Winners – Indie Oscar 2026 First Shortlist

2026 January 23

Winners – Indie Oscar 2026 First Shortlist

The Revenge Club

By Marla Eaton

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT SCRIPT 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL ARTHOUSE SCREENWRTITER

Heaven

By AnayaMusic Kunst

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE MUSIC VIDEO 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL SINGER

My Hollywood Circus

By Roger Paradiso

BEST INTERNATIONAL BOOK 2026

The Queen of Camelot

By Roger Paradiso

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE MOVIEMAKER 2026

Moviment I – Discipline: Episode I Of The Harmony Saga

By Timothy Bradley Reinhold

BEST INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED FILM 2026 & BEST AMERICAN INDIE DIRECTOR

And We Were Left Darkling

By Lynn Elliott

BEST INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT 2026

Alta California

By Lynn Elliott

BEST AMERICAN WRITER OF THE YEAR

The Blanket

By Susanna Donau

BEST INDIE DIRECTOR 2026 (Category: Animated Short Film)

Hope is not a black and white Rainbow

By Harold L. Brown

BEST ORIGINAL ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA (Category: Screenwriter)

Ailene

By Liesel Galletly

BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT SCRIPT 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL WRITING STYLE

A Pilgrimage Into Tibet

By Mark Gould

BEST HUMAN RIGHTS SHORT DOCUMENTARY 2026 & BEST INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER

Wave Man

By Anna Morelli

BEST EUROPEAN SCREENPLAY 2026

Appointment With The Plague Doctor, Lester Haywood

By Lori S. Strange

BEST INTERNATIONAL HORROR 2026

Walking With God

Lois M. Banks

BEST ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE FEATURE 2026

Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana

By Ken Kimmelman

BEST INTERNATIONAL VIDEO POETRY 2026 & BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Video Poetry)

Cassandra Venice

By Hugo Teugels

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE MOVIEMAKER 2026

AI vs Deep State

By Katalin Weith

BEST INTERNATIONAL WEB/TV SERIES 2026

NOI Crusaders

By Stefano Sernagiotto

BEST SPORT FILM 2026 & EUROPEAN INDIE FILMMAKER

AMERICA BOXED IN

By Ian S. Williams & Casey Williams

BEST ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 2026, BEST PRODUCER & BEST AMERICAN DIRECTOR (Category: International Documentary Feature)

Colombano e la 21esima Fetta

By Paolo Pier Luigi Guglielmetti

BEST EUROPEAN INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE 2026, BEST HISTORICAL SCREENPLAY & BEST INDIE MOVIEMAKER

Meet My Pet Monster

By James Storm

BEST DARK COMEDY 2026 & BEST AMERICAN FILMMAKER

I Waited for You

By Jennifer Glee

BEST ARTHOUSE EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA

Soularis

By Janja Rakuš

BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2026, BEST EUROPEAN INDIE FILMMAKER & BEST ARTHOUSE CINEMATOGRAPHY

Esperándote

By Jesus Schettino

BEST INTERNATIONAL FIRST TIME DIRECTOR 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATIC VISION

My Life as a Piece of Space Debris

By Damien Donnelly

BEST ARTHOUSE DOCUMENTARY SHORT 2026

Stigma

By Mark Schoen

BEST INDIE DOCUMENTARY SHORT & BEST INDIE DIRECTOR 2026

Credo

By Don Pasquale Ferone

BEST EUROPEAN SONG, BEST GUITARIST & BEST SPIRITUAL SONG WRITER

Alzati dal buio

By Don Pasquale Ferone

BEST INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SONG & BEST INDIE SINGER 2026

Fire Flies

Larry Gene Fortin

BEST AMERICAN INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER

The Golden Years

By Joseph Starzyk

BEST INDIE SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING

Virulence

By Christopher Pennington

BEST INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT 2026, BEST INTERNATIONAL WRITING STYLE & BEST SCREENWRITER

Sheldon Mashugana gets stooged

By Dean Morgan

BEST INDIE COMEDY, BEST AMERICAN ACTOR & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (Category: International Comedy)

Brothers of Babylon

By Gabriel Womack

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT 2026 & BEST AMERICAN WRITER 2026

