Cambria Film Festival announces 2025 winners, 2026 festival dates
image still from Best Feature Documentary winner – “Maji” (UK).
Festival will return Feb. 4-8, 2026
– The Cambria Film Festival announced its 2025 award winners during a live awards night celebration on Feb. 8. The event recognized more than 80 competition films, attending filmmakers, and special programming.
The Nancy Green Founder’s Award, given to a film that demonstrates the impact of independent filmmaking in social, emotional, or societal areas, was awarded to “The Unbroken Sky” (USA). Directed by Josh Peterson and based on books by Francisco Jiménez, the short film tells the autobiographical story of an undocumented Mexican teenager and his family as they navigate life in a changing nation.
A panel of judges selected winners from nearly 450 feature and short film submissions. The 2025 award winners are:
- Best Feature Film – “Reflections in a Room” (Spain), directed by Ceres Machado
- Best Short Film – “Pequeño” (Spain), directed by Meka Ribera and Álvaro G. Company
- Best Animated Film – “Dieter” (Switzerland), directed by Rolf Broennimann
- Best Feature Documentary – “Maji” (UK), directed by Charli Doherty
- Best Short Documentary – “Edel Rodriguez: Freedom is a Verb,” directed by Mecky Creus and Adrienne Hall
- Best Student Feature – “Jack & Lou: a Gangster Love Story” (USA), directed by Nancy Boyd, Itchy Yang, Lorenzo Mendoza, Alexis Patton, Grace Park, Robin Wang, Aslan Dalgic, Jocelyn Koo, David Willner, Sabatino Ciatti Jr. and Lilith Mo
- Best Student Short – “A Better Place” (USA), directed by Shih-Chun Hsiao
- Heart Award – “Collage” (Spain), directed by Marius Conrotto
- Artistic Achievement Award – “Incarnatio” (France), directed by Aurelien Achache
- Director’s Award – “Everybody Wants to be Loved” (Germany), directed by Katharina Woll
- Best Late Nite Film – “Burn Out” (USA), directed by Russell Goldman
Audience members also selected winners in the following categories:
- Feature – “Reflections in a Room” (Spain), directed by Ceres Machado
- Short – “Death Pays Flora a Visit” (USA), directed by Tanna Frederick
- Late Nite Film – “Model Citizen” (USA), directed by Rachael Dahl
- Emerging Filmmaker (Student) – “Romchyk” (UK), directed by Alexis Bicât
- Documentary Short Film – “Edel Rodriguez: Freedom is a Verb” (USA), directed by Mecky Creus and Adrienne Hall
The festival introduced a new award this year, naming screenwriter and 2025 guest of honor Sy Rosen as the first “Festival Honoree.”
The Cambria Film Festival is organized by the Cambria Center for the Arts, a nonprofit supporting local arts. This year’s festival sponsors were James and Elaine Levin Anderson.
The festival will return Feb. 4-8, 2026. More information is available at www.CambriaFilmFestival.com.
