Next Generation Indie Film Awards 2023 Winners Announced

Next Generation Indie Film Awards announced today the winners for the 3rd annual Awards Gala, which took place at Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles on October 29, 2023. The ceremony was hosted by actor and Co-Founder Calum Worthy. 

At this year’s ceremony Jane Campion was presented with the 2nd annual Luminary Award, which recognizes a transformative figure in the industry whose work and journey serve as a guiding light to the filmmaking community. The inaugural Luminary Award was presented to Rian Johnson at the 2022 edition of the Gala. 

LOLLYGAG, directed by Tij D’oyen, won the Best Overall Film category and received the Grand Prize valued at over $135,000. Set in the leisured suburb of East Hampton, the short plays out a woman’s sensual yet macabre childhood memory that occurred the summer of her parents divorce in a bleak, sun-drenched study of isolation, ennui, obsession and loss.

“We had an impressive lineup of nominees this year and cannot emphasize enough how proud we are of each and every one of the filmmakers recognized at this year’s gala,” said Co-Founder and Director, Therese ‘Tag’ Goulet. “It is a privilege to recognize emerging filmmakers and their creative spirit and bring light to their hard work.“

“It takes a powerful vision and immense dedication to put an independent film out into the world, especially one that resonates with global audiences,” said Co-Founder, CEO, and Executive Director, Andrew Jenkins. “Each of this year’s winners has made incredible strides to tell their story, and we are honored to provide an opportunity for their work to be seen and celebrated.”

Next Generation Indie Film Awards Foundation is a non-profit organization started by award-winning film producers and the founders of Next Generation Indie Book Awards supporting filmmakers through its annual awards and programs, aiming to advance their careers. The foundation thanks sponsors and supporters of this year’s Gala, including media partner Variety and Prize Package sponsors Sugar Studios, Birns & Sawyer, Film Threat, Keslow Camera, Largo.ai, MBS Equipment, MotionVFX, Quixote, Rocket Panda Post, Solar Studios, Westside Production Rentals, and West One Music Group. For more information, please visit indiefilmawards.co.

The 2023 Next Generation Indie Film Award winners are listed below:

Best Narrative Feature

Above the Clouds (dir. Jon Hill, Produced by Sean Cook, Dan Riesser, Justin Oberman)

Beyro (dir. Morteza Ali Abasmirzaei)

KARAOKE (dir. Moshe Rosenthal)

MANUELA (dir. Clara Cullen, Produced by Helena Martel Seward)

Mutt (dir. Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, Produced by Alexander Stegmaier)

Best Documentary Feature

Anxious Nation (dir. Vanessa Roth, Laura Morton)

Dusty & Stones (dir. Jesse Rudoy)

JessZilla (dir. Emily Sheskin)

The Bough Breaks (Directed and Produced by Caroline Strong & Danny Strong)

The Issue with Tissue – A Boreal Love Story (dir. Michael Zelniker)

When Wire Was King: The Transformation of Telecommunications (dir. Jennifer A. Manner)

Best Direction in a Feature

Above the Clouds (dir. Jon Hill)

BOCA CHICA (dir. Gabriella Athena Moses)

KARAOKE (dir. Moshe Rosenthal)

MANUELA (dir. Clara Cullen)

Mutt (dir. Vuk Lungulov-Klotz)

Best Produced Screenplay in a Feature

HOSTILE TERRITORY (Brian Presley)

Little Brother (Sheridan O’Donnell)

Moe (Evelina Fernández)

Moonlight Warrior (Hong Ying)

Best Cinematography in a Feature

Above the Clouds (Nathan Cornett)

Grey Tints (Dallin Hodgkin)

KARAOKE (Daniel Miller)

Little Brother (Conor Murphy)

Mutt (Matthew Pothier)

Best Actor in a Feature

Above the Clouds (Chris Labadie)

ICON (Parker Padgett)

KARAOKE (Sasson Gabay)

Little Brother (Philip Ettinger)

Mutt (Lío Mehiel)

Best Actress in a Feature

Above the Clouds (Kahyun Kim)

ICON (Devon Hales)

KARAOKE (Rita Shukrun)

MANUELA (Bárbara Lombardo)

Mutt (MiMi Ryder)

TAPE (Selena Lee)

Best Supporting Actor in a Feature

Above the Clouds (Matty Cardarople)

I Can (Daniel Roebuck)

KARAOKE (Lior Ashkenazi)

Little Brother (JK Simmons)

Best Supporting Actress in a Feature

Above the Clouds (Sun Park)

Above the Clouds (Tiffany Chen)

Beyro (Sahra Asadollahi)

MANUELA (Alma Farago)

Best Narrative Short

I N C O N D I C I O N A L (Alex Meridy)

Lollygag (Tij D’oyen, Produced by Cameron Morton)

Lullaby (Noah Kinsey, Produced by Noah Kinsey & Spencer Rich)

