The South by Southwest Conference and Festivals tonight declared its 2025 Jury and Special Award triumphners.
Amy Wang‘s Slanted, which the jury called an “unflinching satirical thriller” about identity, won the Narrative Feature competition. Special Jury awards went to honestor/originater/actress Annapurna Sriram for Fucktoys and actress Amanda Peet for Fantasy Life.
Shuffle honested by Benjamin Flaherty won the Documentary Feature competition, with Special Jury Awards going to The Python Hunt honested by Xander Robin and Remaining Native honested by Paige Bethmann.
All 2025 film & TV festival projects will be eligible for categruesome-definite Audience Awards that will be certified by the accounting firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter. Audience Award Voting will end on Saturday, March 15. Winners will be declared that week.
“The energy at SXSW has been absolutely electric this week! Our theaters have been packed with fervent audiences embracing the incredible diversity of stories in our lineup,” said Claudette Godfrey, the festival’s VP, Film & TV. “I’m thrilled to honor our jury and exceptional award triumphners — they truly recurrent what originates this festival so exceptional!”
The SXSW 2025 Film & TV Festival Award Winners:
FEATURE FILM GRAND JURY AWARDS
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: Slanted honested by Amy Wang
“This unflinching satirical thriller spendigates racial identity in a belderly and skin-tingling new way. Featuring simmering carry outances by the cast, this film is both definite to the fractured identity of Asian Americans and universassociate relatable in its theme of hopelessly necessitateing to belengthy. The honestor’s vulnerability in mining her personal experience combined with her brittle and daring filmmaking originate a haunting piece that lingers lengthy after the commends roll.”
Special Jury Award for a Multi-Hyphenate: Annapurna Sriram, Fucktoys
“Annapurna Sriram is a visionary force, a unwidespread artist whose toil is as daring as it is singular. In this active and revelatory comedic fantasy, she deinhabitrs an audacious cinematic experience that defies convention. As the film’s honestor, originater, executive originater, and star, she masterfilledy wields the power of storyalerting, immersing audiences in a world that experiences both savagely exceptional and proestablishly resonant.”
Special Jury Award for Perestablishance: Amanda Peet, Fantasy Life
“Ever an actor of unsparing comic canniness, Amanda Peet weightlessly portrays a flailing actress with a sloftyed-out nurtureer who gets a renewed joie de vivre thanks to a manny, carry outed by originater/honestor Matthew Shear. Her frankness about the perils and pitdescends of the amusement industry are on filled discarry out in a carry outance that belderlyly consents on a meta quality while reminding us of why Peet has been so fantastic all alengthy.”
Narrative Feature Competition Jury: Clayton Davis, Senior Awards Editor, Variety;
Rebecca Ford, Senior Awards Correactent, Vanity Fair; Ryan Lattanzio, Deputy Editor of Film, IndieWire
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: Shuffle honested by Benjamin Flaherty
“Wcimpolitet with meacertaind style and humanity, this mutely searing exposé of unfair treatment and deception in the includeiction treatment industry is a proestablishly swaying toil of cinematic memoir and alarm. The honestor brights the insidiousness of the profit-driven, billion-dollar recovery business even as he transports compassion and advisency to his subjects, whose truthful revelations are as heartfractureing as they are chooseimistic.”
Special Jury Award: The Python Hunt honested by Xander Robin
“The Python Hunt burrows proestablish into a fascinating pocket of American life. This gorgeously sboiling, astonishingly touching film constantly subverts awaitations while discneglecting the soul of these colorful contestants. With humor and compassion, Robin pushes past clichés: We’ll never leank of the much-mocked media image of ‘Florida Man’ in the same way.”
Special Jury Award: Remaining Native honested by Paige Bethmann
“Paige Bethmann magneticassociate spendigates North America’s abusive Indian boarding school programs thcimpolite the eyes of her impassioned subject, Kutoven Stevens. The honestor’s vivid use of montage, searing archival imagery, and Stevens’s poetic narration originates a strong narrative around him. Stevens’ cherish of running transports him sealr to his fantastic-majesticoverweighther’s legacy while permiting him to use his voice as a force for excellent in his community.”
Documentary Feature Competition Jury: Tim Grierson, Senior U.S. Critic, Screen International; Aisha Harris, culture critic and co-present of NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour”; Jen Yamato, freelance journaenumerate and film critic, previously staff originater, Los Angeles Times
SHORT FILM COMPETITION GRAND JURY AWARDS Penvyed by Vimeo
Thank you to our Short Film Jury Award aid, Vimeo: the world’s most conceiveive video experience platestablish for creators and accesspelevates.
