NOV 20-21, 2025
Official Nominations – Los Angeles fantasy Fest 2025
Step into the spotlight of independent cinema.
The Los Angeles Fantasy Fest 2025 Official Nominations celebrate the filmmakers, actors, and creative teams who redefine genre storytelling across animation, horror, and sci-fi.
Every nominated film represents artistic vision, technical mastery, and emotional impact — chosen from hundreds of submissions worldwide.
These finalists now stand as the year’s best in independent genre filmmaking, competing for our signature Fantasia Awards "Obscura" to be presented live at the Skiptown Playhouse, Los Angeles, on Friday November 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM.
Explore the nominees below and discover the stories, styles, and spirits that define the new wave of cinematic imagination.
Best Horror / Thriller Feature Film
- Piercing Screams - Dir. Michael Jason Allen - 01:21:37 min - United States
- The Cellar - Dir. Jamie David Langlands - 01:24:27 min - United Kingdom
- The Demoness - Dir. Andrew de Burgh - 01:33:00 min - United States
- Kulyas 2: Zikr-i Ayin - Dir. Yunus Şevik - 01:32:00 min - Turkey, United States
- Nahualli - Dir. Jesús Fernando San Miguel - 01:15:0 min - United States
- LIFT - Dir. Randy Chans - 01:37:36 min - Indonesia
- Little Pet - Dir. Alex Gruenenfelder - 01:31:30 min - United States
- Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill - Dir. Zoe Kavanagh - 01:37:44 min - Ireland
- TEXAS NIGHTMARE - Dir. Michael Merino - 1:20:00 min - United States
- The Forbidden Lands - Dir. Mattia De Pascali - 01:38:00 min - Italy
- To Keep Her - Dir. Tommy Doughty - 01:30:00 min - Canada
Best sci-fi Feature Film
- 3 BILLION - Dir. Yolanda Torres - 01:34:00 min - Spain
- Broke Boy$ - Dir. Milad Hülshorst - 45:01 min - Germany
- The Space Rodent - Dir. Jason D. Morris - 1:20:33 min - United States
- CONTAMINATION - Dir. Neil Chase, David Heacock - 01:46:58 min - Canada
- Existence Zero - Dir. Matteo Scarfò - 01:13:20 min - Italy
Best Animated Short Film
- Nest - Dir. Mia Lang - 3:35 min - United States
- Not Today - Dir. Juan Paulín Lara - 4:10 min - Mexico
- God’s Blood - Dir. Nico O. Bricker - 3:50 min - United States
- Jus d’orange - Dir. Alexandre Athané - 13:45 min - France, Poland
- Robotany - Dir. Tyler Wolters - 4:17 min - United States
- Cyko KO (Animated Pilot) - Dir. Robert Feldman - 16:05 min - United States
- Dreamwalker - Dir. Luca Schenato, Sinem Vardarli - 15:00 min - United Kingdom
- Kid President - Dir. Yadid Hirschtritt Licht - 5:20 min - United States
- Left Behind - A Dungeon Delver Story- Dir. John Hagler - 3:46 min - United States
- CITYWALK - Dir. Malin Dahl - 1:47 min - Sweden
- DYSMORPHIC - Dir. Saul Pena - 1:44 min - United States
- MÄRBLES - Dir. - Ariel Orama Lopez - 1:23 min - Puerto Rico
- Anxious Danny - Dir. Ksenia Samarina, Petr Tarasov - 4:00 min - Armenia
- The night of the blood moon - Dir. Bruno Souza Barros - 9:54 min - Brazil
- Root of the Problem - Dir. Amelia Kim Bell - 3:44 min - United States
- MIGGY15 - Dir. Surapong wetsuwanmanee - 8:00 min - Thailand
- Co-Pilot - Dir. Brooke Rodda - 3:00 min - United States
- Fawning - Dir. Dominique Bellefeuille - 1:25 min - Canada
- Soraya in the Land of Nod - Dir. Leela Dutta - 2:40 min - India
- The Old Man and The Robot - Dir. Callum Scott-Dyson - 10:00 min. - South Korea
- Fluff & Furious - Dir. Chieh-Chih Liao - 3:43 min - United State
- Some things are a sign, but some aren't - Dir. Danaja Kurnik - 4:20 Slovenia
- Tormented - Dir. Liz Lugo - 9:21 min - United States
- Birdies - Dir. Franka Bogović, Oleksandr Saško Moskalov - 1:48 min - Croatia
- KILLA MAID! - Dir. Chonnajun Waitayawinyoo - 2:07 min - United States
