SXSW update day 5
S XSW announced their awards for best films in a number of diverse categories tonight and the thing is, although I saw four films a day everyday I was there, none of the winning films were movies I managed to see. There were literally over 100 films playing over the period of a few days. Now I have a new to-do list, or in this case to-see list.
Here are the winners along with a list of the judges from a SXSW press release:
The 2026 SXSW Film Festival Juries consisted of:
Narrative Feature Competition: Roger Ebert, Logan Hill, Michelle Satter
Documentary Feature Competition: Mark Olsen, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Sky Sitney
Narrative Shorts: Jon Korn, Jay Van Hoy, Rose Vincelli
Documentary Shorts: Brad Beesley, Jay Duplass, Amanda Micheli
Animated Shorts: Austin Kleon, Bill Plympton, Alison Willmore
Music Videos: Tom Blankenship, John Kunz, Ron Mann
Texas Shorts: Victor Diaz, Megan Gilbride, Adam Roffman
Texas High School Shorts: Cole Dabney, Marcy Garriott, Bart Weiss
Title Design: Ian Albinson, Jenny Lee, Tommy Pallota, Ron Pippin, Kurt Volk
Poster Design: Craig Crutchfield, Craig Denham, Marc English, Tim League, Charlie Loft, Danny Parker
Louis Black / Lone Star: Marjorie Baumgarten, Elvis Mitchell, Robert Wilonsky
SXSW FILM FESTIVAL 2026 AWARD WINNERS
The 2026 SXSW Film Festival Award Winners:
Feature Film Jury Awards
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: Dragonslayer
Director: Tristan Patterson
Best Editing: Where Soldiers Come From
Editors: Kyle Henry & Heather Courtney
Best Cinematography: Dragonslayer
Director of Photography: Eric Koretz
Best Score/Music: The City Dark
Music by: The Fishermen Three, Ben Fries
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: Natural Selection
Director: Robbie Pickering
Breakthrough Performances:
Evan Ross – 96 Minutes
Rachael Harris – Natural Selection
Matt O’Leary – Natural Selection
Best Screenplay: Natural Selection
Writer: Robbie Pickering
Best Editing: Natural Selection
Best Cinematography: A Year in Mooring
Director of Photography: Elliot Davis
Best Score/Music: Natural Selection
Music by: iZLER, Curt Schneider
Feature Film Audience Awards
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Winner: Kumaré
Director: Vikram Gandhi
NARRATIVE FEATURE
Winner: Natural Selection
Director: Robbie Pickering
SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES
Winner: Becoming Santa
Director: Jeff Myers
SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2026 AWARD WINNERS
EMERGING VISIONS
Winner: Weekend
Director: Andrew Haigh
Short Film Jury Awards
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Winner: Pioneer
Director: David Lowery
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Winner: Mothersbane
Director: Jason Jakaitis
ANIMATED SHORTS
Winner: THE WONDER HOSPITAL
Director: Beomsik Shimbe Shim
MUSIC VIDEOS
Winner: Hollerado, “Americanarama”
Director: Greg Jardin
TEXAS SHORTS
Winner: 8
Director: Julie Gould & Daniel Laabs
TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS
Winner: ( __ )
Director: Chad Werner
SXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
Winner: Silver Bullets
Designer: Yann Legendre
Audience Award Winner: Green
Designer: Adrian Kolarczyk
EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Winner: Blue Valentine
Designer: Jim Helton
Audience Award Winner: Blue Valentine
Designer: Jim Helton
SXSW Special Awards
SXSW WHOLPHIN AWARD
Winner: The Eagleman Stag
Director: Mikey Please
SXSW CHICKEN & EGG EMERGENT NARRATIVE WOMAN DIRECTOR AWARD
Winner: Sophia Takal for Green
LOUIS BLACK LONE STAR AWARD
Winner: INCENDIARY: The Willingham Case
Directors: Steve Mims & Joe Bailey, Jr.
The awesome thing about SXSW is that they let the credits roll at the end of each movie. I don’t know how you feel about that but it is the final salute to everyone who worked on a particular film. I’ve attended many lesser venues and festival who cut the ending credits before the film’s final Q&A. The audience in Austin remains reverent towards the finished product.
- Michael Bergeron