SIFF 2026 Award Winners

The audience votes are in and the juries have deliberated! Your SIFF 2026 award winners are here.

This year, we screened 203 films across the 11-day Festival, and those features and shorts competed in juried and audience competitions for prestige and cash prizes. On May 17, we announced the winners of the Juried Competition and Golden Space Needle Audience Awards at a ceremony and banquet held at The Vera Project. Congratulations to all the award-winning filmmakers, and thank you to this year’s jurors and audience for an amazing Festival! Here’s a recap of all award recipients.

Golden Space Needle Audience Awards

SIFF is proud to be known as an Audience Festival, so each year we collect votes from our audiences so that they can make their voices heard by awarding their favorite films Golden Space Needle Awards.

Best Film - Edie Arnold is a Loser | dir. Megan Rico, Kade Atwood (USA)

Best Documentary - The Life We Leave | dir. JJ Gerber (USA)

Best Director - Ildikó Enyedi, Silent Friend (Germany/Hungary)

Best Performance - Inde Navarrette, Obsession (USA)

Best Short Film - The Gnawer of Rocks | dir. Louise Flaherty (Inuktitut) (Canada)

Lena Sharpe Award For Persistence Of Vision, presented By Women In Film Seattle - The Big Cheese | dir. Sara Joe Wolansky (USA)

Juried Competition Awards – Features

The Jury, comprised of filmmakers, journalists, and industry professionals, selects a winning film for each category. Winning features are awarded a cash prize of $5,000 each.

Official Competition Grand Jury Prize – Mārama | dir. Taratoa Stappard (Māori) (New Zealand 2025)

Official Competition Special Jury Mention – Burn | dir. Makoto Nagahisa (Japan 2026), recognized as "Feel Bad Film of the Year"

Ibero-American Competition Grand Jury Prize – The Garden We Dreamed | dir.  Joaquín del Paso (Mexico 2026)

Ibero-American Competition Special Jury Mention – The Red Hangar | dir. Juan Pablo Sallato (Chile/Argentina/Italy 2026) - Recognized for Best Direction

New Directors Competition Grand Jury Prize – Shape of Momo | dir. Tribeny Rai (India/South Korea 2025)

New American Cinema Competition Grand Jury Prize –  Lucky Lu | dir. Lloyd Lee Choi (USA/Canada 2025)

Dan Ireland Prize - Hot Water | dir. Ramzi Bashour (USA 2026)

Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize – Birds of War | dir. Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak (United Kingdom/Syria/Lebanon 2026)

Documentary Competition Special Jury Mention – The Seoul Guardians | dir. Jong-woo Kim, Shin-Wan Kim, Chul-Young Cho (South Korea 2026) - Recognized for "Courage and Democracy"

Juried Competition Awards – Shorts

The Jury, comprised of filmmakers, journalists, and industry professionals, selects a winning film for each category. Winning shorts are awarded a cash prize of $2,500 each.

Live Action Short Grand Jury Prize – Scout's Honor | dir. Isabel Pask (USA)

Live Action Short Special Jury Mention – Nobody Knows the World | dir. Roddy Dextre (Peru)

Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize – Still Standing | dirs. Victor Tadashi Suarez, Livia Albeck-Ripka (USA)

Documentary Short Special Jury Mention – The Baker’s Hotline | dirs. Emily Schuman, Dave Schuman (USA), recognized as "Standout Heartwearing Tale” 

Documentary Short Special Jury Mention – Dick’s-A-Thon | dir. Dylan Young (USA), recognized as "Spirit of Seattle”

Animated Short Grand Jury Prize – With Tapes and Toasts in the Car | dir. Kiana Naghshineh (Germany/France)

Animated Short Special Jury Mention – Gnawer of Rocks | dir. Louise Flaherty (Inuktitut) (Canada), recognized as “Best Traditional Legend” 

Animated Short Special Jury Mention – Acid City | dirs. Jack Wedge, Will Freudenheim (USA), recognized as “Most Visionary World-Building” 

Animated Short Special Jury Mention – Paper Trail | dir. Don Hertzfelt (USA), recognized as “Standout Experimental Storytelling”