South by Southwest announced the winners of the 2026 Film & TV Festival Jury Awards and Special Awards, celebrating outstanding creativity and innovation across the narrative, documentary, short, music video, independent television and XR categories. The Audience Awards are recognized by Maxwell Locke & Ritter and winners will be announced later this week via sxsw.com.
“This week we were reminded why we do this,” said Claudette Godfrey, vice president of film and television. “The filmmakers reminded us of the power of storytelling, and the audience showed up with their hearts and souls.”
Continuing the festival’s tradition of celebrating innovation across film, television, music, and technology, SXSW 2026 was held March 12-18 in downtown Austin.
See the complete list of winners below.
Narrative Feature Competition (provided by Kickstarter)
Award-winning film: “Wishful Thinking” directed by Graham Parks
Special Jury Award/Best Acting Award: Susan Kent, “The Snake”
Special Jury Award for Best Original Screenplay: Rob Boardman, Corey Lojkasek, Donnie Divian, Frankie Quinones, “Plantman & Blondie: Dress Up Gangster Film”
Documentary Feature Competition
Winner: “Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story” (directed by Aiden Maieri)
Special Jury Prize: “The Last Critic” (Matti Wishnow), “Stormbound” (Miko Lim)
Short Film Competition (provided by Vimeo)
Best Short Narrative Winner: “Souvenir” (Renee Marie Petropoulos)
Special Jury Award: “Supper” (Savannah Braswell)
Short Documentary Category Winner: “In The Morning Sun” (Servil Pobrete)
Special Jury Award: “Eructation” (Victoria Trow)
Best Animated Short: “Paper Trail” (Don Hertzfeldt)
Special Jury Award: “Hag” (Anna Ginsberg)
Midnight Short Category Winner: “Tongue” (Im Da Seul)
Special Jury Award: “Man Eating Pussy” (Emily Lawson)
Texas Short Winner: “Forcefield of Love” (Liz Moskowitz & Riley Engemoen)
Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble: “The Stalin Boys” (Ola DeKornfeld & Bianca Gierever)
music video contest
Winner: “Fogata” – Rawayana and Bomba Estereo (Paola Ossa)
Special Jury Award: “Anxiety” – Doechii (James McKell)
independent television pilot competition
Winner: “In My Blood” (Alex Bendo)
Special Jury Award: “Son of a Bikram” (Ash T., Johnny Ray Diaz)
XR Experience Contest
Winner: “Body Proxy” (Danny Cannizzaro & Samantha Gorman)
Special Jury Award: “The Forgotten War” (Hayun Kwon)
Special award:
Agog Immersive Impact Award: “A Long Goodbye” (Kate Vought & Victor Mays)
Green Lens Award: “Plantman & Blondie” (Rob Boardman)
Janet Pearson Champion Award: Benjamin Wisner
NEON Writer’s Award: “The Peril at Pincer Point” (Jake Coon & Noah Stratton-Twine)
Redbreast Unhidden Award: “We Were Here” (Pranav Bhasin)
SXSW Best of Texas Award: “Stages” (Ryan Booth)
Vimeo Staff Pick: “Mantis Stream! Like & Subscribe” (Lincoln Robish & Sarah Marten)
