Manhattan Independent Film Festival Unveils Award Winners Of Its 2025 Edition!

iFilmFestival.com
3 days ago
2 min read

The 2025 Manhattan Independent Film Festival concluded with a bold and brilliantly diverse program that showcased the full spectrum of contemporary independent cinema. Over three days, audiences were invited into a rich tapestry of perspectives—from the sensorial and meditative to the deeply personal, politically charged, and emotionally raw. This year’s Official Selection brought together resurrected archival experiments, intimate portraits of grief and resilience, urgent social dramas, and boundary-pushing visual poetry. Whether through the crimson dreamscapes of Aka 赤, the transgenerational artistic dialogue of Moi-même, or the visceral confrontations in works like Scarred and Dandelion, the festival illuminated the power of filmmakers from around the world to challenge, console, provoke, and inspire. It was a program defined not by uniformity but by its fearless range—a testament to the vibrant, ever-evolving landscape of independent film.

The Manhattan Independent Film Festival is pleased to share with you today the award winners of the 2025 edition:

Best Narrative Feature Film

A Hunt For Hedgehogs (Hungary) by Mihály Schwechtje

Best Documentary Feature Film

Ahab Was Here: Reflections on Moby Dick (Bulgaria) by Todor "Tosh" Lichev

Best Narrative Short Film

Dandelion (United States) by Fiona Obertinca

Best Documentary Short Film

Tokyo Toy Boy (Belgium) by Esli Balatova

Best Underground Film

Moi-même (United States) by Mojo L Lorwin, Lee Breuer

Best Experimental Film

Dearest Ghost (Estonia) by Margaret Mäses

Best Music Video

Get Out (United States) by Brock Cooper

Best Actor (f/m/x)

Dorottya Mari in A Hunt For Hedgehogs (Hungary)

Best Director (f/m/x)

Mihály Schwechtje for A Hunt For Hedgehogs (Hungary)

Congratulations to all!

ABOUT MANHATTAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL:

The Manhattan Independent Film Festival discovers, supports, and develops new talent in filmmaking, providing a platform for emerging and established filmmakers from around the world, and a unique focus on stories tied to Manhattan, and NYC. Recognizing the important role independent films have in the history of filmmaking, storytelling, and culture, the annual Manhattan Independent Film Festival wants to help empower the next generation of artists.

The festival is open to all forms and genres. We welcome filmmakers from around the world to submit their work. In addition to narrative, documentary, animated, experimental and underground work, the festival welcomes films that take place in Manhattan for their unique section ‘Manhattan Stories’.

https://www.manhattanindiefilmfestival.com

Official Selection / Winners of The Tarkovski Grant

Aka 赤 (Mexico) by Abinadi Meza

Dearest Ghost (Estonia) by Margaret Mäses

Moi-même (United States) by Mojo L Lorwin, Lee Breuer

Stay Strong and Be Quiet (France) by Anne Loriot

A Hunt For Hedgehogs (Hungary) by Mihály Schwechtje

Get Out (United States) by Brock Cooper

Sick Enough (United States) by Allegra Venturi

Tokyo Toy Boy (Belgium) by Esli Balatova

Scarred (Canada) by Zeddy Chevron

Arrested (Lithuania) by Indrė Juškutė