- The Cloud Herder - Dir. Aidan McAteer - 7:05 min - Ireland
- The Framed Return - Dir. Ricky Chen - 3:28 min - Australia
- Neon Blue - Dir. Neil Taylor - 14:04 min - United States
- Foil Guy vs ANVIL - Dir. Malcolm Lamont - 0:57 sec - United States
- Robotany - Dir. Tyler Wolters - 4:17 min - United States
- Monitor - Dir. Michael Berardini - 2:47 min - USA
- THE LIGHTS GO OUT - Dir. JOHNNY GALVAN 3 - 12:59 min - United States
- 《Jincheng Driving School》 - Dir. 炳豪 焦 (JiaoBingHao) - 9:40 min China
- A DAY MOST FOWL - Dir. Alex Torres - 5:36 min -United States
- God’s Blood - Dir. Nico O. Bricker - 3:50 min - United States
- Animato Anthropomorphica, the Business of Cats and Dogs - Dir Mike Valiquette - 2:08 min - Canada
Best Horror Short Film
- Last Supper - Dir. Cat Hernandez - 13:57 min - United States
- The Art Of a Nightmare - Dir. Thomas Larsen - 3:50 min - Norway
- JC Bratton's Dollhouse (Buffy) - Dir. Ken Zheng, Livi Zheng - 19:04 min - United States
- Amityville Barbi versus the Evil Dead-O's - Dir. Ronin James - 9:53 min - United States
- Inseparable - Dir. Alena Mauhs - 6:26 min - United States
- SKÖLL - Dir. Rubén Jiménez Pacheco - 12:20 min - Spain
- DRAG - Dir. Brandon Tanczak - 15:30 min - United States
- Harvest Moon - Dir. Ignacio Martín de la Sota - 13:00 min - Argentina
- Halloween Headliners - Dir. Chris Carter, John Simpson, Christopher Miniaci - 13:45 min - Canada
- Your Husband Was a Good Man - Dir. Jamie Alvey - 22:00 min - United States
- I Love You - Writer´s Cut - Dir. Rafael Maria Friebe - 6:31 min - Germany
- The Ghost That Wouldn’t Die - Dir. Matthew Packman - 24:00 min - United States
- Feast of the Serpent - Dir. Craig M Baurley - 9:30 min - United States
- Room 13 - Dir. Pierre Vandamme - 4:59 min - Belgium
- Bocuk: An Ancient Ritual - Dir. Buğra Mert Alkayalar - 20:00 min - Turkey
- Deadly Still - Dir. Cameron Mosley, Charles Cornick - 4:49 min - United States
- GRAMPS - Dir. Boris Schaarschmidt - 3:40 min - United States
- Angel Dust - Dir. Miguel Varela - 15:32 min - Spain
- The Upstanding Millars (of Society) - Dir. Franco Rizzo - 14:59 min - Malta
- Inspiration - Dir. Diego Mezarina - 16:12 min - Peru
- Smugglers Rest - Dir. Steven Lancefield - 5:23 min - United Kingdom
- Borrowed Light - Dir. Christian Markus Stahlhofen - 6:16 min - Sweden
- Mint in Box - Dir. Mike Logan - 9:30 min - Canada
- The Nest - Dir. Sergio Pazos Conde - 3:59 min - Spain
- Wrong Move - Dir. Priscilla Zanni - 12:20 min - United States
- The Brothers Grim - Dir. Joey Carrier - 16:29 min - United States
- Vermin - Dir. Ryan Riddle - 9:43 min - United States
- Little Deaths - Dir. Derek Bensonhaver - 6:15 min - United States
- WHAT’S KEPT INSIDE - Dir. Chava Méndez - 17:44 min - Mexico
- Firecrow - Dir. Markham Samuels - 19:55 min - Canada
- The Screaming - Dir. Guillaume Boivin, Steve Villeneuve - 8:00 min - Canada
- Loser Lesbian Vampire - Dir. Lula Cherry - 18:41 min - United States
Best Sci-Fi Short Film
- LOOM - Dir. Jesse Cook III - 14:59 min - United States
- TV Man - Dir. Leonardo Valenti - 28:58 min - Italy
- We Regret to inform You - Dir. Michelle Bossy - 13:20 min - Greece
- The Data Is Wrong - Dir. Austin Charlesworth - 6:30 min - United Kingdom
- Vanlande - Dir. Alexandra Elofsson - 21:17 min - Sweden
- A Matter of Poultry - Dir. Nandini Bapat - 12:51 min - United States
- Waiting for Cloto - Dir. J. Julian Vacas - 8:30 min - Spain
- Ekelbrode - Dir. Ben Robert Montgomery-Pierson - 14:47 min - United States
- Arcadia - Dir. Facundo Martin Romero - 16:36 min - Argentina
- Rotting Hill - Dir. Anastasia Sidorova - 15:00 min - Australia
- The Time We Keep - Dir. Jim Muñoz - 13:40 min - Colombia
