2025 SHORT FILM FUND FALL SEASON WINNERS

We are thrilled to announce the Winners of the $15k Production Grant and $4k in Finishing Funds for our Fall Season of the 2025 Short Film Fund, as well as the Top 5 Finalists of the production grant.

Next, we will be collaborating with our Grand Prize Winner and Finishing Funds Winner to support their projects through distribution. We’ll be connecting them with two-time Oscar-nominated producer Maria Gracia Turgeon and Tribeca festival programmer and festival strategist, Kimberley Browning. Our Grand Prize Winner will also have the opportunity to connect with ARRI Rental for a free camera package.

For full details of what happens next, check out our post-contest timeline.

THE 2026 SPRING SEASON WILL OPEN ON JANUARY 15TH.

Watch some of the films that have previously come through the Short Film Fund by checking out our Produced Films page. And, learn more about the films currently in pre-production, production, and post by reading about the History of the Short Film Fund.

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KNOW YOUR LIGHTS

In a Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago, a young girl investigates mysterious “lights,” only to uncover a far more dangerous reality threatening her community.

MATANDO MOSCAS

Trapped in monotony, a disillusioned office worker hires a hitman to kill him—only to discover that fate has a darker sense of humor.

And congratulations to our Top 5 Finalists!

FEMALE SERIAL KILLER by LG Stokes
GRACE by Lesley Fera
GRIND MY BONES INTO THE DUST YOU BREATHE by Angelina Hue
ROSEMARY’S GAYBY by Billy Griffin, Jr.
TEXAS DAUGHTER by Zita Bai & April Maxey

This season, the Top 5 Finalists will receive script feedback from one of our industry Judges. Finishing Funds Finalists will receive feedback from a producer at Vanishing Angle, and the Top 15 Finalists for the production grant will have an opportunity to have their scripts circulated to select members of our Industry Roster.

OUR 2025 FALL SEASON FINALISTS

This season, our Finalists represent less than 1% of all submissions.

PRODUCTION GRANT ($15k)
(in alphabetical order by script title, 15 screenplays have progressed)

	SCRIPT TITLE	WRITER’S NAME(S)	LOGLINE
	BELONG	Sikander Malik	Kaleel (Kal) Awan, a British Muslim soldier, returns home after serving his country, only to face rejection from the far right, his community, and even his family. Forced to become homeless and disconnected from his sense of self, Kal must choose to fall apart or rise up after uncovering a hidden and forgotten legacy.
	Female Serial Killer	LG Stokes	A documentary crew follows the antics of Abigail — a ruthless yet charming serial killer who thirsts to prove herself a feminist icon among the male-dominated pantheon of psychopaths.
	Grace	Lesley Fera	When a middle-aged woman with Down syndrome learns her mother has died, she embarks on a quest to attend the funeral in Los Angeles, enlisting the unlikeliest of travel companions.
	Grind My Bones Into the Dust You Breathe	Angelina Hue	In a quiet, misty countryside somewhere off the coast of Scotland, a woman grapples with the aftermath of her husband’s mysterious disappearance – and her neighbours lurk two steps behind her.
	Heat	Cassie Phillips	A young single mother navigates her way through a tragic series of setbacks on her way to a job interview that holds the key to a new life.
	Know Your Lights	Al Benoit	In a Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago, a young girl investigates mysterious “lights” that seem to make people disappear—only to realize the true danger stalking her community isn’t supernatural at all.
	Krousaa	Kanica Suy	Amid the horrors of the Cambodian Genocide, a father fights to save his young daughter when their family is torn apart by the Khmer Rouge.
	Machine-Man	Lily Gwynne-Thomas	Duke has a unique bond with his car, a Volvo that loves him back. However, when it breaks down, he must rely on another man to fix it.
	MUEZZA	Khadija J. Khan	An aging Pakistani father cleans out his estranged son’s flat and slowly uncovers the life his son lived – and the bond they never had – through the quiet presence of his son’s cat, Muezza.
	Rosemary’s Gayby (working title)	Billy Griffin, Jr.	A gay couple brings home their new baby only to discover that she might already be…a republican.
	Tea	Nonzi Bogatsu	Stuck in a cold marriage, a sexually frustrated woman discovers in a dream that a few drops of her period blood in her husband’s daily tea magically makes him amorous and hot for her. But her period and the magic soon end, making her fear that she will lose him forever.
	Texas Daughter	Zita Bai & April Maxey	A determined Chinese-American actress travels to a secluded Texas ranch to prepare for a role—only to find herself suddenly drawn to the tough Tejana cowgirl who’s training her.
	The Cold Signal	Niklas Theorin	A 911 operator receives a call that stops her cold.
	WHEN THE VEILS DANCE	Tayebe Babaei	After the fall of ISIS, an eighteen-year-old Kurdish mother returns from captivity to her family in the windswept borderlands between Syria and Iraq, carrying with her a three-year-old son, born of rape. But her homecoming comes at a price: to be accepted, she must abandon the child.
	Young Man	Alex Matraxia	In 1990s London, Fox, a young hustler, forms an unlikely bond with an older client estranged from his son. As their connection deepens, Fox is offered a chance to reinvent himself, but the cost may be more than he bargained for.

FINISHING FUNDS ($4k)
(in alphabetical order by film title, 5 short films have progressed)

	SCRIPT TITLE	WRITER/ DIRECTOR’S NAME(S)	LOGLINE
	Bundle	Written & directed by Carlo Milillo	Buried alive under a pile of bodies… and the nightmare’s just beginning.
	Girl | Dad	Written & directed by Lianzi Fields	Over four decades, a Chinese adoptee and her single father navigate cultural identity, family bonds, and ultimately, the fog of dementia.
	Matando Moscas	Written & directed by Ericka Lavin	Trapped in monotony, a disillusioned office worker hires a hitman to kill him—only to discover that fate has a darker sense of humor.
	Son of a Bikram	Written by Ash T & Johnny Rey Diaz, directed by Johnny Rey Diaz	After discovering he’s the illegitimate son of disgraced yoga guru Bikram Choudhury, a delusional office worker spirals into a heated identity crisis, determined to reclaim his father’s legacy, even if it kills him.
	The Queen, The Knight, and The Witch	Written & directed by Letia Solomon	On the eve of her 35th birthday, Amber must convince her sex worker, a South LA native, T’Ron, to engage in unorthodox foreplay through a medieval fantasy audiobook to defeat her anxiety about skin-to-skin contact. In one night, Amber struggles with her internal “Witch” to achieve a real connection.

OUR 2025 FALL SEASON SEMI-FINALISTS

This season’s Semi-Finalists represent the Top 10% of all submissions.

PRODUCTION GRANT ($15k)
(in alphabetical order by script title, 93 screenplays have progressed)

FINISHING FUNDS ($4k)
(in alphabetical order by script title, 42 short films have progressed)