The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards has unveiled its 2025 shortlist, celebrating 30 exceptional filmmakers from across the globe. Spanning four categories—Fiction, Non-Fiction, Animation, and Student—these shortlisted creatives have been recognized for their bold storytelling and originality. They’ll now head to Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City from June 2–5, 2025, for an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience that culminates in the highly anticipated awards ceremony on June 5.
Now in its third year, the program—launched by Creo in partnership with Sony—aims to spotlight emerging talent and provide them with a rare, immersive gateway into the heart of the film industry. This year’s awards drew over 11,750 submissions from 7,500 filmmakers across 158 countries and territories, showcasing a diverse range of voices and visions.
The 2025 shortlist features powerful works including:
- A gripping story about an inmate firefighter fighting for parole
- A haunting tale of shellfish divers uncovering dark family truths under Chile’s Pinochet regime
- A heartwarming animated fable of an unlikely friendship between a piglet and a wolf
- A futuristic reflection on an aging fieldworker besting her AI replacement
- A moving exploration of Australia’s First Nations and traditional fire practices
Filmmakers from countries including Australia, Burundi, India, Germany, Mexico, Nigeria, Sweden, Taiwan, and more will attend workshops, masterclasses, and exclusive sessions led by Sony Pictures executives. These cover topics such as cinematography, soundtracking, deal-making, and cutting-edge production tech.
A distinguished jury—including Minhal Baig, Elizabeth Gabler, Jason Reitman, and jury chair Justin Chadwick—will select the four category winners, each receiving cash prizes and Sony Digital Imaging equipment. The awards ceremony will take place in the iconic Scenic Arts Building, hosted by Emmy-winning Denny Directo of Entertainment Tonight.
Also announced is the winner of the Future Format competition, spotlighting short films made entirely on smartphones. The top honor goes to Bijan Gashti (Iran) for Select/Or, a thought-provoking film exploring the limits of choice and control. Gashti will join the immersive program alongside fellow shortlisted filmmakers Joni Astin Ariadi (Indonesia) and Siwei Yu (China Mainland).
The films and filmmakers shortlisted for the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2025 are:
FICTION
The Fiction category rewards narrative-led submissions that convey an original fictional story or event.
- Miguel Angel Caballero & Luis Antonio Aldana (USA), The Ballad of Tita and the Machines – In an AI-driven future, an elderly fieldworker is forced to contend with her robot substitute, but when it fails to compete with her she draws the attention of its creators.
- Ethan Evans & Jess Bartlett (UK), Outside Noise – A woman’s sleep app blurs reality and conjures a terrifying presence in her room.
- Alexis Gómez (México), Bumbumpapá – A father fights to preserve his daughter’s innocence amid the darkness and uncertainty of war.
- Meng Han Hsieh (Taiwan) & Menna Morgan (UK), The Test – A woman taking her UK citizenship tests faces hostility and micro-aggressions, escaping into her imagination to express herself.
- Irene Lopez & Robin Asselmeyer (Sweden), Killing R – In an AI-integrated future a mother fantasizes about destroying her household clone.
- Linda Ludwig (Germany) & James Curle (UK), Under the Blue – A worn out police officer on a late shift is brought in to investigate a petty crime, finding more than meets the eye.
- Andrew McGee (UK), First Sight – Luna is finally ready to re-enter the world of dating, but her reliance on her smart contact lenses takes a dark turn.
- Rossana Montoya (Colombia), My Demon – As they race to the hospital for the imminent birth of their first child, Eva and Jacobo clash over their relationship.
- Florine & Kim Nüesch (Switzerland), Marriage Unplugged – A couple’s sex robot experiment exposes hidden fractures in their marriage.
- Robin Takao D’Oench (USA), Fireline – An inmate firefighter who has been denied parole battles a wildfire while yearning to return home.
NON-FICTION
The Non-Fiction category awards short films that are predominantly factual in content. These can include archive footage, documentary footage, reenactments and animation.
