63rd Ann Arbor Film Festival Award Winners

March 30, 2025

The Ann Arbor Film Festival is proud to announce this year’s award-winning filmmakers selected by jurors David Lebrun, Christopher Harris, and Kristin Reeves. Read more about the 63rd AAFF Jurors here. 

The Ann Arbor Film Festival provides direct support to filmmakers. Our 2025 awards competition presents $39,000 to filmmakers through cash and in-kind awards that include film stock, film processing, and camera equipment rental.

The 63rd AAFF Online Festival continues until April 13th at 11:59pm ET.  An award from the AAFF confers prestige and financial support; it can also qualify filmmakers for an Oscar® nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the short film category. Qualifying awards are the Ken Burns Award for Best of the Festival, the Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film, and the Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film. Read more about our Awards here.   

Don’t miss the chance to watch the two awards programs showcasing this year’s outstanding winners. Purchase your ticket now for exclusive access to the awards programs, streaming online until April 13 at 11:59pm ET.

63rd AAFF Awards Programs Online Tickets - $14

The Award Winners for the 2025 63rdd AAFF

Ken Burns Award for Best of the Festival

Razah-Del / راز دل, Maryam Tafakory

Tom Berman Award for Most Promising Filmmaker

¡Aoquic iez in Mexico! / Mexico will no longer exist!, Annalisa Donatella Quagliata

Tom Berman Award Best Documentary Film 

Las Territorias, Anna Broman-Krass

Richard Myers Best Non-Narrative Film

The Itch, Emma Hamel

Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film

Sinkholes, Karen Russo

Kodak Cinematic Vision Award 

A Patriot of These Woods, Karel Doing

Susan Dise Best Experimental Film

The Flower Cult of Amelia Earhart, Rebecca Barten

The Barbara Aronofsky Latham Award for an Emerging Experimental Video Artist

Semiotics of the Home, Jessi Ali Lin, Hsin-Yu Chen

Barbara Hammer Feminist Film Award

Otherhood, Deborah Stratman

Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film

Moral Support, Vuk Jevremovic

Gil Omenn Art & Science Award

Another Rapid Event, Daniel Murphy

Prix DeVarti for Funniest Film

Tako Tsubo, Eva Pedroza, Fanny Sorgo

The Terri Schwartz Film Award for Parody and Satire

Sunset Special 2, Nicolas Gebbe

The Eileen Maitland Award

My Exploding House, Liberty Smith

George Manupelli Founder’s Spirit Award

A Body to Live In, Angelo Madsen

CameraMall Best Michigan Filmmaker Award

Simulacrumbs, Joanie Wind

Lawther/Graff No Violence Award

High Street Repeat, Osbert Parker and Laurie Hill

Best Experimental Animation Award

Desk Bugs, Hakhyun Kim

The Edge of Your Seat Award

The Princess and the Peacock, Daniel Baker-Wells

Leon Speakers Award for Best Sound Design

a shifting pattern, Isaac Sherman

Martin Contreras and Keith Orr \aut\ Award for Best LGBTQ Film

Les fleurs du mâle, Hadi Moussally

The No. 1 African Film Award

We Are Not Alone, Adebukola Bodunrin

Peter Wilde Award for Most Technically Innovative Film

Purgatorio, Stephanie Miracle, Auden Lincoln-Vogel, Philip Rabalais

The Terri Schwartz Asian Film Award

Mooncake, Rraine Hanson

Best Music Video Award

Riding Day, Michael Alexander Morris

Vox Populi Award

I Hope This Helps!, Daniel M. Freed

Melting Your Eyeballs for Humanity Jury Award

Deluge, Meejin Hong

It’s a good idea not to blow people up with nuclear bombs. Jury Award

Among the Palms the Bomb, or: Looking for Reflections in the Toxic Field of Plenty, Lukas Marxt and Vanja Smiljanić

The Coma and Forklift Jury Award

Uncle Bardo, Luke Mistruzzi

The Take Your Breath Away Jury Award

Satellites (Soundtrack Version) (Satélites (versão com trilha sonora)), Gustavo Ramos

The 2025 / 63rd AAFF awards were conferred by jurors David Lebrun, Christopher Harris, and Kristin Reeves.

63rd AAFF Awards Programs Online Tickets - $14