.png)
MEET THE JURY
And the nominees for the DIFF 2026 Awards are…
Best Music Video
“What if I Die Flying Over Oklahoma?”
“Ideal Distance”
“Hot Chip - Devotion”
“Alexis Taylor - Out of Phase ft. Lola Kirke”
“Doin' Bad Things in the Night”
Made-In-Utah
“Thus Spoke The Wind”
“Dead Man's Hand”
“Gracie Buckshot and The Kiddo”
“Come Sunrise: A Van Helsing Story”
“Gabe’s Last Leg”
“Be Not Afraid”
“Morgan”
“Do Not Watch”
Best Actress
Alexandra Grace for “No Left Turns”
Renee Gagner for “I’ve Seen All I Need to See”
Anabelle LeMieux for “Crusty Fouler”
Émilie Savaria-Carrière for “Siren”
Kathleen Fortin for “Tomorrow's Shame”
Best Actor
Mike Farrell for “The Strawberry”
Doug Jones for “Pretty Boys”
John Giacobbe for “Crusty Fouler”
Edwin van der Walt for “Vultures”
Luc Senay for “Tomorrow's Shame”
Best Comedy
“WAR”
“Fireflies in the Dusk”
“Fan”
“For the Love of Money”
“Candy Bar”
“An Afternoon Punch-Up”
“The Stones of Dunamase Castle”
“Ivar”
“The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much”
Best After Dark
“Crusty Fouler”
“Do Not Watch”
“BOA”
“Pandora, Inc”
“Missoula”
“A Seat at the Table”
“The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much”
Best Dramatic Short
“No Left Turns”
“Serenity”
“Siren”
“Little Victories”
“After the Silence”
“See Your Eyes”
“Tomorrow's Shame”
“Vultures”
Best Emerging Storyteller
Douglas Ryan for “No Left Turns” and “3 Minutos”
Andrew Przybytkowski for “Nocturne”
Maude Demers-Rivard for “Micheline”
Dan Alexander Newton for “Hi”
Jean-François Cameron for “After the Silence”
JiWon Song for “See Your Eyes”
Best Documentary
“The Ascent”
“The Last Picture Shows”
“The Mountain Keeps Watch”
“Extraordinary Character”
“No Matter The Weather”
“Come to me Everyone”
“Gabe’s Last Leg”
“Morgan”
Best Director(s)
Carols Plummer and Kyle Plummer for “The Strawberry”
Zeshaan Younus for “I’ve Seen All I Need to See”
Dian Weys for “Vultures”
Edward Drake, Scott Veltri, and Francis Cronin for “The Ascent”
Marilou Caravecchia-Pelletier for “Siren”
Alexandre Dostie for “BOA”
John Giacobbe for “Crusty Fouler”
Best International Short
“Vultures”
“The Spectacle”
“Jazz Infernal”
“The Loon”
“Blue Heart”
“Going on Strike“
“Three Kisses”
“In Half”
Best US Short
“The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much”
“Pretty Boys”
“No Left Turns”
“Extraordinary Character”
“3 Minutos”
“Morgan”
“Come to Me Everyone”
Best US Feature
“The Strawberry”
“I’ve Seen All I Need to See”
“The Last Picture Shows”
“Crusty Fouler”
“The Ascent”
Winners will be announced at the 2026 Desertscape International Film Festival Awards on the evening of Saturday, April 4th.
Watch for a public online announcement on Monday, April 6th.
*In addition to the previous categories, there will also be an Audience Choice Award, as well as a handful of surprises.