Despite it still being blistering hot and sunny on the patio deck at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar in Austin, Texas, you’d be surprised to learn that Fantastic Fest, the annual genre film festival that serves as a de facto kick-off to the cool and spooky horror season, is now complete.
As Fantastic Fest wraps up its final days, the big winners of the Fantastic Fest 2026 awards have been announced, including some terror-ific, inspiring shorts, features, and pitches worth checking out.
(Who knows, as we discuss in our Fantastic Fest pod coverage, any of these films or projects might be the next Obsession, the next Backrooms, or the next horror sensation to sweep the nation.)
Let’s check out the award-winning films from this year’s Fantastic Fest.
Fantastic Fest 2026 Awards
Credit: Fantastic Fest
Despite the heat, the theaters at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin were cold, dark, and as rambunctious as always, with fans and industry insiders from across the globe converging to watch, celebrate, and party with their horror (and other genre-loving) film brethren.
This year’s fest was no different, featuring a diverse array of genre films that ranged widely in terms of locals, gimmicks, and plenty of ingenious kills.
“Our winning films embody distinctive and powerful voices from a wide range of cultures, and the exciting new generation of talent shaping the future of genre cinema. It is our privilege to give these exciting filmmakers the platform and recognition they deserve, and we are so grateful for our jurors to help us celebrate the very best in genre filmmaking.” – Director of Programming Annick Mahnert.
Here’s the full list of award-winning films from this year’s fest:
“MAIN COMPETITION” FEATURES
Jurors: Christopher Andrews, William Earl, Marissa Frobes
Best Director: Bertrand Mandico for ROMA ELASTICA
Best Picture: GIRL IN THE NIGHT, directed by Luka Marčetić
Special Mention: FIVE MORE MINUTES, directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera
“NEXT WAVE” FEATURES
Jurors: Taratoa Stappard, Tristan Scott-Behrends, Ariella Mastroianni
Best Director: Agata Trzebuchowska for SICK
Best Picture: ADULT SUPERVISION by Alex Schulman
Special Mention: JOLLYFACE , directed by Justin Floyd
Best Performance Special Mentions:
– Konrad Karol and Katarzyna Lubik in SICK
– Cole Asher Phillips in PHREAKER
“HORROR” FEATURES
Jurors: Whitney Fuller, Heidi Wong
Best Director: Nikias Chryssos for BLOODY TENNIS
Best Picture: GHOST IN THE CELL, directed by Joko Anwar
Special Mention: THE CYCLE, directed by Jordan Downey
AUDIENCE AWARD
FIVE MORE MINUTES, directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera
SHORT FILMS
Jurors: Nicholas Lazo, Adam Piron, Tiffany Kimmel
FANTASTIC SHORTS
Best Picture: JIMMY’S CUSTOM COFFIN, directed by James P. Gannon
Best Actor: Richard Perez in RICHARD GOES ON A DATE, directed by Johnny Frohman
SHORT FUSE
Best Picture: BAGMAN, directed by Connor Gaston & Vaughn Gaston
SHORTS WITH LEGS
Best Picture: SINKPISSER, directed by Connor Wiles
DRAWN AND QUARTERED
Best Picture: PRE-PARENTING, directed by Yu Yu
Best WTF Short: THE MAGICIAN, directed by Joe Garber
Fantastic Pitches 2026
Photo Credit Arnold Wells
Alongside the films to receive awards at this year’s Fantastic Fest, we also saw the second installment of the festival’s new pitch competition—a format that showed quite a bit of promise, as last year’s winner, Play House, made its debut at the festival as well.
This year’s Fantastic Pitches contest looked to be quite promising again, as the winning project, Father Figure, is now set to have one year to produce their winning project, a 70s era wedding folk horror with a unique filmmaking angle (all shot on a Technocrane). Here’s the full list of the Fantastic Fest Pitches jury and winner credits.
FANTASTIC PITCHES
Jurors: Gore Verbinski, Catherine Hardwicke, and Nicolas Curcio
FATHER FIGURE Writer/Director Connor Martin, Producer Josh Farnworth
Stay tuned for our podcast coverage of this year’s Fantastic Fest, including insights into how this new pitches contest in particular could be an exciting new avenue for horror filmmakers looking to make their big breaks.
You can also follow all our Fantastic Fest 2026 coverage here.
