‘Vultures’ Swoops To Top Award At Oscar-Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival (Full Winners List)

Dian Weys’ drama Vultures clutched top honors at HollyShorts Sunday evening, winning the prestigious festival’s Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film. The award qualifies the film for Oscar consideration and comes with a prize of a $60,000 Panavision camera package.

Edwin van der Walt, Jill Levenberg, and Albert Pretorius star in the 15-minute-long short from the South African-born filmmaker. Logline: “In the volatile moments after a car crash, before the authorities arrive, a hot-headed yet desperate tow truck driver fiercely protects his tow. But the situation quickly spirals out of his control.”

Vultures also won the festival’s Best International award. The film premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and has screened around the world since then, including at Tribeca Festival, the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, and the Zagreb Film Festival in Croatia. Weys’ previous credits include the shorts Bergie (2022) and Versnel (2017), and the 50-minute-long thriller Koffie en Sigarette (2023).

In addition to the Panavision package, the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film comes with three hours of complimentary legal consultation presented by Sheppard Mullin.

Along with the Grand Jury Prize, HollyShorts is Oscar-qualifying in three additional shorts categories: Best Live Action, Best Animation, and Best Documentary.

The Best Live Action Award was claimed by Pale Sun, directed by Adrian Moyse Dullin and Jawahine Zentar. Anass El Hmami, Baki Bousmaha, and Sylvie Fasano star in that film, the story of 12-year-old Abel, who while spending time on a beach in summer with his family finds himself “ashamed of his father’s body, marked by cancer.”

Best Animation went to With Tapes and Toasts in the Car (Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot), directed by Kiana Naghshineh. Logline: “In the face of her body fading into stardust, Shari realizes what truly matters to her.”

Naghshineh, a native of Mannheim, Germany, studied animation at the Filmakademie Baden – Württemberg. Her previous films incude Augenblicke (2018) and Don Pasquale (2018).

The Time My Grandmother Was Held Hostage by Bank Robbers, directed by Rosella Tursi, won the Best Documentary jury award. The film’s title gives a very strong sense of the content: the director’s nonna (Italian for grandmother) was held hostage in her home in Montreal in 1983 after two men fleeing a bank holdup entered her dwelling through an open door.

Archive footage shows how news crews descended on the home as the hostage drama unfolded. The documentary is built around memories of that day shared by members of nonna Rosa’s family, as well as recollections from one of the bank robbers/hostage takers himself – a man tracked down by filmmaker Rosella Tursi over 40 years after the crime. (I served on the jury in this category).

The awards ceremony was held at the TCL Chinese Theatres at Ovation Hollywood. Scroll for the full list of winners for the 22^nd edition of HollyShorts.

New this year at HollyShorts is the Best Performance Award, recognizing outstanding acting in short-form filmmaking. The inaugural award was presented to Russell Tovey for his performance in “I Am the Prize.” In the film, the British actor plays a self-help guru whose “true identity is revealed in the midst of a lecture tour.”

Other major winners at HollyShorts:

The HollyShorts Film Festival + IMGN Short Film Fund was awarded to The Fiddler’s Stroke, directed by Braden Barton, with a prize package valued at $25,000.

The package includes a $10,000 cash grant from IMGN, a Blackmagic Cinema 6K Camera from HollyShorts, and exclusive one-on-one mentorship opportunities with filmmakers and industry executives, including Oscar winners Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman. Kodak production benefits will also be provided to the winner and runner-up.

The First Entertainment Credit Union Made in LA Award, which includes a $1,000 cash prize, was presented to Christmas Angels by Remington Hoffman and Ida Hoffman.

