The nominations for the 7th Annual Top Shorts 2021 have been announced!
The Stranger, directed by Katherine Oostman, earned most nominations this year. Congratulations to all the nominees!
Best of Fest 2021
The Morning Walk - Louise Hylland, Marc Harpsøe
HotHed - David Spring
Pork Chop - Katherine Guggenberger
A Girl and a Gun - Pierre-Edouard Joubert
Monstrus Circus - Jordan Inconstant
The Peak - Satoshi Takahashi
ROAM - David Jung
The Last Step - Stanislav Matveev
The Great Artist - Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri
Pretty Metal - Mikhail Tot
The Stranger - Katherine Oostman
Inertia City - Vellas, Reinaldo Faria
Best Narrative Film of the Year
Sleepwalk - Filipe Melo
Windblown - Usher Morgan, Katie Vincent
Mabel - Kimberley Wintle
Breaking the Silence - Seayoon Jeong
Wireless - Criss Gidas
Bongo - Jacob Lallas
Paz - Andrew Gutierrez
Metamorphosis - Elaine Xia
RED - David Newton, Beau Fowler
Dress - Paulina Lagudi Ulrich
The Stranger - Katherine Oostman
I am - Ruan Yi
Best Indie Film of the Year
Summer Rain - Renzo Montoya
Hot Take - Arthur Glover
Blinded - Cecilia Choi
If You Love Her, Let Her Go - Ilan Zerrouki
Morti's Law - Marcel Wohlfahrt, Natalie Kölbl
A Threat to Justice - Chris Files
F8th (= Rebirth + Faith) - Glenn Plummer
To Kill a Truth - Kiriakos Kotsinis
Gunther - Ryan Rowley
Pebbles - Renee Bourke
Awakened - Yulian Mateo
How Was It For You? - LIM
Best Drama of the Year
Swann - Antonio Petrone
Something Safe - Shaun Lupton
Pentimento - Benjamin O'Donnell
The Monster's Club - Federica Alice Carlino
Heartland - Jahmil Eady
Miss Boundless - Qiyu Zhou
The System - Michael Cruz
Hurtful Truth - Marie France Louis, Eman Elsweisy
The Great Artist - Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri
Shevolution - Seidy Lopez
Becoming Everything - Dan Lowënstein
Maryam - Maza White, Doug Brooks
Best Comedy of the Year
Big Break - Dicle Ozcer
HotHed - David Spring
Free Desk* - Keith Macri
A Girl and a Gun - Pierre-Edouard Joubert
The Sister Solution - Casey Cooper Johnson, Antoneta Kastrati
Chronicles of Gnarnia: The Rex Chadwick Story - Brian Colin Foley
Bucko & Junior - Jordan Rader
Divorce School - Dana Marisa Schoenfeld, Julie Zelman
Ride the Wave - Colleen Davie Janes
Pretty Metal - Mikhail Tot
Matty Boy - Dr Shahid Kamal
New Growth - Karimah Westbrook
Best Thriller of the Year
Disconnected - Traci Hays
Countless Sheep - Rhett Wellington, Riley Robbins
Kongo - Bryan Wynn Sutton, John Roche
Velvet Farewell - Micheal Eastman
Fugitive Zero - Joe Lam
The Animal - Oscar Cowie
Windblown - Usher Morgan, Katie Vincent
The Climbing Perch - Daniel Gomez Bagby
A Bullet For Your Thoughts - Doug Williams
Non-transferable - Jack Veasey
The Wolf Delivers - Thomas Crouser Jr
Vincent - Nicholas Andrews
Best Horror of the Year
Orisha - Drew Anthony
Susie - Jordan Doig
Mark of the Rougarou - Erica Duke
Lies Inside - Corey Emanuel Jr.
