and online.

Audience Award - Best Feature Film

Winner - Four Mothers

Runner Up - Lesbian Space Princess

Honorable Mention - Duino

Audience Award - Best Documentary

Winner - A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot

Runner Up - Heightened Scrutiny

Honorable Mention - Row of Life

Audience Award - Best Short

Winner - Sorority

Runner Up - Stimulants & Empathogens

Honorable Mention - Sunday Lunch

Jury Awards

Jury Award - Best Feature Film

Winner - Rains Over Babel

The Jury selected Rains Over Babel for its lush visual style, and its unique and creative retelling of the story of Dante’s Inferno.

Special Mention - Lesbian Space Princess

The Jury also recognized Lesbian Space Princess for its creatively offbeat and quirky story, as well as its unrelentingly clever dialogue.

Jury Award - Best Documentary

Winner - Heightened Scrutiny

Heightened Scrutiny was praised by the Festival Jury not only for its quality, but also for the gravity and timeliness of the film’s topic in the current political environment.

Honorable Mention - Janis Ian: Breaking Silence

The Jury also recognized the documentary about pioneering singer/songwriter Janis Ian for the quality and originality of its filmmaking.

Jury Award - Best Short Film

Winner - Stimulants & Empathogens

The Jury selected Stimulants & Empathogens for its creativity, unique storyline, and the visual impact of its hilariously improbable ending.

Runner Up - The Exchange

In The Exchange, a transgender woman meets up to sell her boots to someone who is tentatively questioning their gender. The Jury honored it for its humanity, tenderness and the quality of the storytelling.

Honorable Mention - Die Bully Die

In Die Bully Die, a gay man has dinner with the bully who made his life a living hell when they were in high school 12 years ago. The Jury recognized it for its originality and the visual quality of its dream sequence scenarios.

Rising Star Award

**Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese (Lesbian Space Princess)**

The Rising Star Award, in memory of festival volunteer and supporter Pam Connelly, highlights and rewards new talent in the independent film industry.

The 2025 Rising Star Award was awarded to Australian co-directors Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese in recognition of their bold vision and their audacious gamble that a quirky, cheeky, full-length animated film about lesbians in space could entertain and enthrall a modern audience. It is the first feature film for both co-directors, and it is being grabbed up by queer festivals across the world as it embarks on its festival run.

Director's Award

**Darren Thornton (Four Mothers)**

The Director’s Award is selected annually by the Festival Director. This year, Shane Engstrom presented the award to Darren Thornton, director of Four Mothers. Engstrom noted, “Darren told a personal story with a universal message that was both deeply touching and uplifting. Additionally, he went above and beyond to enhance the festival experience for our audience by pinch hitting with a last-minute Q&A session where he shared wonderful insights into the making of the film.”