Rest in Piece (Antoine Antabi)

The Ballerina (Adam Hartwiński)

Unborn Biru (Inga Elin Marakatt)

Best Documentary Short

Breaking Silence (Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein)

Grounded (Jordan Hoffmaster)

ifine (Adisa Septuri, Ebony Gilbert)

NIGHT/LEYL (Mehmet Tolga Eskiocak)

POWERS (Paige Morrow Kimball)

Shirampari: Legacies of the River (Lucia Florez)

Best Short by a First-Time Filmmaker

First Time (Nicolas Block)

Jesus Would Have Loved Punk Rock (Abbey George)

Lullaby (Noah Kinsey)

Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief (Written and Directed by Daniel Kreizberg)

The Best Time (Shaunic Stanford)

Best Short by a Student Filmmaker

Ant Hotel (Yu-hsuan Teng)

Recollect (Eli Akio Williams)

The Call of Water (Kaya Tone)

Who I Wasn’t (Seeley Björkstén)

Winter Bloom (Ivan Krupenikov)

Best Short by a 50+ Filmmaker

Chinese Medicine Angels (Michael Chu)

Dotting the “I” (Doug Tompos)

I (heart) Jack Lalanne: A Cartoon Memoir (LeAnn Erickson)

Prospect Mark (Maria Teresa Alvarado)

The Sweet Taste of Freedom (Matthew Penn)

Best Short by an LGBTQ+ Filmmaker

Chavo (Alecio Araci)

I (heart) Jack Lalanne: A Cartoon Memoir (LeAnn Erickson)

My Abortion Saved My Life (Ruby Fludzinski, Tiler Wilson)

Outlandish (Ayodeji Otuyelu)

Rural (Amelia Annen)

The Devout (John Mark Hostetler)

Best Short by a BIPOC Filmmaker

Bamber Bridge (Mark D. Bonner)

Call Me By My Name (Ruixi Gao, Produced by Ruixi Gao, Olina Wong, and Kathy Wu)

Him & Her (Simonee Chichester)

My Life in 2 Luggages (Gabriel Ponte-Fleary)

Please In Spanish (Patricia Seely)

Best Drama Short

Any Wednesday (Allie Light, Patrick Stark)

Kanashimi (Directed by Michael Horwitz, Produced by Todd Felderstein and Fran Harvey)

My Heart Won’t Stop Beating (Madeline Rose Carter)

The Howling (Bartosz Brzeziński)

The Sweet Taste of Freedom (Matthew Penn)

Best Comedy Short

Black Karen (Directed by Meagan Good, Written by Danielle Nicolet)

I Can Explain (Emorphia Margaritis)

Suzy Makes Cupcakes (Jayson Therrien, Produced by Morgan Ermter, Griffin Cork, & Scott Westby)

The Vacation (Jarreau Carrillo)

Wei-Lai (Robin Wang)

Best Horror Short

115 (André Gogola, Vito Gogola)

BOYHOARDER (Gabrielle Carrubba)

Drawn (Ty Clancey)

Physis (Walter Rastelli)

Spooky Society (Bryson Lima)

Best Science Fiction Short

Apotheosis (Max Pearce)

DejaVu (Alex Rios)

Launch at Paradise (Carrie Ann Quinn)

Steeplechase (Andrey Kezzyn)

The Adventures of Capt Sanchez – Loyalty Test (Jeff Michael Davies)

Best Animated Short

Friendship (Lin Tam)

Remembering Nearfield (Sean Alexander Carney)

Still Up There (Joe Loftus)

Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief (Written and directed by Daniel Kreizberg, Executive Produced by Meinardas Valkevičius, Amy Andersson, Daniel Kreizberg, Produced by Akvilė Bliujūtė-Janušė)

THE SPRAYER (Farnoosh Abedi)

Best Experimental Short

Brave New World/reimagined (Nicholas Johnson)

Outlandish (Ayodeji Otuyelu)

POLARIS (Directed by Scott Tanaka, Seth Woodard, Adam Adorono, Produced by Sharon Woodard, Dark Sky Percussion)

Pyrotechnics (Onyou Oh)

Vultures (Daniel Denegre)

Best Foreign Language Short

5 More Minutes (Alberto Niculae)

Eden House (Adelina Borets)

Never Say Cry (Ziyao Liu)

Once upon A time (Ahmed Reggad)

The Ballerina (Adam Hartwiński)

Best Music Video

POLARIS (Scott Tanaka, Seth Woodard, Produced by Sharon Woodard, Dark Sky Percussion, Composed by Seth Woodard & Darren Van Derpoel)

SIX FEET UNDER (Gladwin Pinto)

Skeletons (Sebastián Vargas Flor)

Snap (Aramayis Hayrapetyan)

