Diya

Jury Statement

This was an excellent selection in the spirit of the Ted Pedas Award, and for the Jury represented a difficult decision upon examination of the various aspects intervening in a film.

After a lengthy deliberation considering the many merits of each of the films the Jury concluded Diya was the closest to fulfilling the mission of the Ted Pedas Award.

The story takes place in an authentic, challenging and unfamiliar environment. The viewer is enlightened and affected emotionally at the same time. The plot sustains its layering depth until the end.

We hope all the films selected in this category will succeed in finding a broader exposure.

Margaret Parsons, Phylis Geller, and Felix Angel
Washington DC - April 26, 2026

Everybody to Kenmure Street

Jury Statement

Everybody to Kenmure Street is an exhilarating and timely film documenting a peaceful protest against unjust immigration enforcement in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021. Directed by Filipe Bustos Sierra, the film offers an inspiring, uplifting story of community resistance at the local level. It's a lesson to Americans on how peaceful protests can succeed in the age of ICE and MAGA and how lifting up the strategic impact of nonviolent protests can make a difference, whether in Glasgow or Minneapolis.

The story unfolds on May 13, 2021, on a quiet street in Glasgow, Scotland when an Immigration Enforcement van pulls up at dawn and arrests two men for alleged immigration violations. Thousands of neighbors protest in the street including one man, "the Van Man," who immediately puts himself under the police van where the immigrants are locked inside. He refuses to budge from under the van. We never see his face and only hear his voice narrated by Emma Thompson. For eight hours, the people resist non-violently. At no time do the cops use deadly force. In Scotland, police do not carry guns. One police agent even asks "The Van Man" if he needs something to drink.

Director Filipe Bustos Sierra is an excellent storyteller who has produced a film filled with hope and joy. Beautifully photographed and creatively edited, the documentary juxtaposes the intensity of live street protests with poignant and thoughtfully reconstructed interviews, and historic footage. For its artistry and timeliness, demonstrating the enduring power of peaceful protests, the jury gave the award for Best Film in the Justice Matters category to Everybody to Kenmure Street.

Rainbow Warrior

Jury Statement

Beast of the Seine

Jury Statement

The MetroShorts and Short Stories Awards acknowledge emerging filmmakers based on their unique creative spark, intentionality, and commitment as illustrated in their films — all of which we feel need broader recognition. The jury hopes this award provides validation and encouragement to them to further develop their voices. Congratulations to these promising filmmakers!

This animator sets his short in a turn-of-the-century Paris, replete with unibrow butchers, love-lorn nutrias, indifferent snails, and gluttonous dogs. In recognition of his singular inventiveness, playful whimsy, and a distinctive style, the Short Stories award goes to Jon Portman, director of Beast of the Seine.

Somewhere To Be

Jury Statement

The MetroShorts and Short Stories Awards acknowledge emerging filmmakers based on their unique creative spark, intentionality, and commitment as illustrated in their films — all of which we feel need broader recognition. The jury hopes this award provides validation and encouragement to them to further develop their voices. Congratulations to these promising filmmakers!

Honorable mention to Christy Chan. In her film, Somewhere To Be, a young child is thrust into a charged incident of racial discrimination. Christy nails the task of directing a child actor, capturing both her overwhelm and her respite in a small but powerful moment of agency.

Sudakas

Jury Statement

The MetroShorts and Short Stories Awards acknowledge emerging filmmakers based on their unique creative spark, intentionality, and commitment as illustrated in their films — all of which we feel need broader recognition. The jury hopes this award provides validation and encouragement to them to further develop their voices. Congratulations to these promising filmmakers!

This year's MetroShorts Award recipient compassionately and graciously brings us into the world of his mother, an accomplished lawyer/civil servant forced to flee her home country and reestablish herself in the US, where she now works as a hotel maid. Congratulations to Ricardo Betancort, director of Sudakas.

Hill Boy

Jury Statement

The MetroShorts and Short Stories Awards acknowledge emerging filmmakers based on their unique creative spark, intentionality, and commitment as illustrated in their films — all of which we feel need broader recognition. The jury hopes this award provides validation and encouragement to them to further develop their voices. Congratulations to these promising filmmakers!

Honorable mention to Eilythia Penati, whose film, Hill Boy, shows us a cathartic moment of euphoria in the life of a troubled teen.

The Sixth Child

Jury Statement

Signis is an international lay Catholic media organization which seats juries in some forty international film festivals worldwide – including Cannes, Venice, and Berlin – celebrating films of exceptional artistic merit that also delve deep into the human spirit.

The Signis Award at Filmfest DC goes to the film judged by its jury to "best illuminate and celebrate what it means to be human in a diverse and challenging world."

The Filmfest DC Signis Prize goes to The Sixth Child.

Writer/director Leopold Legrand and his co-writer, Catherine Paille, deftly tell the story of two couples from opposite ends of the economic/cultural spectrum who share a desperation: on one side to have a child, on the other side to avoid having an unaffordable sixth baby. The resulting clash of legal realities and human yearning leads to excruciating decisions and a moving exploration of the meaning of love. It is a film that brilliantly illuminates the human condition in these difficult times, earning it the Filmfest DC Signis Prize 2023.

One Careful Owner

Jury Statement

In this Spanish comedy two disgruntled women struggling with meaning in their lives overcome their mutual hostilities and transform one another through laughter to embrace the joy of life.