The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2025 lit up the Sony Photos Studios in Culver Metropolis, California, this week, honoring 4 standout quick movies which can be as numerous in model as they’re united in objective: to inform unforgettable tales.
Now in its third 12 months, this sister competitors to the Sony World Images Awards (created by Creo and sponsored by Sony) continues to make waves for its assist of daring, rising voices in filmmaking.
Hosted by Emmy-winner Denny Directo within the legendary Scenic Arts Constructing, the ceremony was greater than handing out awards; it was about celebrating the way forward for storytelling and the filmmakers shaping it.
With over 11,750 submissions from 158 nations and territories, the 2025 version was extra aggressive than ever.
After a rigorous choice course of led by an all-star jury together with Jason Reitman, Minhal Baig, Elizabeth Gabler and Justin Chadwick, 4 winners rose to the highest, every representing the easiest in fiction, non-fiction, animation, and pupil filmmaking.
Let’s meet the winners – and the tales that captured the world’s consideration…
Fiction Winner: Rossana Montoya (Colombia)
Movie: My Demon
Prize: $5,000 money + Sony Digital Imaging gear
Informed in a single unbroken 17-minute take, My Demon pulls us into the backseat of a automotive racing to the hospital. But it surely’s not nearly a child on the way in which, it’s a couple of couple on the sting. With rising pressure and uncooked performances, Rossana Montoya explores love, resentment, and emotional survival, all in actual time. It is daring, intimate, and masterfully executed.
Non-Fiction Winner: Juliet Klottrup (UK)
Movie: Travelling Residence
Prize: $5,000 money + Sony Digital Imaging gear
Filmed on 16mm, Travelling Residence is a poetic reflection on id, belonging, and custom. It follows an English Romany Traveller throughout the annual pilgrimage to Appleby Horse Truthful, in Cumbria, England, weaving voice, visuals, and reminiscence right into a meditative quick that feels each timeless and well timed. With a deep sensitivity to her topic, Juliet Klottrup reveals us the great thing about slowing down and actually seeing.
Animation Winner: Santiago O’Ryan & José Navarro (Chile)
Movie: Hermanos Casablanca
Prize: $5,000 money + Sony Digital Imaging gear
Set in opposition to the shadowy backdrop of the Pinochet dictatorship, Hermanos Casablanca follows two diver brothers drawn right into a harmful mission with the army, all for an opportunity to study the destiny of their lacking sister. With its haunting visuals and emotional depth, the quick blends historic trauma with putting artistry. Santiago O’Ryan and José Navarro show that animation will be simply as pressing and grounded as reside motion.
Pupil Winner: Hayder Hoozeer (UK) & Franz Böhm (Germany)
Movie: Rock Paper Scissors
Establishment: Nationwide Movie & Tv College
Prize: Sony gear for filmmakers and the college
Set in a warzone hospital, Rock Paper Scissors tells the tense and heart-wrenching story of a father and son making an attempt to outlive amid rising hazard. Drawing from actual occasions, Hayder Hoozeer and Franz Böhm craft a narrative of affection, desperation, and unattainable selections, all packed right into a claustrophobic, emotionally charged area. Their dynamic route and sharp storytelling mark them as abilities to look at.
Greater than an award, the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards are a profession accelerator. All winners and shortlisted filmmakers took half in an immersive four-day trade program at Sony Photos Studios, that includes masterclasses, workshops, and behind-the-scenes classes led by high executives and creatives.
From cinematography to script improvement and post-production instruments, the expertise is designed to equip filmmakers with instruments for long-term success.
The Sony Future Filmmaking Awards Jury shared their admiration for this 12 months’s winners:
“It’s actually thrilling to look towards the way forward for filmmaking by way of the eyes of this unimaginable group of winners. As new custodians of the craft, every of them brings a specific imaginative and prescient that challenges the established order, in addition to respiratory new life into the tales we inform.
“The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards will not be solely about recognizing this expertise – they’re about supporting and empowering those that will form the trade for years to return, and we’re desirous to see how they proceed to redefine the cinematic panorama.”
Following a robust third version, the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards will return in spring 2026, with submissions opening in July 2025. Whether or not you are a pupil with a narrative to inform or a seasoned inventive prepared on your subsequent problem, that is one competitors that actually invests in the way forward for movie.
You may see the complete checklist of winners and shortlist entries on the official competitors web site.
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I extremely suggest testing the winners of the Sony World Images Awards 2025, the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards’ sister competitors. For these stepping into creating video content material, see our guides to the finest cameras for filmmakers and the finest hybrid cameras for an thought of the perfect tools.