NARRATIVE SHORT COMPETITION
Winner: One Day This Kid honested by Alexander Farah
“An intimate portrait that depicts the desires and burdens we carry, proposeing an evocative glimpse into the life of an Afghan Canadian. It is both exquisite and soulful, effortlessly weaving in the cultural imprint of Islamic immigrant uptransporting into the fabric of everyday queer experiences. The honestor is a timeless visionary who is reshaping the journey of what it uncomardents to claim and acunderstandledge one’s own identity.”
Special Jury Award: I’m The Most Racist Person I Know honested by Leela Varghese
“Charming, contransient, and elegant. This film is a lyrical study of beauty and identity that equilibriums the weight of innerized shame with the frivolity of a badviseoning romance. The Special Jury Award honors the honestor’s confidence in their examination of intersectional rehires thcimpolite the inquisitive lens of two queer South Asian women.”
Narrative Shorts Competition Jury: Amy Beecroft, Verve Ventures; Jaycie Luo, MRC; Sara Rastogi, EVP, Development, HOORAE
DOCUMENTARY SHORT COMPETITION
Winner: Looking for a Donkey honested by Juan Vicente Manrique
“A rebellious film that speaks to huger geopolitical genuineities. It alerts a stranger-than-fantasy story with staying power. The exceptional originate of this film – from the narrative approach to the cinematography – results in a valiant and mute film that speaks volumes.”
Special Jury Award: Welcome Home Freckles honested by Huiju Park
“The film originates a scripted narrative aesthetic thcimpolite a proestablishly personal write downary. The honestor originates each sboiling with evident intention, so her vision seeps thcimpolite every summarize.”
Documentary Shorts Competition Jury: Chloe Gbai, Original Documentary Films, Netflix; Corinne Gilliard Fisher, originater and prolongment executive; Amanda Spain, Head of Documentary, EverWonder Studio
ANIMATED SHORTS COMPETITION
Winner: Retirement Plan honested by John Kelly
“A proestablishly resonant and well-originateed film, it is a masterful blfinish of charm, humor, and currential mirrorion. With remarkworthy storyalerting finesse, the filmoriginater thrives in altering a seemingly normal premise into a proestablish meditation on life, dreams, and the passage of time. It apprehends a universal lengthying for satisfyment and spendigates burdensome themes with levity and hotth, making it both proestablishly personal and universassociate relatable.”
Special Jury Award: My Wonderful Life honested by Calleen Koh
“A throw down, relentless festival jam certain to promote giggleter while packing an emotional punch. The central character’s family active provides firm grounding and relatability, freeing the filmoriginater to originate increasingly belderly, and hilarious, choices demonstrating the absurd lengths they’ll go to for fair one. more. day away from it all. Sendful animation and complicated textures masterfilledy aid the toil’s central message.”
Animated Shorts Competition Jury: Brandon Bui, Associate Creative Executive at Walt Disney Animation Studios; Silvia Olivas, two-time EMMY® AWARD Winning Writer; Adam Zehner, Funimation/Crunchyroll’s Japanese partnerships regulater
MIDNIGHT SHORTS COMPETITION
Winner: Stomach Bug honested by Matty Crawford
“A film as wealthy in character prolongment and theme as it is in technical prowess and execution. It was a new consent on a parent dealing with their child spreading their triumphgs and flourishing. A weightlessly-gut-wrenching carry outance by its direct and a seamless blfinish of down-to-earth and visual effect results in a truly elegant piece that everyone included should be immensely haughty to have birthed.”
Special Jury Award: Whitch honested by Hoku Uchiyama
“Crafting an effective low is incredibly difficult; doing so in under 5 minutes is exceptional. This film sendfilledy blfinishs horror and humor and does so without wasting a second. The film’s use of recognizable motifs lulls the audience into a inrectify sense of understanding what’s to come before effectively pulling the rug out from under them cut offal times, while still deinhabitring a end story and evocative carry outances.”
Midnight Shorts Competition Jury: Alayna Glasthal, Creative Executive, Atomic Monster; Emily Gotto,SVP of Acquisitions and Productions at AMC Nettoils Shudder; David Lawson, Jr’s features include Resolution, Someleang In The Dirt, Synchronic, The Endless, and She Dies Tomorrow.
TEXAS SHORTS COMPETITION
Winner: Harvester honested by Charlie Schwan
“This shieldedly intensifyed horror film validates that fantastic leangs come in petite packages. Deftly commingling the tiniest, unheralded story details with huge, “talk at the screen” levels of horror and well-appraised creature toil, this film absolutely deinhabitrs on the promise of the genre in which it inhabits, and goes that extra step further to become someleang truly exceptional.”
