The Palm Springs International Shortfest announced its 2026 winners during an award ceremony on Sunday. Honorees received cash prizes totaling $30,000, with five films earning Academy Award qualifying awards.
The festival recognized top entries across multiple categories. Fruit, directed by Jen Nee Lim from Singapore, won the Best of the Festival Award. Fačuk from Croatia and Slovenia, directed by Maida Srabović, took the Best Animated Short prize.
Water Cooler, directed by Emma V.F. from the United States, earned the Best Documentary Short award. Marga en el DF, directed by Gabriela Ortega from Mexico, the United States and the Dominican Republic, won Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes.
We Were Here, directed by Pranav Bhasin from India, received the Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes and Under award as well as the Best Comedy Short prize. Student categories honored films including Daddy’s Little Meatball from Australia and the United States, directed by Yael Grunseit.
Additional honors went to A Crime Across Four Landscapes, directed by Aidan Weaver from the United States, for the Vimeo Staff Pick Award, and Agapito from the Philippines and France, directed by Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Romero, for Best International Short.
