TFF Awards & Jury

Best Narrative Feature

Assets & Liabilities

Directed by Zach Weintraub

"Though meeting a young new skater friend sets off a chain reaction where all hell ensues, Assets & Liabilities is a creatively offbeat and abstractly-presented portrayal of aging, shown through the eyes of a Millennial who is still relatively uncomfortable with newfound fatherhood and nostalgic for old hobbies such as skateboarding."

- Vee Hua

Best Documentary Feature

Bucks Harbor

Directed by Pete Muller

"Pete Muller’s exquisitely shot film offers a vivid portrait of lobster fishers in ultra-rural Maine, where vulgar masculinity and emotional detachment are vital to enduring the harshest conditions. And yet, the subjects featured here buck expectations at every turn, revealing a depth of emotional maturity and empathy that is both unexpected and deeply moving. A film full of many small moments that somehow feel huge. A standout."

- Jeremy Cropf

Honorable Mention - Best Documentary Feature

The Joyless Economy

Directed by Marjorie Conrad

Best Pacific Northwest Feature

The Joyless Economy

Directed by Marjorie Conrad

"In what feels like a raw dispatch directly from the grungy id of the PNW, Marjorie Conrad's The Joyless Economy creates a revelatory space unlike any other in recent cinema. Skillfully exploring the blurred edges of direct confession and creative (potentially unreliable) narration, the short features exploration of media, memory, and art create a consciousness altering experience for the audience."

- Ryan Saunders

Honorable Mention - Best Pacific Northwest Feature

Assets & Liabilities

Directed by Zach Weintraub

Best Narrative Short

Sulaimani

Directed by Vinnie Ann Bose

"A bilingual French and Malayalam work of art spanning 20 minutes, Sulaimani is an ambitious visual treat that uses differing animation techniques to reflect on Malayali culture, memory, migration, and family."

- Vee Hua

Best Documentary Short

Sound Again

Directed by Carlos Correa

"Taking something as subjective as hearing loss and the process of rediscovering one’s hearing and conveying it through film is incredibly difficult, yet this film does it so beautifully. A character study that taps into emotions that are truly universal, it’s remarkably successful at putting you in its subject’s shoes."

- Jeremy Cropf

Honorable Mention - Best Documentary Short

A Man Who Takes Pictures of Flowers

Directed by Yoo Lee

Best Pacific Northwest Short

Sound Again

Directed by Carlos Correa

"With deeply moving characterization and a clear sighted style that avoids sentimental trappings, Sound Again uses cinema as a thoughtful way of uncovering different sensory experiences. The laid back, life affirming quality comes across through the candid interviews and well photographed spaces of the PNW."

- Ryan Saunders

Best Animated Short

Blessed

Directed by Birute Sodeikaite

"This original story topped all the categories I use to measure a fresh animated short. It reads as a fable about the virtues of affection and self-betterment without being sentimental or preachy. Its minimalist strokes pull you in a for a detailed, shivering, warm hug. It's a pleasure to watch the crisp way all its parts come together."

- Stefan Gruber

Honorable Mention - Best Animated Short

God is Shy

Directed by Jocelyn Charles

Best Experimental Short

Totality

Directed by Mathilde Lavenne

"With a smart location choice, a narrative of historically framed gender inequality, mesmerizing solar photography, and a churning, evocative score, Mathilde Lavenne’s Totality is a special work. Framing the 2024 solar eclipse as Jungian symbolism (the masculine sun eclipsed by the feminine moon), the film delivers a cosmic, societal reckoning that connects the viewer to the collective unconscious and offers a powerful sense of hope. Totality feels simultaneously intimate and vast."

- Ellen Ito

Honorable Mention - Best Experimental Short

Forever...Forever

Directed by Johan Lurf

Best Late Night Short

Klee

Directed by Gavin Baird

"The jury awards a striking colonial revenge tale that follows a mysterious stranger with an even more mysterious appendage that a family just can’t resist. The rich saturation of the oft perverse imagery paired with the distorted and deranged dialogue left the jury unsettled and uneasy throughout the duration of the film."

- Megan Leonard

Best Music Video

“Sounds We Cannot Hear” by Protomartyr

Directed by Harris Mayersohn & Danny Scharar

"I was completely floored by the ingenuity and creativity of the video for “Sounds We Cannot Hear” by Protomartyr, which is why it’s my winner. Not only is the video beautifully and thoughtfully shot, but its narrative managed to make me laugh and feel fairly upset within such a short span of time. The combination of its striking visuals, hilarious concept and dark complexity was impressive and so unique, and the music added so much to the heightened anxiety that grew throughout the video. It is rare that I watch something in its entirety with my mouth agape in pure amazement. I, however, will be thinking twice when going to Benihana. " - Natalie Lew

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS

Best Feature

A City in the Forest

Directed by Lev Omelchenko & Nolan Huber

Best Short

I Just Wanted to Hear Your Voice

Directed by James Pellerito

Best PNW Feature

Assets & Liabilities

Directed by Zach Weintraub

Best PNW Short

MAN or MOUNTAIN

Directed by Collin Monda