Festival of Cinema NYC announced this year's filmmaker award winners at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center as it concluded the 9th edition of the Forest Hills-based film festival. Scout and Doug Purdy's Pilgrim won Best Narrative Feature Film. Marc Wishengrad's Free Fernando took Best Documentary, with Josh Mond's It Doesn’t Matter winning Audience Choice for Best Feature Film.

Top individual awards went to Jackie Mahoney (Half a Century) for Best Director, Oleg Blinov (Mama) for Breakthrough Male Performance, and Jasmine Hurt (Maneater) for Breakthrough Female Performance.

Festival of Cinema NYC Founder and Executive Director Jayson Simba, said, "As we near the end of our first decade of bringing films to Forest Hills/Queens, we have established a well-earned reputation for celebrating truly independent films and filmmakers from Europe, the West Coast, and New York City as well. Having many of those filmmakers attend the festival and meet our film fans in person has become a huge draw for the community. This year was no different, and our award-winners hailed from Los Angeles, to Europe, to Manhattan."

 

This year, in partnership with Festival of Cinema NYC, New York Women in Film and Television awarded the NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing to Ellen Ancui for the work on her film Saverio.

2025 FESTIVAL OF CINEMA NYC AWARD WINNERS

FEATURE FILMS

BEST FEATURE FILM – NARRATIVE

Pilgrim

Directors: Scout Purdy, Doug Purdy

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Free Fernando

Director: Marc Wishengrad

AUDIENCE CHOICE - FEATURE FILM

It Doesn't Matter

Director: Josh Mond

SHORT FILMS

BEST SHORT FILM – NARRATIVE

Wild Animals

Director: David B. Jacobs

AUDIENCE CHOICE – SHORT FILM

Loose Change

Director: Richie Ellis

BEST EXPERIMENTAL, MUSIC VIDEO, OR ANIMATION

Flocky

Director: Esther Casas Roura

BEST WEB/TV SERIES

Knawbone Creek

Director: Scott Vandiver

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing

Ellen Ancui (Saverio)

BEST UNPRODUCED SCRIPT

"Queen"

Writer: Peter Gibbons

BEST DIRECTOR

Jackie Mahoney (Half a Century)

BREAKTHROUGH MALE PERFORMANCE

Oleg Blinov (Mama)

BREAKTHROUGH FEMALE PERFORMANCE

Jasmine Hurt (Maneater)

BEST ENSEMBLE

Deli

Director: Max Garcia

Cast: Max Garcia, Sinny Gisselle Feliz, Kelvin Melendez, Stephan Monfort

BEST SCREENPLAY

Entre Dos (Between the Two)

Writer: Omar Yñigo

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Come out Wherever You Are

Director of Photography: Anh Vo

BEST EDITING

The Soviet Roswell Incident

Editor: Alex Teplish

BEST SOUND EDITING

Mind of Thoughts

Sound Design: Eneas Mentzel, Arjan Bogaert

BEST MAKE UP AND EFX

Quinn

Make up: Milo "Mayhem" McGowan