Vac Attack - Kyle Lane
Meanwhile At A Cabin Somewhere Near Fairplay, CO - Michael Chenette
Metamorphosis - Elaine Xia
What If - Tammy Klembith
The Invitation - Thorsten Schade
Vincent - Nicholas Andrews
Satanico - J.R. Curtis
Till Death - Andrew Thomas
Best Action Film of the Year
Battle - Emre Orun
Operation Shell Shock: Phantoms - Allan Riggs
Office 86 - Jyo Carolino
Saving Grayson - Breck Cuddy
RED - David Newton, Beau Fowler
Shadow Valley - Isaac Joel
Artificial Souldier - Jason Gonzalez
F I V E - Will Sidaros
Best Sci-Fi of the Year
Infinitus - Cameron Currin
Plant - Carlos Milite
River - Emily Skye
The Counterfeit Mind - Malek Haneen
Chronofilm - Robert Hypes
Finger Guns - Nikola Sreckovic
ROAM - David Jung
F I V E - Will Sidaros
(Dys)Functional - Adam Nowak
Ecclesiastes - Lola Rùi
Refuge - Sina Sultani
Volume Control - Giorge Souladze
Best Experimental Film of the Year
Collapse - Alberto Martín-Aragón
One Actor Short 3 - Yuval David
Spotted - Shranjay Arora, Seda Anbarci
Pandemia - Katerina Giannakopoulou
Isolation Animation - Ruth Ducker
Popped Culture - Spencer Flynn
Sin - Alberto Martín-Aragón
Returning Home - Bhushan Thakkar
The Accident - Paul Brian Osorio, Jayasinhji Jhala
Dû - Eric Marie Afer
clarity. - Daisy Paroczy Hickey
Mosaic - ZHUANG Guantianxia
Best Inspirational Film of the Year
To You, Me & The Next Generation. - Sam Akel
A Line Unbroken - David Earnhardt, Patricia Earnhardt
Making Waves - Laura Zéphirin
As the Wave Broke - Alexandra Bekiou
Come Back - Alban Pauly, Aurore Klein
clarity. - Daisy Paroczy Hickey
Xiety - Carlos Torres, Karen Torres
Ye Shall Be Hindered From Loving Me - Karlos Alastruey
Black Water - Jenn Xu
Looking Through the Trees - Justin Morfin
The Funny Runner - Rob Steger
Under The Same Sky - Alison Chace
Best Fantasy Film of the Year
Hollow - Nicholas Andrews, Rosie Keogh
Fulgidusen - Alexander Feichter
Virtually Together - John Argelander
Loop - Yanqing Chen
He/She - Norah Xi
Sawa - Harinarayan Rajeev
Fix Me - Woonyea Han
Come Home To Me - Gavin Bradley
31 - Joumana Rizk
Ecclesiastes - Lola Rùi
Best Romance Film of the Year
Spending Time With You - Josh Pafchek
Manasanamaha - Deepak
Heartstruck - Ian Thomas Kent
The Don't Call List - Tevin Everett
Stay Sane - Hana Wagner
One Last Shot - Saram Jaffery
He/She - Norah Xi
Wherever, Whatever - Broderick Angeles
Best Mystery Film of the Year
Acid Fantasy - Lorenzo Lanzillotti
Cherry Swamp Road - Josh Cummins
Life is a two-way dream - Gjert Rognli
Loop - Yanqing Chen
Hal - Josh Flaherty, Caleb Yellin-Flaherty
A Bullet For Your Thoughts - Doug Williams
Shutter - Andres Ramirez
Stalkers – Dongjun Kim
Best Parody of the Year
Coasters: A Film by Ben Kurns - J.G. Murphy, Nolan Pugh
Chronicles of Gnarnia: The Rex Chadwick Story - Brian Colin Foley
Rabbit Island - Ben Cichowski, Shan Harris
King of Angels - Fred Bonheim
Panic in Valley City - Antonio Harper, Abby Burton
Office 86 - Jyo Carolino
Best Dark Comedy of the Year