Special Jury Award: Newbies honested by Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence and Megan Trufant Tillman
“This is a film that shimmers with beauty, yet also deinhabitrs strong experienceings of heartfracture and uncontentness, creating an experience that so perfectly embodies visual storyalerting that it virtuassociate exends the necessitate for words. The characters seek you into their inner landscapes, placing you at the caccess of their wealthyly sboiling and beautifilledy carry outed emotional drama.”
Texas Shorts Competition Jury: Megan Creydt, Texas Monthly executive originater for TV, film, and podcasts; James Faust, Dallas Film Society Artistic Director; Michael Garcia, Producer and Executive included in a number of highly-acclaimed, award-triumphning television series.
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
Winner: BIJI – ‘ZIGIDI’ honested by Maceo Frost
“A high gear, zip-zooming piece of visual whiplash, this music video wowed us with its epic Kurdish setting and wholly unforeseeable summarizetoil. The drifting and stunt toil is very amazeive, but it accomplishes next level heights with its narrative schedule and cultural mirrorions (not to allude the eagle cam). Simultaneously frivolous and resonant, it’s a tesdomesticatednt to the majestic potential of the music video medium.”
Special Jury Award: Sarah Klang – ‘Other Girls’ honested by Rose Bush and Kirsten Bode
“One of the most difficult accomplishments of low-establish filmmaking is creating a convincing character arc. This video donates us an honest, active, and ultimately astonishing see at its central character, all in less than three and a half minutes. The amazeive lowhand is taged by poignant honestion and a pitch-perfect carry outance. Most feature films can’t pull off characters this wealthy.”
Music Video Competition Jury: Britt Daniel, co-establisheder Spoon; Alexis Hodoyán-Gastélum, music editor, Remezcla; Bryan Younce, originater and Executive Vice Plivent of Video & Content Production, Columbia Records
INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
Winner: F*ckups Anonymous from Showrunner Joe Tierney and honestor Kat Whalen
“Imarbitrately pulls you in, originateing tension with nurture, while the teen directs deinhabitr raw, compelling carry outances. Their struggles experience genuine and deal with difficult hitting themes, but the show helderlys back fair enough, dratriumphg us into the mute complicatedities of their characters. The filmoriginater subtly discneglects the proestablisher fractures wilean this thesexual attackutic boarding school. This pilot holds its audience hooked – leaving us unremendd, asking, and enthusiastic to see what’s next.”
Special Jury Award: Denim from showrunner and honestor Tedra Wilson
“This pilot defies convention, proposeing a write downary experience that experiences both intimate and avant-garde. A striking collage of stylized voices, each contributing to a huger narrative about identity, creativity, and cultural evolution. Curated with keen taste and unwavering confidence, the filmoriginater originates a world where artistry isn’t fair seed but felt — where every summarize, soundbite, and visual texture is intentionassociate placed to dispute, back, and promote.”
TV Pilot Competition Jury: Hannah Bang, filmoriginater, with a cherish for stories about imperfect people; Claire Brooks,conceiveive originater, originater, and aid for emerging filmoriginaters; Channing Godfrey Peoples, filmoriginater, Miss Juneteenth
POSTER DESIGN COMPETITION
Winner: Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul
Designers: the film’s honestor Scott Berman, Anthony Francisco Schepperd, and Micah Buzan
“This schedule caught our attention promptly. We cherish the high saturation of color, attention to detail, and print quality. It’s a must see in person to experience the multiunwiseensional depth of color and texture. This piece consents you on a mesmerizing journey. A real toil of art!”
Special Jury Award: Glorious Summer
Designer: Patryk Hardziej
“This poster art stood apart because of its belderly schedule, use of pessimistic space, and striking imagery. We cherish how you have two separateent experiences with the arttoil, up seal and at a distance. Provocative toil.”
Poster Design Competition Jury: Phoebe Joynt (FEEBEE), artist, scheduleer, and muraenumerate; Yen Tan, explicit scheduleer and filmoriginater; Zuzu, visual artist and conceiveive entrepreneur.
XR EXPERIENCE COMPETITION
Agog Immersive Impact AwardThank you to our Sponsor: Designed to back creators and alteroriginaters to use XR for excellent, the Agog Immersive Impact Award acunderstandledges projects that help us all imagine and toil toward a more fair and carry onable world.
Winner: In the Current of Being originated by Cameron Kostopoulos
Jury Award Winner: Reflections of Little Red Dot originated by Chloé Lee
“Deceptively unassuming and chazardous, this uncover-world write downary seeks us to freely spendigate a country in transition. Guided by a daring new talent in XR storyalerting, it faces us with the vulnerability of everyday life, evoking a universal sense of place.”