Sunflowers – A Strange Feeling of Existential Angst (Carolina Bonzinho, Leander Meresaar)

Best Web Series (One Episode)

“Night Visit” (Abdul Stone Jackson, Produced by Kyle Zanika)

Chateau Laurier -Season 2 (James Stewart)

Reign (Mike Chaturantabut, Joe Lujan, Produced by Christian Larson)

What Remains of Emily (Director Mya-Breyana Morton, Produced by Tashina Southard)

Best Direction in a Short

By Any Other Name (Daniel Deville)

Lullaby (Noah Kinsey)

The Sweet Taste of Freedom (Matthew Penn)

THE VAN (Bernard Badion)

Wei-Lai (Robin Wang)

Best Produced Screenplay in a Short

Chateau Laurier -Season 2 (James Stewart)

Exile (Corey Gilbert)

Junior’s Giant (Debra McGrath)

Six Feet of Separation (Toni Nordli)

Three A.M. (Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich)

Best Cinematography in a Short

Art, Love & Woodcraft (Shitao Zhou)

POLARIS (Scott Tanaka, Seth Woodard)

Say Cheese (Munjal Yagnik)

Suzy Makes Cupcakes (Chase Gardiner)

The Ballerina (Jakub Stolecki)

Best Editing in a Short

Brave New World/reimagined (Nicholas Johnson)

Cry Harder (Ian Tan)

Exile (Corey Gilbert)

Pay It (Guanqing Lin)

Suzy Makes Cupcakes (Morgan Ermter)

Best Sound Design in a Short

Old Flames (OSO Audio)

Pay It (Guanqing Lin)

Russian Doll (Dmitry Fesenko)

SUPER DILEMMA (Ryan Harder)

Virgins for Satan (Ethan Pham & Theo Holt)

Best Original Score in a Short

La Línea Imaginaria (Marcel Barsotti)

Manithan (Jen Martin)

SUPER DILEMMA (Jesse Bouvier)

Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief (Lolita Ritmanis)

The Last Cloudweaver (Ros Gilman)

Best Production Design in a Short

​​Bamber Bridge (Mark D. Bonner)

CANDY PUPPET (Sabrina Suarez)

No-Land: Life in 2223 (Lei Jiang)

Suzy Makes Cupcakes (John MaClean & Colton Porelle)

The Second Hand (Charles Tanner)

Best Actor in a Short Film

Junior’s Giant (Eric Peterson)

Kanashimi (Austin Basis)

Six Feet of Separation (Fayez Bakhsh)

The Impatient Man Who Made His Life Considerably Shorter (James Hyland)

THE VAN (Eugene Cordero)

Best Actress in a Short Film

Are You Awake? (Ellyn Jameson)

Him & Her (Gabrielle Rose)

Suzy Makes Cupcakes (Allison Lynch)

The Ballerina (Elzbieta Jarosik)

The Best Time (Anna Marie Sharpe)

Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film

BOSS OF THE TOSS (Jazz Securo)

Death by King Cake (Kyle Craig)

Memory Lane (Donald Watson)

The Flower That Never Wilts (Michael Evans Behling)

THE VAN (Raul Aranas)

Best Supporting Actress in a Short Film

A Couple Talks (Kayla Perez-Ramsay)

Bamber Bridge (Emma Rose Wagner)

BOSS OF THE TOSS (Angela Cole)

Death by King Cake (Alaina Nunnally)

DejaVu (Olivia Whitney)

Best Ensemble Cast in a Short Film

Chateau Laurier – Season 2 (Kate Ross Leckie, Luke Humphrey, Tymika Tafari, Fiona Reid, Emmanuel Kabongo, Kent Staines, Brittany Raymond, Fraser Elsdon, Jane Luk, Joel Oulette)

Pressure Play (Emidio Lopes, Andrew Bee, Rachel Peters, Cameron Stewart, Quinn Bennett, Jolly Amoako, Bryan Piitz, Emily Kindred)

Six Feet of Separation (Nina Yndis, Fayez Bakhsh)

Suzy Makes Cupcakes (Allison Lynch, Duff Zayonce, Dallas Soonia, Shane Ghostkeeper, Owen Crow Show, Jayson Therrien, & Griffin Cork)

Wei-Lai (Arthur Zhang, Benjamin Widner, Zhan Wang, Eon Song, Laura Chowenhill, Chris Devlin)

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ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION INDIE FILM AWARDS

Next Generation Indie Film Awards is a non-profit organization started by award-winning film producers and Catherine Goulet, the founder of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards—the largest international awards program for independent authors and publishers. Next Generation Indie Film Awards supports filmmakers through its annual awards and other programs. They endeavor to assist filmmakers at any stage of the filmmaking process in reaching an audience and aim to advance filmmakers’ careers through services, education, and resources. The organization has provided financial backing for more than 50 independent short film projects. For more information, please visit indiefilmawards.co.