The 2026 Florida Film Festival Award Winners

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April 28, 2026 Awards

THE 2026 FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FILMMAKER AWARD WINNERS

 

William Means’ Junkie wins both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Best Narrative Film. Documentary feature winners were Sharon Leise’s Seized (Grand Jury Prize) and Patrick Bresnan’s First They Came For My College (Audience Award). Michael Borrelli’s The Last Day of Byron Bray also doubled up on the awards, taking both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Best Short Film.

 

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Junkie, Seized, First They Came For My College

 

The 2026 Florida Film Festival Award Winners:

 

Grand Jury Awards

Best Narrative Feature
Junkie 
Director: William Means

 

Special Jury Award – Narrative Feature
Valentina 
Director: Tatti Ribeiro

 

Best Documentary Feature
Seized
Director: Sharon Liese

 

Best Narrative Short
The Last Day of Byron Bray
Director: Michael Borrelli

 

Special Jury Award – Narrative Short
Disc
Director: Blake Winston Rice

 

Best Documentary Short
Hollywood’s Mermaid: The Esther Williams Story
Director: Brian Gersten

 

Special Jury Award – Documentary Short
Trapped
Directors: Madeline Engle, Joe Purtell

 

Best Animated Short
1981
Directors:  Andy London, Carolyn London

 

 

Audience Awards

Best Narrative Feature
Junkie 
Director: William Means

 

Best Documentary Feature
First They Came for My College 
Director: Patrick Bresnan

 

Best Florida Feature
Frogtown
Director: Costa Karalis

 

Best International Feature 
Tuner
Director: Daniel Roher

 

Best Short Film
The Last Day of Byron Bray
Director: Michael Borrelli

 

Best Florida Short
Welcome
Director: Justin Whittingham

 

Best Midnight Short
The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much 
Director: Eric Jackowitz 

 

Best International Short
I Gaze at the Sky 
Director: Alexandra Strunin 

 

The Florida Film Festival’s 2026 jurors included:

 

Narrative Features Competition Jury

Brian Andreotti (Co-Founder and Director of Acquisitions for Music Box Films)
Aaron Koontz (FFF Alumni and Independent Spirit Award nominated filmmaker)
Violet Lucca (Film Critic and Author)

 

Documentary Competition Jury

Brian Bolster (5-Time FFF Alumni Director and Grand Jury Award Winner)
Grace Cheung (Director of Strategic Initiatives at Magnolia Pictures)
Clint Worthington (Assistant Editor at RogerEbert.com)

 

Shorts Competition Jury

Dwight Brown (Former Chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle)
Radha Mehta (Slamdance Award Winning director and FFF Alumni)
Guillermo Restrepo (Director of Publicity IFC Entertainment Group)