Awards
Awards
Every film programmed into one of our seven competitive sections is judged by a jury of working filmmakers, industry professionals, and critics, and voted on by festival audiences. Winners are announced on the final weekend of the festival.
The Awards
| Jury Awards | Best Film in each of the seven sections: Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Narrative Short, Documentary Short, Animated Short, Social Justice Film, and Student Short. Juries may also name Honorable Mentions and Special Acknowledgements for craft (directing, cinematography, editing, production design, and more). |
| Audience Awards | One per section, voted by the people in the seats. |
| Champa & Vasant Patel Carolina Film Award | A $1,000 award presented to a film by Carolina filmmakers whose work encourages audiences to Discover Different. Jury Awards also carry cash prizes: $500 for the feature sections and Social Justice Film, $250 for each short-film section. |
2026 Winners
Full 2026 jury statements · Audience Awards · Patel Award
Narrative Feature
| Jury Award | Frogtown Directed by Costa Karalis |
| Honorable Mention | A Safe Distance Directed by Gloria Mercer |
| Audience Award | In Memoriam Directed by Rob Burnett |
Documentary Feature
| Jury Award | Kikuyu Land Directed by Andrew H. Brown and Bea Wangondu |
| Honorable Mention | What Will I Become? Directed by Lexie Bean and Logan Rozos |
| Best Production Design | TheyDream Directed by William D. Caballero |
| Best Cinematography | Papertown Directed by Jeremy Seifert and Ben Roberts |
| Audience Award | Once Upon a Time in Harlem Directed by William Greaves and David Greaves |
Narrative Short
| Jury Award | Rare Birds Directed by Lily Weisberg |
| Honorable Mention | All the Real Boys Directed by Ohad Ira Amram |
| Audience Award | Scars That Define Us Directed by Edward Worthy |
Documentary Short
| Jury Award | Free Fish Directed by Bisan Owda |
| Honorable Mention | A Man Who Takes Pictures of Flowers Directed by Yoo Lee |
| Best Directing | VITA 2.0 Directed by Vita Stoikova |
| Audience Award | Body of Work Directed by Cassidy Rast and Odin Wadleigh |
Animated Short
| Jury Award | A Grieving Heart Directed by Wendy Cong Zhao |
| Honorable Mention | TV Entreaberta Directed by Mateus Compart |
| Best Art Direction | Anyone lived in a pretty how town Directed by Daniel Kreizberg |
| Audience Award | BOWKNOT Directed by Yizhou Li |
Social Justice Film
| Jury Award | Choice (Izbor) Directed by Marko Crnogorski |
| Honorable Mention | Chicken Scratch Directed by Isaiah Forte-Rose |
| Audience Award (tie) | Chicken Scratch Directed by Isaiah Forte-Rose |
| Audience Award (tie) | TREASURE (TESORO) Directed by Samuel Correa |
Student Short
| Jury Award | Before Dawn Directed by Julia Galeta |
| Honorable Mention | FIRSTBORN Directed by Olivia Porrill |
| Audience Award | Why Frogs Cry in the Rain Directed by Marina Earle |
Champa & Vasant Patel Carolina Film Award
| Winner | I Owe It All to You Directed by Tori Cordova |