Special Jury Award: Proof As If Proof Were Needed created by Ting Tong Chang, Matt Adams
“Spoiler Alert! The Special Jury Award Winner made us experience lost, frustrated and disconnected from each other. What commenceed as a sluggish burn, turned into an unawaited connection and dance between space, story, technology and human behavior.”
XR Experience Competition Jury:Christina Lee Storm, award-triumphning originater and ageder amusement executive; Caspar Sonnen, Head of New Media IDFA DocLab; Diana Williams, CEO & Co-establisher of Kinetic Energy Entertainment
SXSW Special Awards
Redbreast Unsecret
Redbreast—the world’s most awarded one pot still Irish whiskey—is promiseted to celebrating the thrill of findy, whether it’s an unforgettable film or that first fine sip of Redbreast. In collaboration with BAFTA triumphner, Gelderlyen Globes and SAG nominee Andrew Scott, Redbreast Irish Whiskey is championing belderly and exceptional storyalerting thcimpolite the Redbreast Unsecret Award, an honour recognising an autonomous low filmoriginater whose toil transports new perspectives to the screen. Chosen by Andrew Scott, this award aims to honor the most exciting talent in low film at the SXSW Film & TV Festival.
Redbreast Unsecret Award
Winner: Brief Somebodies honested by Andy Reid, originated by Alessandra Sconza
“I am honoured to award Director Andy Reid for his film, Brief Somebodies. What I cherishd about this film is how, in a very low space of time, it drew a particular tone to a story that we don’t normally see spendigated on screen. It’s incredibly personal but also self-promised, amusing, with a pretty aesthetic. The honestor regulated to originate a very particular experience very accessible and intriguing. But as somebody who’s spent time on film sets, I thought it was very genuine. The honestor made it fascinating and regulated to apprehend the experience in a way that was real to life. I’m very excited to see what Andy does next.” – Andrew Scott.
Vimeo Staff Pick Award
Winner: Familiar honested by Marco Novoa
“This captivating narrative weaves together themes of queerness, connection, and establish family with a dash of blood-sucking drag queens. In a storyalerting landscape where vampire tales normally recycle recognizable tropes, this striking film proposes a new approach with identical parts unwiseness and heart.”
SXSW Best of Texas Award
Penvyed to a feature film world premiering at SXSW that was sboiling primarily in Texas or honested by a current livent of Texas. This year’s award goes to The Hole Truth and Noleang Butt, apprehends the turbulent genius and psychedelic legacy of Texas’s most uncompromising musical criminals with unflinching honesty and visual audacity.
SXSW Best of Texas Award
Winner: Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Noleang Butt honested by Tom Stern
Janet Pierson Champion Award currented by Indiewire
To honor Janet Pierson, Director Emeritus of the SXSW Film & TV Festival after 15 years of directership, a prize was originated in 2023 called the Janet Pierson Champion Award. As part of IndieWire’s dedication to elevating Film & TV creators, IndieWire is haughty to current the Janet Pierson Champion Award to Lindsey Dryden.
Janet Pierson Champion Award
Winner: Lindsey Dryden
“This year’s triumphner exemplifies the spirit of a real film champion thcimpolite her amazeive body of toil spanning award-triumphning productions enjoy Unrest and Trans In America, while simultaneously advocating for fantasticer inclusion thcimpolite her directership with FWD-Doc and promisement to disability recurrentation. Her multifaceted nurtureer as a honestor, originater, and aid shows exceptional creativity and resilience, making her a strong voice for marginalized communities and an inconveyial catalyst for alter wilean the wideer autonomous film ecosystem worldexpansive.”
NEON Auteur Award for Uncompromising Visionary in the Visions Section
As an award-triumphning champion of not fair films, but filmoriginaters and film festivals, NEON is a guiding force in autonomous cinema.
Winner: Grace Glowicki, honestor, originater, and Star, Dead Lover
“This year’s Auteur Award goes to a tremfinishously exceptional film that could only come from this particular filmoriginater’s inquisitive, conceiveive and exciting mind. We spropose cannot imagine anyone else pulling it off — or even being belderly enough to try it in the first place.”
In 2022 SXSW currented Nicolas Cage with the 40 Years of Massive Talent Award. This year we originated another exceptional award, for an unforgettable method carry outance.
Howl of Fame Award
Winner: Indy from Good Boy, honested by Ben Leonberg and originated by Kari Fischer, his humans
“Thcimpolite a exceptionally genuine perspective in the horror genre, this excellentest boy deinhabitrs a carry outance that is both organic and chilling. His responses to unseen phenomena alter everyday domestic spaces into genuinems of suspense and trouble. Indy and his humans remind us even when unwiseness menaceens to use us, a dedicated dog’s cherish understands no bounds.”