- AFTER THE FALL - Dir. Polly Schattel - 18:55 min - United States
- The Procedure - Dir. Raanan Fogel - 19:59 min - Israel
- Wavelength - Dir. Danainan Vin Kridakorn, Andrew Strobridge - 10:58 min - Thailand
- Civil War - Dir. Flávio Carnielli - 25:00 min - Brazil
- The Tower Protocol: Resurrection - Dir. Peter S. Giakoumis - 12:31 min - United States
- Forest of Echoes - Dir. Benjamin Watts - 12:47 min - United States
- Planetagatik - Dir. Eneko Muruzabal Elezcano - 9:35 min - Spain
- Battle of LA - Dir. Patrick Pizzolorusso - 14:36 min - United States
- Eclipsed Hearts - Dir. Brian Shakti - 4:59 min - United States
- Emily's Mountain - Dir. Tal Somech - 22:02 min - Israel
- MODIE/M-0D13 - Dir. S.K. Manning - 3:46 min - United States
- JANE 2687 - Dir. Joe Benedetto - 17:29 min - United States
- Dead End Rides - Dir. Adrian Cabrie - 7:18 min - Australia
- A.V.A. - Dir. Alec Alevsky - 10:08 min - Spain
- ISA - Dir. Jonathan Sneider Rodríguez Serrato, Facundo Alderete - 20:00 min - Argentina
- THE CAGE WE CHOOSE - Dir. Rafael Paiva - 17:43 min - United States
- HUM - Dir. Billy Caldwell - 20:00 min - United States
- Memoria Obscura - Dir. David Christopher Nelson, Connor Ryan - 5:00 min - United States
Best Thriller Short Film
- Shadows - Dir. Sophia Terranova - 15:41 min - United States
- Potent Parcel - Dir. Guylaine Marcoux - 18:02 min - Canada
- BROKEN - Dir. Angelo Donzella - 19:44 min - Italy
- Ghee - Dir. Romi Banerjee - 21:25 min - India
- The Ballad of Lulu and Dad - Dir. Wayne Paul Mattingly - 27:27 min - United States
- BURIED TRUTH - Dir. Luc Deborde - 29:48 min - France, Spain
- BANG! BANG! BANG! - Dir. Stefan Djordjevic - 16:17 min - United States
- Contraction - Dir. Andy Greene - 10:00 min - United States
- Testimony of Disappointment - Dir. Magdalena Alicja Synoradzka -23:03 min - Poland
- Nightjar - Dir. Aaron Garcia - 24:50 min - United States
- Your Order's on the Way - Dir. Facundo Daniel Lopez - 10:44 min - Argentina
- Metacognition - Dir. Liam Connaughton - 7:06 min - United States
- ScapeGoats - Dir. Josh Evoy - 19:10 min - Canada
- STALKER - Dir. David Cholewa - 18:30 min - France
- SHOOTING - Dir. Roberto Loiacono - 36:06 min - Italy
- The Solution - Dir. John Klein, Steve Kniss - 17:00 min - United States
- Bastard Toadflax - Dir. Koka Singh Arora, Juggy Arora - 12:00 min - United States
- There's Something In My Eye - Dir. Richard Louprasong - 10:00 min - United States
- State of Mind - Dir. Cameron Morin - 12:41 min - Canada
- Here Comes the Tickle Monster - Dir. Zoe Allen - 11:09 min - United States
- DRAINOMANIA - Dir. Christopher Greenslate - 14:45 min - United States
Best Director (Overall)
- Dir. Liz Lugo - Tormented - 9:21 min - United States
- Dir. Randy Chans - LIFT - 01:37:36 min - Indonesia
- Dir. Jamie David Langlands - The Cellar - 01:24:27 min - United Kingdom
- Dir. Jesse Cook III - LOOM - 14:59 min - United States
- Dir. Ben Robert Montgomery-Pierson - Ekelbrode - 14:47 min - United States
- Dir. Jesús Fernando San Miguel - Nahualli - 01:15:0 min - United States
- Dir. Craig M Baurley - Feast of the Serpent - 9:30 min - United States
- Dir. Michael Merino - TEXAS NIGHTMARE - 1:20:00 min - United States
- Dir. Ken Zheng, Livi Zheng - JC Bratton's Dollhouse (Buffy) - 19:04 min - United States
Best Cinematography (Overall)
- LIFT - 01:37:36 min - Indonesia
- PANDORA, INC. - 11:45 min - United States
- Vanlande - 21:17 min - Sweden
- Ekelbrode - 14:47 min - United States
- Rotting Hill - 15:00 min - Australia
- Piercing Screams - 01:21:37 min - United States
- Bastard Toadflax - 12:00 min - United States
- Dead End Rides - 7:18 min - Australia
Best Visual Effects (Overall)
- Memoria Obscura - 5:00 min - United States
