2026 Winners & Shortlist

Norah and Susie, two Singaporean women in their fifties, leave behind conventional living for “van life”, embracing newfound freedom and the joy of living life on their terms. They share new adventures and quiet strength, revealing a deeper story of resilience as a queer couple in a conservative society. A tender road trip that celebrates courage, joy, and chosen love.

As childhood memories are made and fade in the same instant, siblings Lily and Bodhi diverge at the dawn of a life beyond their home, a Colorado alligator sanctuary. Their bond, forged by the exotic nature of their remote high desert landscape, begins to change as Lily enters her teenage years. Searching inward, Bodhi contemplates the meaning of friendship and family beyond his reptilian counterparts.

Between the 1950s and 1990s, thousands of West African children were privately fostered by white British families, a little-known practice informally referred to as “farming.” Kemi shares her experience as one of those children, reflecting on identity and the long-lasting impact of growing up between cultures.

Mermaids of Mannar follows several women freedivers from Ramanathapuram, a coastal town in Tamil Nadu, India, where the women risk their lives every day to collect seaweed to support their families and community. Highlighting the profound connection these women have with the sea, their culture, and the environment, the film delves into the emotional dynamics between the women and their husbands, drawing contrasts between different generations and the societal norms that shape them.

As legendary French pianist Philippe Entremont prepares for his final concert at age 90, Four Hands captures the profound bond between Entremont and his 35-year-old protégé, Gen Tomuro, as they near this emotional milestone. Through their rehearsals and conversations, Philippe’s life lessons emerge; from finding one’s own path to the danger of lifeless perfection.

Darkness Has Gravity deconstructs the 'black box' of North Korea through the raw testimonies of three defectors. By tracing their disparate motives and trajectories, the work transcends conventional migration narratives to interrogate the invisible 'gravity' of North Korean society and the complex psychological layers of the three defectors throughout their process of displacement.

An investigative documentary exploring the grueling cycle of child labor in Pakistan through the story of two children, one working at a brick kiln and the other at a car mechanic shop.

Three ocean dwellers come to terms with a jeopardy that threatens the place they feel most alive, looking to a sustainable future in seaweed.

An adventure-seeking couple, new to the sport of hiking, attempt one of the hardest thru-hikes in the world: a crossing of the Alps through eight countries, the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest seventeen times. Quickly they realize they have bitten off more than they can chew. Showing Up is a personal commentary on how we define success in the world we live in.

Surrounded by mountains shaped by generations of local communities in the Ukrainian Carpathians, ecologist Michael Jacobi dedicates his days to caring for water buffalo, hutsul horses, and other ancient animal breeds. Echoes of Menchul captures his profound bond with nature, revealing how his life has become an ongoing dialogue with the land.

In the minutes before a match, a Table Tennis player finds himself overwhelmed by the pressure of the moment as he struggles to find composure and remember what motivates him.

A couple working opposite schedules attempts to maintain their connection through fleeting encounters in this hand-drawn poem inspired by the filmmakers’ own experience.

While stuck at her sister’s baby shower, a thirty-something woman is forced to decide whether she wants to have kids or not after unexpectedly giving birth to her reproductive organs.

A nude model is posing with statuesque stillness for an elite drawing class – until an unfortunate mosquito bite challenges his self-control. Driven to madness by the itch, he’s caught between the ruthless demand for perfection and his most unhinged, animalistic impulses.

Since humans appeared on Earth they have made endless efforts to survive. As if there’s no tomorrow, they’ve been enjoying life to the fullest while causing harm to the planet. But now, the game that once seemed infinite is nearing its end.

A Caribbean storyteller and her son arrive in a village where children have vanished and stories are forbidden. When her son goes missing, she must confront a mysterious woman and pay a terrible price to try to save him.

Ten-year-old Eliza's perception of reality begins to shatter after witnessing the limit of her mother’s mental deterioration. Illusions, memory and observations cast light and transform her world into something ill-fated.

A girl’s long-distance romance with an older Norwegian man promises to pull her and her mother out of their austere life in Cuba, but her dreams are shaken when she realizes he isn’t as idyllic as he seems.

Night after night, Olivia the vampire roams around in her camper van. Biting the few people she encounters, for a brief moment they satisfy her thirst for closeness. One night, a chance encounter with outsider Stella sets Olivia on a new course, but how can a vampire be with a human?

Ongeluk' unfolds in real time, following Melanie through an ordinary afternoon that shifts in an instant with a sudden accident that interrupts the quiet. As Melanie registers the shock, the weight of consequence becomes unavoidable.

​​Told through restrained visuals and minimal dialogue, Creating Without Permission is a quiet observation of what happens in between moments, when emotions are felt but rarely spoken. Allowing silence, gesture, and proximity to carry meaning, the film explores a sense of environment, rhythm, and emotional truth.

The short film tells the story of a couple and the progression of their relationship over the years, seen from the perspective of a camera placed above their bed in a zenithal position. Without dialogue, through editing that makes use of jump cuts, the short moves forward in time and through the couple’s life to explore their dreams and fears. The short, shot using a vertical aspect ratio (9:16), is accompanied by an original soundtrack.

Aisha would do anything to see her brother, Sammad, smile. On his birthday, Sammad wishes for three ice creams, which he's hopeless about, as he is familiar with their mother’s strained financial condition after their father abandoned them. Determined to make his day special, Aisha gathers all her savings and travels across vast terrains in sweltering heat to bring ice cream for Sammad. When she arrives at the shop, she discovers that the ice creams have already started melting due to a power outage. Now, she must race against time to carry the ice creams across great distances, hoping that the heat doesn't turn them into liquid. Life is Like Ice Cream uses melting ice cream as an allegory for a collapsing family, showing that no matter how dire the circumstances, one can always make the best of it.

After the death of his wife, a veteran astronaut accepts a high-risk solo mission to save humanity's future - only to realize the true cost may be losing his son forever.

Alone on a late shift, a young woman hears two sharp knocks at the office’s glass door; no one is there. Her monitor dies. As she stands, her car key slips off the desk; she picks it up. The lift arrives by itself with LG already lit. In the dim car park, footsteps shadow her. A whisper brushes her ear: “Miss…” and dread blooms. She jolts awake back at her desk: knock, knock. The same key drops again; the lift preselects LG again. Trusting her instinct, she abandons the lift for the stairs from Level 8, only to meet a building that won’t behave. The Night Shift is an urban thriller about intuition, déjà vu, and reading the signs that might break the cycle.