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