- 3 BILLION - 01:34:00 min - Spain
- Eclipsed Hearts - USA
- The Cellar - 01:24:27 min - United Kingdom
- Broke Boy$ - 45:01 min - Germany
- Kulyas 2: Zikr-i Ayin - 01:32:00 min - Turkey, United States
- Shadows - 15:41 min - United States
- The Partner of Death - 01:25:57 min - Mexico
- Sacred Beast - 16:58 min - United Kingdom
- Waiting for Cloto - 8:30 min - Spain
- A Matter of Poultry - 12:51 min - United States
- LOOM - Dir. Jesse Cook III - 14:59 min - United States
- Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill - 01:37:44 min - Ireland
Best Screenplay (Overall)
- Piercing Screams - 01:21:37 min - United States
- Dead End Rides - 7:18 min - Australia
- JC Bratton's Dollhouse (Buffy) - 19:04 min - United States
- The Demoness - 01:33:00 min - United States
- Tormented - 9:21 min - United States
- LIFT - 01:37:36 min - Indonesia
- To Keep Her - Dir. Tommy Doughty - 01:30:00 min - Canada
- The Procedure - Dir. Raanan Fogel - 19:59 min - Israel
- Sardonic - Dir. Dylan Anglin - 12:00 min - United States
Best Script FEATURE
- Review - Wri. Jonathan Zarantonello - USA
- Maladaptive Daydreaming - Wri. Savannah Elizabeth Cook - USA
- Lacuna - Wri. Alexander Falcon - USA
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Monsters - Wri. Timothy O'Rawe - USA
- Morituriosis - Wri. Jesse Dorian - USA
- Joshua Tree - Wri. Leon McConnell - USA
- Spell of Vengeance - Wri. Dexter Williams - USA
- When JIM met TIM - Wri. Thorsten Schade - Germany
- Fearanoia - Wri. Benjamin T. Vargas - USA
- The Valley - Wri. Craig Comstock - Canada
- Zebras - Wri. Adam Holley - USA
- The Dark - Wri. Dave Shelton - USA
- Cedar Creek Falls - Wri. Chris Bennetts - Australia
- Bitter Taste - Wri. Cassidy Kidd - USA
- Return of the Shah - Wri. David Mulligan - USA
- The Grateful - Wri. Mark Andrew Charles Brown - United Kingdom
- The Citadel of the Five Mountains - Wri. Jerzy P. Suchocki - Mexico
- Lifeboat - Wri. Mason Mendoza, Bill Baber - USA
- Indalo Man - Wri. Rain Story - USA
- Female Rage - Wri. Aaliyah Rowell - USA
- THEY LOOK LIKE CLOWNS - Wri. Harold Hoss, Noah Lang - USA
- Loretta - Wri. Will Davis - United Kingdom
- Martha - Wri. Anthony Francis Cuomo - USA
- Sanguis Septem - Wri. Caprice Castano - USA
Best Script Short
- Time Iron - Wri. Caroline Spence - United Kingdom
- The Woman With a Guardian Angel - Wri. Tamarrice Parker - USA
- Devils Elbow - Wri. Sid Jax Raven - USA
- "The Mayor and the Unicorn" - Wri. Kelly Sisco - USA
- Slipping Up - Wri. David Creighton - Canada
- Tokophobia - Wri. Bethany Barich - USA
- Hunger - Wri. Christopher Brian Dorsey - USA
- The Mysterious Number 80 Crantham Street - Wri. Sharon Woodward - United Kingdom
- HexFaug - Wri. Darin Wood - USA
- He Watches - Wri. Felicia A Mead - USA
- The Kiss of the Jellyfish Girl - Wri. Jerzy P. Suchocki - Mexico
- Screw - Wri. Thomas Newman - USA
- PRIMUS - Wri. giovanni gervasi, Stefano Nicotra - Italy
- Rear View - Wri. Mark A. C. Brown - United Kingdom
- "Frankie Boy" - Wri. Fran Sisco - USA
- Dancing in Chains - Wri. yasaman jalili - Kurdistan, Iran
- Dead Air - Wr. Eric Gorodetsky - USA
- The Fallen Wings of the Angels - Dir. Mario Muñoz Martínez - Spain
- Popcorn - Wri. Jamila A Jackson - USA
- EMILIA MUST DIE - Wri. Francisco Leslie López del Castillo Wilderbeek - Spain
- The Prism - Wri. Philip Shanahan - Ireland
- "The Past Comes Back" - Wri. FRAN SISCO - USA
- The veil of silence - Wri. Michael Davies - United Kingdom
Note: The nomination process is still ongoing. Additional nominees will be announced and added to this page regularly as our jury continues its review. Please check back soon for updates.
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