AFI FEST Short Film Winners Qualify for 100th Academy Awards
The 40th AFI FEST announced its Grand Jury Prize winners, making the short films eligible for Oscar consideration at the upcoming 100th Academy Awards.
The 40th AFI FEST Short Film Awards, presented by Canva, have announced their Grand Jury Prize winners. These winning short films are now eligible for Oscar consideration in the 100th Academy Awards.
The Grand Jury Prize winners for Live Action, Documentary, and Animated Shorts will advance. The winners are Free Eliza (Notes on an Anatomical Imperfection) by Alexandra Matheou in Live Action, A Woman's Place Is Everywhere by Fanny Texier in Documentary, and Living With a Visionary by Stephen P. Neary in Animation. Each Grand Jury Prize winner is eligible for Academy Award consideration.
Special Jury Mention recipients recognized across categories
Additional Special Jury Mention awards were presented for Live Action, Animated, and Documentary Shorts. The honors recognized specific areas of excellence including direction, craft, and social impact.
Jury composition and festival timeline established
The festival featured distinct juries for each short film category. The Live Action jury included Mike Dougherty, Giulia Grandinetti, and Mia Lee Vicino. Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, Natali Hopkins, and Nick Stachurski formed the Documentary jury. The Animation jury consisted of Martine Joelle McDonald, Kenzie Sutton, and Kelly Marie Tran.
AFI Fest wrapped on a Sunday. The awards were officially announced on October 26, 2026. The festival had opened on October 21 with the film Wildwood.
The festival's broader program featured several other contenders with red carpet premieres. These included I Play Rocky, Ray Gunn, and The Mosquito Bowl. A Special Screenings slate included titles like 14th, Behemoth!, Elsinore, and Wild Horse Nine. Also in that section were Ashes (Ceniza en la Boca), Bitter Christmas (Amarga Navidad), Bunker, Clarissa, Josephine, The Man I Love, Mouse, and Tangles.
A separate Luminaries sidebar consisted of thirteen titles. That lineup featured All of a Sudden, Bucking Fastard, Diary of a Chambermaid (Femme de Chambre), and The Day She Returns. It also included Nowhere to Lay My Eyes, Gentle Monster, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, Parallel Tales (Histoires Parallèles), Possible Love, Tender Loving Care, Tutti Frutti, This Is How a Child Becomes a Poet, and Union Town.
The Grand Jury Prize winners will now compete for Oscar consideration in the 100th Academy Awards.