Staycation

By Russell Emanuel

BEST DIRECTOR 2026, BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: Narrative Feature) BEST PICTURE 2026, BEST CASTING DIRECTOR, BEST COSTUME DESIGN, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST SOUNDTRACK

Monument to Love

By Jacob Comforty

BEST INDIE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE & BEST CAMERA OPERATOR

Freedoms Under Assault

By Jacob Comforty

BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Arthouse Documentary Feature)

Balkan Jazz

By Jacob Comforty

BEST INTERNATIONAL MUSIC DOCUMENTARY & BEST EDITING

The Duchess

By C. Arnold Curry

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE DRAMA 2026, BEST INDIE CAST & BEST SCREENWRITER 2026

An Ever After Drama

By Michelle Lynn

BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT 2026, BEST ACRESS, BEST AMERICAN FILMMAKER & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: International Film)

Behind The Algorithm

By Michelle Lynn

BEST ORIGINAL FEAURE SCRIPT 2026

Secrets of Montmartre

By Michelle Lynn

BEST INTERNATIONAL ROMANCE SCRIPT 2026 & BEST AMERICAN INDIE SCREENWRITER

Noise

By R. Scott MacLeay

BEST EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTOR 2026 & BEST EXPERIMENTAL SCREENPLAY

The edge into the past

By Gary St. Martin

BEST ORIGINAL TV PILOT 2026

Lacrime di Vento

By Damiano Rossi

BEST EDUCATIONAL FILM 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE FILMMAKER

The Little Match-Seller

By Danilo Del Tufo

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM 2026 & BEST EUROPEAN DIRECOR 2026 (Category: Animation)

Zone

By Danilo Del Tufo

BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATIC VISION

The Jaguar and the Dragonfly

By Pamela PerryGoulardt

BEST SUPER SHORT FILM 2026 & BEST FILMMAKER

The Girl Made of Earth and Water

By Pamela PerryGoulardt

BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: Super Short Film)

The Arcangel Of Death

By Vincenzo Amoruso

BEST EUROPEAN EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILM & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE ACTOR 2026

We are Rivers

By Graciela Cassel

BEST INDIE SHORT DOCUMENTARY 2026 & BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR

The New Immigrant- Hong Kongers

By Vivian Tsang

BEST INTERNATIONAL FIRST TIME DIRECTOR 2026, BEST SOCIAL DOCUMENTARY 2026 & BEST ARTHOUSE CINEMATOGRAPHY

American Money

By Timothy A McGhee

BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT 2026, BEST ORIGINAL WRITING STYLE & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER

Omnipotent Resolution

By Uniqueness Heiress & Azia

BEST ORIGINAL MUSICAL 2026, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST INDIE DANCE FILM, & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: INDIE MUSIC VIDEO)

Ventricular

By Akal Demir

BEST ORIGINAL FILMMAKER 2026 & BEST INDIE SCREENPLAY

Cataclysm Down Under – Hero

By Akal Demir

BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR 2026 

The Pathos of Hamlet

By Sean Gregory Tansey

BEST DRAMA SHORT 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL ACTING

The Stones of Rome

By Sean Gregory Tansey

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE ACTOR 2026

The Dead Ringer

By Suzanne Lutas

BEST SCREENPLAY 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE SCREENWRITER

Not Without Gloves

By Lena Mattsson

BEST EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTOR 2026, BEST EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST ORIGINAL POETIC SHORT FILM

The Aesthetics of Failure

By Lena Mattsson

BEST EUROPEAN VIDEOPOETRY 2026 & BEST INSPIRATIONAL EDITING

The Rorschach Test

By Lena Mattsson

BEST EXPERIMENTAL INDIE MOVIEMAKER 2026 

Elevation To The Depths I

By Andrew Noble

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATIC VISION

Elevation To The Depths II

By Andrew Noble

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER 2026

Elevation To The Depths III

By Andrew Noble

BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY 2026

The Legend Of The Bum-Barian

By Kel Owens

BEST INDIE SHORT FILM 2026 & BEST ORIGINAL ACTOR

Christmas Card

By Kel Owens

BEST ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE SHORT & BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT 2026

Lost In 24

By May Liu

BEST EDITING & BEST INDIE FILMMAKER (Category: Indie Short)