Office Manager - Shamus Maxwell, Lola-Rose Maxwell
The Axe and the Iron - Matthew Roseman
It's That Guy! - Jean Paul San Pedro
Neutrals - Jacob Horne
The Body - Adam Weber
Finger Guns - Nikola Sreckovic
Requiem for a Crab - Patrick Gehlen
The Funeral - Michael Filek
Wichita - Sergine Dumais
Hero - Jayson Martin
Wellness - Lindsay Gonzalez
Cult Following - Amy Parry
Best Romantic Comedy of the Year
Just Delivered - Rosie Gaunt-Mathieson
Girl Night Stand: Chapter Two - Jenna Laurenzo
Trust Frank - Penny Moore
We Met in Quarantine - Rob Seiffert, Rob Wagner
I'm Press - Antaneise Henderson
Christopher Nolan is God - Javier Alegre
Screen Girl - J.D. MacNutt
Manasanamaha - Deepak
Best Crime Film of the Year
The Man That You Fear - Nicholas Kerekes
Salsero in Purgatory - Antonio De La Cruz
The Dentist - Lawrence Terrill
Wrangle - Alex Culberson
Aborted Traffick - Bea W Bliss
Hot Take - Arthur Glover
Lockbox - Jake Noecker
Morti's Law - Marcel Wohlfahrt, Natalie Kölbl
Best LGBTQ Film of the Year
You Boy - Juliette Labrousse, Sonia Guitz
Wherever, Whatever - Broderick Angeles
The Great Artist - Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri
Underneath - Lena Weller
The Acceptance of Suffering - Jason Klein
Swindled - Stanton Long
The Cruising Monologues - Jose Batista-Ayala
No Loss Here - Nathan Brewer
Bonnie & Bonnie - Lena Murisier
P98's Waltz Of The Flower - Praise
Best Film Noir of the Year
La Schema - Alex Bowling, Stephen Byrum
The Widow - Brendan Young
The Big Con - Augie Pagan
Acid Fantasy - Lorenzo Lanzillotti
bun·ny /’banē/ - lost girl - Anna Martin
Slice of Life - Dale Fabrigar
Best Web/TV Pilot of the Year
The Hinsdale Archives - Ryan Wefelmeyer
Texas High School Football - Peter Calvin, Brent Crable
Harbor Island - Tiffany Rhodes
Sharp - Sander Ligthart
In Two Minds - Fabian Schwab
Limbo - Ben R Johnson, Josh Demuele
The Romans - Maurice Micallef, Chris Micallef
The Gliwensbourg Chronicles - Emilie Tommasi
Wisecrackin - Angie McMahon
Atlas - Ayman Chaudhry
Something About Bubbles - Mark Cheng, Graham Brown
Unearthed - Tari K. Robinson
Best Web Series of the Year
The Honey Trapper Season 2 - Felise Garcia
Zader Law - William Woods, Shawn Bates, Stanley Sievers
Another Time, With Paul - Elena Saurel
Anacostia - Anthony Anderson, Martha Byrne
Incompleteness - David Ash
Divorce School - Dana Marisa Schoenfeld, Julie Zelman
Jade & Jaded - Sarah Franco
Diversity Hires - Tevin Everett
All In 3: A Fikowski & Vellner Documentary - S.J. Finlay
Good Monsters - Johannes Muhr, Julia Zimth
The Jersey Connection Season 2 - Tim Firtion
Chronofilm - Andrew Burkum, Robert Hypes
Best Documentary of the Year
Use Your Words - Lauren Layton
Rise - Hannah Byrd
Inhale - Brian Chambers
We to Me - Jade Chase
Time Matters - Mike King
Breathe, Nolan, Breathe - Daniel Catullo
ProDogTV - Randall Owens
Born From Junk - Mike Horn, Galin Foley
Dying Is Not Giving Up - Kelly Grosklags, Bryan Piatt
Tadpoles: The Big Little Migration - Maxwel Hohn