- César Flores Correa (México), A Field That No Longer Smells of Flowers – In the municipality of Villa Guerrero in Mexico flower growers and their families grapple with the impact of the toxic chemicals used to cultivate the flowers.
- Will Hewitt & Austen McCowan (UK), Have You Seen The Beast? – The filmmakers probe a mysterious big cat sighting in Wales through a series of eerie local testimonies.
- Kieran Hodges (New Zealand) & Eduardo Vento (Portugal), Justice Brothers – Young surfers in Ghana help to empower local women through a surf school.
- Juliet Klottrup (UK), Travelling Home – An English Romany Traveller reflects on his heritage and the annual pilgrimage to Appleby Fair.
- Annabel Moodie (UK), Friends on the Outside – An incarcerated man finds solace in foraging and connecting to nature.
- Loic Niyonkuru & Floriane Kaneza (Burundi), Before 16 – A woman recounts her experiences raising her child after a traumatic assault at age 16.
- Stefan Pollak (UK), ALT Jay – A disabled man’s passion for CrossFit helps break barriers and create community with support from his identical twin.
- Kirsten Slemint (Australia), Burnt Country – First Nations wisdom, 65,000 years in the making, uses fire to fight fire and offers lessons for Australia’s ecological future.
- Riah Taipodia (India), Khiew Ranei (Black Clay) – A 9-year-old inherits her village’s pottery tradition, passed down through generations and carefully preserved.
- Shaquille Zaki Nathandra & Quina Qaumitaquna Mirxela (Indonesia), Tanah Kitai (Our Land) – Borneo’s Iban youth fight to preserve their land and identity against encroaching loss.
ANIMATION
The Animation category embraces filmmakers using stop-motion, motion graphics, computer animation, drawn-on-film, rotoscoping, experimental animation, and additional available techniques.
- Rich Farris (UK), From The Top – Robin grapples with letting go of her drum kit and her passion.
- Case Jernigan (USA), Noggin – Through a deeply personal narrative, the filmmaker builds ‘a memory palace of love and ink’ exploring life with multiple sclerosis.
- Santiago O’Ryan & José Navarro (Chile), Hermanos Casablanca (Casablanca Brothers) – At the height of the Pinochet dictatorship, two divers agree to help an army official in the hope of receiving information on their missing sister in return.
- Fadi Syriani & Jana Wehbe (Lebanon), The Day Vladimir Died – In Beirut, the day-to-day life of an elderly man is punctuated by grief and mourning both for lost friends and for a city undergoing rapid change.
- Leo Wright (UK), The Big Bad Wolf – Set in an industrial pig society, a wolf and a pig form an unlikely friendship, defying prejudices and the cautionary words of the age-old parable.
STUDENT
The Student category rewards filmmakers studying a film course at a registered institution at a diploma or degree level worldwide.
- Luis J. Arellano (México), Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica. Long Journey Till Dawn – After the death of her young daughter, a grieving mother kidnaps a baby, confronting the darkness within herself.
- Muhammed Ashfaque (India), K R Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, URA – In Bethlehem, the unexpected arrival of Maria, a pregnant nun, into an isolated convent run by a community of elderly nuns sets off a chain of events.
- Gianfranco Fernández-Ruiz & Gus Murray (USA), American Film Institute, When Big People Lie – Eight-year-old Elvis witnesses a dramatic family shift when his mother arranges a green card marriage.
- Hayder Hoozeer (UK) & Franz Böhm (Germany), The National Film & Television School, Rock Paper Scissors – Based on a true story, a father and son in a warzone hospital face life-or-death choices as their hideout becomes increasingly compromised.
- Faith Olaewe & Doyinsola Ajayi (Nigeria), EbonyLife Creative Academy, Angel in the Stone – Shalewa, a reclusive autistic teenager, uses her metalworking skills to save her family from ruin.
The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2025 winners will be revealed on June 5, 2025. For the full shortlist and more updates, visit here.
