You came, you watched, and you voted on your favorite SXSW Film & TV Festival screenings from March 12–18. Announcing the Audience Award winners for the 33rd SXSW Film & TV Festival!

The Audience Awards follow the previously announced 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival Jury and Special Awards. Audience Award winners were certified by Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP.

SXSW Film & TV Festival presented 120 Features including 90 World Premieres, two International Premieres, five North American Premieres, six U.S. Premieres, 16 Texas Premieres, 52 Short Films, and 20 Music Videos. The TV Program included 13 TV projects, with four TV premieres, three TV Spotlight, and six Independent TV Pilots. There were 31 projects in the XR Experience Program, including 17 in XR Experience Competition, 13 in XR Experience Spotlight, and one XR Experience Special Event.

“This year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival was a powerful reminder of what makes this community so special,” said Claudette Godfrey, VP, Film & TV. “From emerging storytellers to established voices, the range of work across film, TV, and XR reflected the depth and creativity of the global creative community. Experiencing these projects together across Austin created a real sense of connection and discovery, and we’re grateful to the audiences, filmmakers, and volunteers who made it all possible. We’re excited to see how these projects continue to reach and resonate with audiences beyond SXSW.”

SXSW draws thousands of fans, film and television creators, press, and industry leaders to discover the smartest, most innovative, and entertaining new films, TV and XR projects of the year, as well as giving access to hundreds of Conference Sessions, Creative Industry Exhibitions, Mentoring, Meetups, and Special Events that define the cross-industry event. 

2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival Audience Award Winners

Feature Film Program

HEADLINER Presented by Louisville Film Office

Audience Award Winner: Over Your Dead Body

Director: Jorma Taccone, Producers: Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, Lee Kim, Guy Danella, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian, Screenwriters: Nick Kocher, Brian McElhaney

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION presented by Kickstarter

Thank you to our sponsor Kickstarter, the leading crowdfunding and launch platform for creative projects of every size, for supporting the Narrative Feature Competition Film Screening section.

Audience Award Winner: Plantman & Blondie: A Dress Up Gang Film

Director: Robb Boardman, Producers: Mark Ankner, Robb Boardman, Cory Loykasek, Donny Divanian, Frankie Quinones, Jay Patumanoan, Adam Karm, Ben Wagner, Screenwriters: Robb Boardman, Cory Loykasek, Donny Divanian, Frankie Quinones

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION 

Audience Award Winner: The Ascent

Directors: Edward Drake, Scott Veltri, Francis Cronin, Producers: Edward Drake, Scott Veltri

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT 

Audience Award Winner: Campeón Gabacho

Director: Jonás Cuarón, Producers: Gabriela Rodríguez, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón, Nicolás Celis, Screenwriters: Jonás Cuarón, Aura Xilonen

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT 

Audience Award Winner: Ceremony

Director/Producer: Banchi Hanuse

MIDNIGHTER 

Audience Award Winner: Never After Dark

Director/Screenwriter: Dave Boyle, Producers: Dave Boyle, Kento Kaku, Kosuke Tsutsumi

VISIONS 

Audience Award Winner: Daughters of the Forest

Director/Screenwriter: Otilia Portillo Padua, Producers: Paula Arroio, Elena Fortes, Otilia Portillo Padua

GLOBAL Presented by MUBI

Thank you to our sponsor, MUBI: the global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs.

Audience Award Winner: Mickey

Director: Dano García, Producers: Dano García, Indira Cato, Joceline Hernandez, Alejandra Guevara Castillo, Christian Giraud, Screenwriters: Dano García, Tonatiuh Israel

24 BEATS PER SECOND

Audience Award Winner: Noah Kahan: Out of Body

Director: Nick Sweeney, Producers: Samantha Mustari, Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, Ryan Kroft, Vaughn Trudeau, Anna Keegan, David Blackman, Jeff Ludwig, Devon Libran

FESTIVAL FAVORITE 

Audience Award Winner: Cookie Queens

Director: Alysa Nahmias, Producers: Gregory Kershaw, Michael Dweck, Alysa Nahmias, Jennifer Sims

Short Film Program Presented by Vimeo

Thank you to our Shorts Program Presenting sponsor, Vimeo: the premier home for video professionals and the best short films on the internet.

NARRATIVE SHORT COMPETITION

Audience Award Winner: We Were Here

Director/Screenwriter: Pranav Bhasin, Producer: Yash Gonsai

DOCUMENTARY SHORT COMPETITION

Audience Award Winner: I Got My Brother

Director: Victor K. Gabriel, Producer: Rachel Earnest

ANIMATED SHORT COMPETITION

Audience Award Winner: Paper Trail

Director/Producer/Screenwriter: Don Hertzfeldt

MIDNIGHT SHORT COMPETITION

Audience Award Winner: The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much

Director/Screenwriter: Eric Jackowitz, Producer: Colton Mastro

TEXAS SHORT COMPETITION

Audience Award Winner: Stalin Boys

Directors: Ora DeKornfeld, Bianca Giaever, Producers: Alejandra Vasquez, Ora DeKornfeld, Bianca Giaever

MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION

Audience Award Winner: OK Go - 'Love'

Directors: Aaron Duffy, Miguel Espada, Damian Kulash

TV Program

TV PREMIERE Audience Award Winner: Monsters of God

Showrunner: Jeremy McBride, Director: Eric Goode, Producers: Tom Petersen, James Liu, Callie Barlow, Lissa Rivera, Charles Divak, Adrienne Gits, Daniel Johnson, Screenwriters: Jeremy McBride, Eric Goode, Tom Petersen

TV SPOTLIGHT Audience Award Winner: Woodstockers

Showrunner: Corbin Bernsen, Director: Oliver Bernsen, Producer: Zoe Rosenberg, Screenwriters: Corbin Bernsen, Joshua Michael Stern, Henry Bernsen

INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION Audience Award Winner: Birth is For P*ssies

Showrunner/Screenwriter: Hannah Shealy, Directors: Hannah Shealy, Celine Sutter, Producer: Celine Sutter

XR Experience

XR EXPERIENCE COMPETITION

Audience Award Winner: Fabula Rasa: Dead Man Talking

Directors: Luiza Justus, Marcelo Marcati, Producer: Erika Nakayama, Screenwriters: Eduardo Nicolau, Pedro Penna

XR EXPERIENCE SPOTLIGHT

Audience Award Winner: The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up

Director: Singing Chen, Producers: Singing CHEN, SUNG Chin-Hsuan, Screenwriters: Singing CHEN, LOU Yi-An

SXSW is proud to be an official qualifying festival for the Academy Awards® Short Film competition. Winners of our Best Animated, Best Narrative and Best Documentary Short Film categories become eligible for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards (Oscars). Any British Short Film or British Short Animation that screens at SXSW is eligible for BAFTA nomination. Films are also eligible for the Independent Spirit Awards, more information on eligibility here.

Congrats to all of the winners!