HollyShorts Announces Winners Of 2026 Awards, Top Prize To ‘Vultures’

Dian Weys’ drama Vultures clutched prime honors at HollyShorts Sunday night, profitable the distinguished competition’s Grand Jury Prize for Greatest Brief Movie. The award qualifies the movie for Oscar consideration and comes with a prize of a $60,000 Panavision digicam bundle.

Edwin van der Walt, Jill Levenberg, and Albert Pretorius star within the 15-minute-long quick from the South African-born filmmaker. Logline: “Within the unstable moments after a automotive crash, earlier than the authorities arrive, a hot-headed but determined tow truck driver fiercely protects his tow. However the state of affairs rapidly spirals out of his management.”

Vultures additionally received the competition’s Greatest Worldwide award. The movie premiered on the 2025 Cannes Movie Pageant and has screened world wide since then, together with at Tribeca Pageant, the Pink Sea Worldwide Movie Pageant in Saudi Arabia, and the Zagreb Movie Pageant in Croatia. Weys’ earlier credit embrace the shorts Bergie (2022) and Versnel (2017), and the 50-minute-long thriller Koffie en Sigarette (2023).

Along with the Panavision bundle, the Grand Jury Prize for Greatest Brief Movie comes with three hours of complimentary authorized session offered by Sheppard Mullin.

Together with the Grand Jury Prize, HollyShorts is Oscar-qualifying in three extra shorts classes: Greatest Dwell Motion, Greatest Animation, and Greatest Documentary.

The Greatest Dwell Motion Award was claimed by Pale Solar, directed by Adrian Moyse Dullin and Jawahine Zentar. Anass El Hmami, Baki Bousmaha, and Sylvie Fasano star in that movie, the story of 12-year-old Abel, who whereas spending time on a seaside in summer time together with his household finds himself “ashamed of his father’s physique, marked by most cancers.”

Greatest Animation went to With Tapes and Toasts within the Automotive (Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot), directed by Kiana Naghshineh. Logline: “Within the face of her physique fading into stardust, Shari realizes what really issues to her.”

Naghshineh, a local of Mannheim, Germany, studied animation on the Filmakademie Baden – Württemberg. Her earlier movies incude Augenblicke (2018) and Don Pasquale (2018).

The Time My Grandmother Was Held Hostage by Financial institution Robbers, directed by Rosella Tursi, received the Greatest Documentary jury award. The movie’s title provides a really robust sense of the content material: the director’s nonna (Italian for grandmother) was held hostage in her dwelling in Montreal in 1983 after two males fleeing a financial institution holdup entered her dwelling by means of an open door.

Archive footage exhibits how information crews descended on the house because the hostage drama unfolded. The documentary is constructed round reminiscences of that day shared by members of nonna Rosa’s household, in addition to recollections from one of many financial institution robbers/hostage takers himself – a person tracked down by filmmaker Rosella Tursi over 40 years after the crime. (I served on the jury on this class).

The awards ceremony was held on the TCL Chinese language Theatres at Ovation Hollywood. Scroll for the total checklist of winners for the 22^nd version of HollyShorts.

New this 12 months at HollyShorts is the Greatest Efficiency Award, recognizing excellent appearing in short-form filmmaking. The inaugural award was offered to Russell Tovey for his efficiency in “I Am the Prize.” Within the movie, the British actor performs a self-help guru whose “true identification is revealed within the midst of a lecture tour.”

Different main winners at HollyShorts:

The HollyShorts Movie Pageant + IMGN Brief Movie Fund was awarded to The Fiddler’s Stroke, directed by Braden Barton, with a prize bundle valued at $25,000.

The bundle features a $10,000 money grant from IMGN, a Blackmagic Cinema 6K Digital camera from HollyShorts, and unique one-on-one mentorship alternatives with filmmakers and trade executives, together with Oscar winners Man Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman. Kodak manufacturing advantages may even be offered to the winner and runner-up.

The First Leisure Credit score Union Made in LA Award, which features a $1,000 money prize, was offered to Christmas Angels by Remington Hoffman and Ida Hoffman.

