63rd Ann Arbor Film Festival Award Winners
March 30, 2025
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is proud to announce this year’s award-winning filmmakers selected by jurors David Lebrun, Christopher Harris, and Kristin Reeves. Read more about the 63rd AAFF Jurors here.Â
The Ann Arbor Film Festival provides direct support to filmmakers. Our 2025 awards competition presents $39,000 to filmmakers through cash and in-kind awards that include film stock, film processing, and camera equipment rental.
The 63rd AAFF Online Festival continues until April 13th at 11:59pm ET. An award from the AAFF confers prestige and financial support; it can also qualify filmmakers for an Oscar® nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the short film category. Qualifying awards are the Ken Burns Award for Best of the Festival, the Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film, and the Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film. Read more about our Awards here.  Â
Watch the awards program online featuring select winners:
Award Program 1 | Stream Online until April 13 at 11:59pm ET
Award Program 2 | Stream Online until April 13 at 11:59pm ETÂ
The Award Winners for the 2025 63rdd AAFF
Ken Burns Award for Best of the Festival
Razah-Del / راز دل, Maryam Tafakory
Tom Berman Award for Most Promising Filmmaker
¡Aoquic iez in Mexico! / Mexico will no longer exist!, Annalisa Donatella Quagliata
Tom Berman Award Best Documentary FilmÂ
Las Territorias, Anna Broman-Krass
Richard Myers Best Non-Narrative Film
The Itch, Emma Hamel
Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film
Sinkholes, Karen Russo
Kodak Cinematic Vision AwardÂ
A Patriot of These Woods, Karel Doing
Â
Susan Dise Best Experimental Film
The Flower Cult of Amelia Earhart, Rebecca Barten
The Barbara Aronofsky Latham Award for an Emerging Experimental Video Artist
Semiotics of the Home, Jessi Ali Lin, Hsin-Yu Chen
Barbara Hammer Feminist Film Award
Otherhood, Deborah Stratman
Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film
Moral Support, Vuk Jevremovic
Gil Omenn Art & Science Award
Another Rapid Event, Daniel Murphy
Prix DeVarti for Funniest Film
Tako Tsubo, Eva Pedroza, Fanny Sorgo
The Terri Schwartz Film Award for Parody and Satire
Sunset Special 2, Nicolas Gebbe
The Eileen Maitland Award
My Exploding House, Liberty Smith
George Manupelli Founder’s Spirit Award
A Body to Live In, Angelo Madsen
CameraMall Best Michigan Filmmaker Award
Simulacrumbs, Joanie Wind
Lawther/Graff No Violence Award
High Street Repeat, Osbert Parker and Laurie Hill
Best Experimental Animation Award
Desk Bugs, Hakhyun Kim
The Edge of Your Seat Award
The Princess and the Peacock, Daniel Baker-Wells
Leon Speakers Award for Best Sound Design
a shifting pattern, Isaac Sherman
Â
Martin Contreras and Keith Orr \aut\ Award for Best LGBTQ Film
Les fleurs du mâle, Hadi Moussally
The No. 1 African Film Award
We Are Not Alone, Adebukola Bodunrin
Peter Wilde Award for Most Technically Innovative Film
Purgatorio, Stephanie Miracle, Auden Lincoln-Vogel, Philip Rabalais
The Terri Schwartz Asian Film Award
Mooncake, Rraine Hanson
Best Music Video Award
Riding Day, Michael Alexander Morris
Vox Populi Award
I Hope This Helps!, Daniel M. Freed
Melting Your Eyeballs for Humanity Jury Award
Deluge, Meejin Hong
It’s a good idea not to blow people up with nuclear bombs. Jury Award
Among the Palms the Bomb, or: Looking for Reflections in the Toxic Field of Plenty, Lukas Marxt and Vanja Smiljanić
The Coma and Forklift Jury Award
Uncle Bardo, Luke Mistruzzi
The Take Your Breath Away Jury Award
Satellites (Soundtrack Version) (Satélites (versão com trilha sonora)), Gustavo Ramos
The 2025 / 63rd AAFF awards were conferred by jurors David Lebrun, Christopher Harris, and Kristin Reeves.
