The 41st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) announced this year’s award winning films and announced the filmmaker fund winners.
This is the second year of SBIFF’s Filmmaker Fund, in partnership with The Veraison Fund. It was created to help foster independent filmmakers of Santa Barbara County.
The festival announced it received 100 applications this year. A jury of industry professionals reviewed them and invited select submissions to pitch their projects.
The following four filmmakers were selected to receive production grants of $10,000 each.
- A War on Childhood – Martin Papazian
- Nayemea’s Garden – Sarah Fretwell
- The Thomas Jefferson – Soraya Simi
- Push Project – Motoki Otsuka
On Saturday morning, the award-winning films were announced at a ceremony hosted by the Belmond El Encanto resort with members of the jury and filmmakers in attendance.
“We are thrilled to celebrate such a wonderful array of winning films that represent the best independent creatives working today,” said Claudia Puig, SBIFF Programming Director. “All these outstanding films tell essential stories that speak eloquently about the human condition. The jury winners this year hail from Mexico, India, Belgium, Japan, France, Italy and Germany and their stories are set in scenic locales from Malaysia to Minneapolis. We are very grateful to our discerning jurors and heartily congratulate all the winning filmmakers.”
Below are the winning films:
The Audience Choice Award sponsored by The Santa Barbara Independent
STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE
Directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema
A MOSQUITO IN THE EAR
Directed by Nicola Rinciari
The Jeffrey C. Barbakow Award for Best International Feature Film
ADAM’S SAKE
Directed by Laura Wandel
The Best Documentary Award
GASLIT
Directed by Katie Camosy
The Nueva Vision Award for Spain/Latin America Cinema
VERSAILLES
Directed by Andrés Clariond Rangel
The Best Animated Short Film Award
PAPILLON
Directed by Florence Miailhe
The Best Documentary Short Film Award
A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A GIANT PENCIL
Directed by Daniel Straub
The Best Live-Action Short Film Award
AGNÈS
Directed by Nora Arnezeder
The Social Justice Award sponsored by the Fund for Santa Barbara
STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE
Directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
The ADL Stand Up Award sponsored by ADL Santa Barbara/Tri-Counties
BOOKENDS
Directed by Mike Doyle
The ASC Award for Cinematography sponsored by The American Society of Cinematographers
LOST LAND
Directed by Akio Fujimoto
The winning films were chosen by SBIFF 2026 jury members Adam Guettel, Adrien Martinez, Jordana Brewster, Joseph Novoa, Karla Quintero, Langdon Page, Marissa Chibas, Michael Patti, Tina Sawtelle and Travis Preston.
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