Fantastic Fest XXI: BLOODY TENNIS, GHOST IN THE CELL And More Announced Among 2026 Winners!
The twenty first edition of Fantastic Fest has wraps this Friday and I still have one more title to review before I close things up on my end for the festival. In the meantime, the festival has just announced its winners for this year’s screenings, including Bloody Tennis for Best Picture, and Ghost In The Cell for Best Director. I can only speak to the latter as I just reviewed it ahead of its North American release, but that film deserves the win for sure.
Read on!
Austin, TX – September 22, 2026 – Fantastic Fest is thrilled to unveil the winners of this year’s awards, celebrating an incredible array of genre films from around the world. As always, the jurors faced an incredibly difficult task, evaluating remarkable features and shorts that highlight the very best in genre. Even so, our distinguished jury has risen to the occasion, selecting the most outstanding works of the festival.
“Our winning films embody distinctive and powerful voices from a wide range of cultures, and the exciting new generation of talent shaping the future of genre cinema.” says Director of Programming Annick Mahnert. “It is our privilege to give these exciting filmmakers the platform and recognition they deserve, and we are so grateful for our jurors to help us celebrate the very best in genre filmmaking.”
Fantastic Fest was also thrilled to host the second edition of Fantastic Pitches this year, presented by Chroma. First place went to FATHER FIGURE from writer/director Connor Martin and producer Josh Farnworth. They will have one year to produce their winning feature film, a 70’s era wedding folk horror. The project, out of Washington state, was awarded the $100,000 financing award from Chroma, a distribution deal, and a premiere at Fantastic Fest 2027.
In a surprising turn of events, a 2nd place prize went to the Georgia-based AMERICAN VERMIN writer/director A.K. Espada, producer Annie Jacob, and director of photography Alexandra Bock who were awarded a BlackMagic Cinema package from Fangoria and a year-long mentorship with all three jury members, Gore Verbinski, Catherine Hardwicke, and Nic Curcio alongside his PLAY HOUSE writing partner Kirby Gladstein.
“MAIN COMPETITION” FEATURES
Jurors: Christopher Andrews, William Earl, Marissa Frobes
Best Director: Bertrand Mandico for ROMA ELASTICA
Best Picture: GIRL IN THE NIGHT, directed by Luka Marčetić
Special Mention: FIVE MORE MINUTES, directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera
“NEXT WAVE” FEATURES
Jurors: Taratoa Stappard, Tristan Scott-Behrends, Ariella Mastroianni
Best Director: Agata Trzebuchowska for SICK
Best Picture: ADULT SUPERVISION by Alex Schulman
Special Mention: JOLLYFACE , directed by Justin Floyd
Best Performance Special Mentions:
– Konrad Karol and Katarzyna Lubik in SICK
– Cole Asher Phillips in PHREAKER
“HORROR” FEATURES
Jurors: Whitney Fuller, Heidi Wong
Best Director: Nikias Chryssos for BLOODY TENNIS
Best Picture: GHOST IN THE CELL, directed by Joko Anwar
Special Mention: THE CYCLE, directed by Jordan Downey
AUDIENCE AWARD
FIVE MORE MINUTES, directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera
SHORT FILMS
Jurors: Nicholas Lazo, Adam Piron, Tiffany Kimmel
FANTASTIC SHORTS
Best Picture: JIMMY’S CUSTOM COFFIN, directed by James P. Gannon
Best Actor: Richard Perez in RICHARD GOES ON A DATE, directed by Johnny Frohman
SHORT FUSE
Best Picture: BAGMAN, directed by Connor Gaston & Vaughn Gaston
SHORTS WITH LEGS
Best Picture: SINKPISSER, directed by Connor Wiles
DRAWN AND QUARTERED
Best Picture: PRE-PARENTING, directed by Yu Yu
Best WTF Short: THE MAGICIAN, directed by Joe Garber
FANTASTIC PITCHES
Jurors: Gore Verbinski, Catherine Hardwicke, and Nicolas Curcio
FATHER FIGURE Writer/Director Connor Martin, Producer Josh Farnworth
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