HollyShorts and Film.io also announced the winners of their Audience Short Film Competition:

This is the full list of 2026 HollyShorts Award Winners announced Sunday evening:

BEST SHORT FILM GRAND PRIZE presented by Panavision: “Vultures” — Dian Weys (Oscar-qualifying award)

Best Live Action: “Pale Sun” — Adrian Moyse Dullin, Jawahine Zentar (Oscar-qualifying award)

Best Director: “Faux Bijoux” — Jessy Moussallem

Best Animation: “With Tapes and Toasts in the Car (Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot)” — Kiana Naghshineh (Oscar-qualifying award)

Best Documentary: “The Time My Grandmother Was Held Hostage by Bank Robbers” — Rosella Tursi (Oscar-qualifying award)

Best Drama: “Copy, Save” — Alyssa Loh

Best Comedy: “The Oracle” — JJ Adler

Best Cinematography: “The Kalgan Horse” — Junxiong Zhu

Best Editing: “HYENA” — Altay Ulan Yang

Best Horror: “Banshee” — Peter Vass

Best Costume Design: “Betty St. Clair” — Syra McCarthy, Kyle Casey Chu

Best Stunts: “Floor” — Jo Bareun

Best International: “Vultures” — Dian Weys

Verse LA Presents Best Midnight Madness: “The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much” — Eric Jackowitz

Best Music Video: “Weval – Open Up That Door” — Bear Damen, Merijn Scholte Albers

Best Performance: “I AM THE PRIZE” — Russell Tovey

Best Producer: “Laundreams” — Directors Evie Ward-Drummond and Amber Gadd; Producers Nina Georgieff, Anna Sophia Duff, Maxine Peake, Tobi Kyeremateng, Slick Films

SAGindie Award: “Them That’s Not” — Mekhai Lee

Best Sports Documentary: “ZINA” — Vicky Wight

Best Sports Narrative: “THE COLOSSEUM” — Nabil Kechouhen

Social Impact Award: “EXTREMIST” — Sasha Molochnikov

Best Sci-Fi: “IMPRINT” — Ran Jing

Best Student Film: “PANKAJA” — Anooya Swamy

Kodak Best Shot on Film, 35MM: “KINK” — Carissa Gallo

Kodak Best Shot on Film, 16MM: “GOBSTOPPER” — Pippa Feldberg Collins

Kodak Honorable Mention: “I THINK ABOUT KILLING YOU” — Ran Ran Wang

Best TV: “Do I Know You From Somewhere?” — Alan Scott Neal

Best Web Series: “Birth is for P*ssies” — Hannah Shealy, Celine Sutter

Made in LA Award: “CHRISTMAS ANGELS” — Remington Hoffman, Ida Hoffman

Best Music Documentary: “Reflections Under the Electric Sky” — Devin J. Dilmore

Best Podcast: “abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast”

ISA Story Award: “Know Your Lights” — Al Benoit

Best TV Pilot: “Rippers” — Joseph Oliver Hooten

Best Feature Screenplay: “Grave Command” — Evelyn Davis

Best Female Screenplay: “The PaRC” — Morgan Grice

Best Short Screenplay: “The Death Row Cook” — Jessica James

HollyShorts Film Festival + IMGN Short Film Fund: “The Fiddler’s Stroke” — Braden Barton

Sponsor Prizes

For HollyShorts Oscar-qualifying categories, winners will receive magnum bottles from Massican Wines, red wine from Arynca, and custom crystal-encrusted champagne glasses from The Èlliance.

HollyShorts notes: “We also have some amazing prizes lined up for our filmmakers. Thanks to our generous sponsors, winners will receive:”

Full-size luxury skincare from Cotrini Skincare

Jewelry from OUFER (pronounced “offer”)

Custom Mezcal bottles from The Lost Explorer

Products from Abundance, the Official Ceremonial Cacao Partner of the HollyShorts Film Festival 2026

Custom scarves from Tafari

Fragrance from Puerto Rico courtesy of Fragancias Pitorro

Gift bags from Jean Book Nerd, including pashmina scarves from Egypt

Vibes Candy, with all their new flavors to get you home!

Gift bags from SLĀ Golf (pronounced “slay”)

One very lucky person will receive a custom-stitched Ghost Golf Bag

KIND patches supporting mental wellness

And, to save you money on Botox, everyone will receive the original wrinkle-free straw from Sipface

About HollyShorts Film Festival HollyShorts Film Festival is an annual Academy Awards-qualifying festival dedicated to showcasing short-form filmmaking from emerging and established filmmakers from around the world. The festival brings together filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences in Los Angeles while providing a platform for independent storytelling and the next generation of filmmaking talent.