HollyShorts and Movie.io additionally introduced the winners of their Viewers Brief Movie Competitors:

That is the total checklist of 2026 HollyShorts Award Winners introduced Sunday night:

BEST SHORT FILM GRAND PRIZE offered by Panavision: “Vultures” — Dian Weys (Oscar-qualifying award)

Greatest Dwell Motion: “Pale Solar” — Adrian Moyse Dullin, Jawahine Zentar (Oscar-qualifying award)

Greatest Director: “Fake Bijoux” — Jessy Moussallem

Greatest Animation: “With Tapes and Toasts within the Automotive (Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot)” — Kiana Naghshineh (Oscar-qualifying award)

Greatest Documentary: “The Time My Grandmother Was Held Hostage by Financial institution Robbers” — Rosella Tursi (Oscar-qualifying award)

Greatest Drama: “Copy, Save” — Alyssa Loh

Greatest Comedy: “The Oracle” — JJ Adler

Greatest Cinematography: “The Kalgan Horse” — Junxiong Zhu

Greatest Modifying: “HYENA” — Altay Ulan Yang

Greatest Horror: “Banshee” — Peter Vass

Greatest Costume Design: “Betty St. Clair” — Syra McCarthy, Kyle Casey Chu

Greatest Stunts: “Ground” — Jo Bareun

Greatest Worldwide: “Vultures” — Dian Weys

Verse LA Presents Greatest Midnight Insanity: “The Seeing Eye Canine Who Noticed Too A lot” — Eric Jackowitz

Greatest Music Video: “Weval – Open Up That Door” — Bear Damen, Merijn Scholte Albers

Greatest Efficiency: “I AM THE PRIZE” — Russell Tovey

Greatest Producer: “Laundreams” — Administrators Evie Ward-Drummond and Amber Gadd; Producers Nina Georgieff, Anna Sophia Duff, Maxine Peake, Tobi Kyeremateng, Slick Movies

SAGindie Award: “Them That’s Not” — Mekhai Lee

Greatest Sports activities Documentary: “ZINA” — Vicky Wight

Greatest Sports activities Narrative: “THE COLOSSEUM” — Nabil Kechouhen

Social Influence Award: “EXTREMIST” — Sasha Molochnikov

Greatest Sci-Fi: “IMPRINT” — Ran Jing

Greatest Scholar Movie: “PANKAJA” — Anooya Swamy

Kodak Greatest Shot on Movie, 35MM: “KINK” — Carissa Gallo

Kodak Greatest Shot on Movie, 16MM: “GOBSTOPPER” — Pippa Feldberg Collins

Kodak Honorable Point out: “I THINK ABOUT KILLING YOU” — Ran Ran Wang

Greatest TV: “Do I Know You From Someplace?” — Alan Scott Neal

Greatest Internet Collection: “Beginning is for P*ssies” — Hannah Shealy, Celine Sutter

Made in LA Award: “CHRISTMAS ANGELS” — Remington Hoffman, Ida Hoffman

Greatest Music Documentary: “Reflections Underneath the Electrical Sky” — Devin J. Dilmore

Greatest Podcast: “deserted: The All-American Ruins Podcast”

ISA Story Award: “Know Your Lights” — Al Benoit

Greatest TV Pilot: “Rippers” — Joseph Oliver Hooten

Greatest Function Screenplay: “Grave Command” — Evelyn Davis

Greatest Feminine Screenplay: “The PaRC” — Morgan Grice

Greatest Brief Screenplay: “The Dying Row Cook dinner” — Jessica James

HollyShorts Movie Pageant + IMGN Brief Movie Fund: “The Fiddler’s Stroke” — Braden Barton

Sponsor Prizes

For HollyShorts Oscar-qualifying classes, winners obtain magnum bottles from Massican Wines, pink wine from Arynca, and {custom} crystal-encrusted champagne glasses from The Èlliance.

HollyShorts notes: “We even have some wonderful prizes lined up for our filmmakers. Due to our beneficiant sponsors, winners will obtain:”

Full-size luxurious skincare from Cotrini Skincare

Jewellery from OUFER (pronounced “provide”)

Customized Mezcal bottles from The Misplaced Explorer

Merchandise from Abundance, the Official Ceremonial Cacao Companion of the HollyShorts Movie Pageant 2026

Customized scarves from Tafari

Perfume from Puerto Rico courtesy of Fragancias Pitorro

Reward luggage from Jean E book Nerd, together with pashmina scarves from Egypt

Vibes Sweet, with all their new flavors to get you dwelling!

Reward luggage from SLĀ Golf (pronounced “slay”)

One very fortunate individual will obtain a custom-stitched Ghost Golf Bag

KIND patches supporting psychological wellness

And, to avoid wasting you cash on Botox, everybody will obtain the unique wrinkle-free straw from Sipface

About HollyShorts Movie Pageant: HollyShorts Movie Pageant is an annual Academy Awards-qualifying competition devoted to showcasing short-form filmmaking from rising and established filmmakers from world wide. The competition brings collectively filmmakers, trade professionals and audiences in Los Angeles whereas offering a platform for impartial storytelling and the following era of filmmaking expertise.