The SoCal Film Awards, originally called the SoCal Independent Film Festival, has been celebrating movies and creators since 2005.
It’s latest edition has a variety of independent movies and screenplays to celebrate from all around the world, with an animated short film from Singapore taking top honors and claiming Best in Show at the 16th edition of the SoCal Film Awards.
A complete list of winners, finalists and honorable mentions is below.
Diamond Winners
DIAMOND AWARDS
Best in Show: Fantasy of Companionship Between Human and Inanimate / Dir. Susan Lim, Samudra Kajal Saikia, Christina Teenz Tan
Best Feature Film: Dying to Sleep / Dir. Paris Dylan
Best Short: Stars of Gold / Dir. Michelle Wolett
Best Documentary Feature: From Food to Freedom / Dir. Nelson Campbell
Best Documentary Short: Free to Run / Dir. Carrie Highman, Tim Highman
Best Screenplay (Long-Form): The Merchant by Jesse Mattson, Bobby Davison
Best Screenplay (Short-Form): Neath Port Talbot by Jesse Mattson
Awards of Excellence
AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE
Best Feature: Tinaash / Dir. Boudy Sfeir
Best Short: Tristan’s Plight / Dir. Curtis K Case
Best Documentary Feature: Shiran Ebadi: Until We Are Free / Dir. Dawn Gifford Engle
Best Documentary Short: The Halls of Power / Dir. Janay Joseph, Graciel Quezada, Bianca Vucetich
Best Screenplay (Long-Form): Soul Survivors – An Obsession of the Heart Part One by Adam Poulos
Best Screenplay (Short-Form): Pietra Fredda by Matthew Nicholson
Awards of Achievement
AWARDS OF ACHIEVEMENT
Best Feature: Adalynn / Dir. Jake Byrd
Best Short: Vietnamese Coffee / Dir. Joseph Stanley Francis
Best Documentary Feature: I am, I Stay, I Smile / Dir. Montse Bertran Arqué
Best Documentary Short: Interim / Dir. Heath Yorke Bannard
Best Screenplay (Long-Form): Once Upon Another Life by Carol Capomaccio
Best Screenplay (Short-Form): Pripyat by Alicia Hayes
Additional Awards
ADDITIONAL AWARDS
Best Actor in a Lead Role: Timmy Walczak / One Man Picture Show or The Modern Tragedy of Creation
Best Actress in a Lead Role: Paige Laree Poucel / Routine
Best Ensemble Cast: Chateau Laurier Season 2 / Dir. James Stewart
Best International Film: Teleportation / Dir. Susan Mey Lee Lim
Best Animated Short: Fantasy of Companionship Between Human and Inanimate / Dir. Susan Lim, Samudra Kajal Saikia, Christina Teenz Tan
Best Music Video: The Cows Come Home / Dir. Haley Ahern
Best Micro Short: The Liberty Bell Museum / Dir. Carter Stoudt
Best Web Series: Sex Change / Dir. Timothy O’Shea
Best Youth Movie: No Time to Explain / Dir. Oscar Myles
Best First-Time Filmmaker: Misophonia / Dir. Angel Alvarez
Best Editing: Embers of Awakening: From Firestorms to Climate Healing / Dir. Phyllis Ann Rosenfield
Best Score: Down and Out in Vampire Hills / Dir. Craig Railsback
Best Sound Design: Chateau Laurier Season 2 / Dir. James Stewart
Best Cinematography: Voler – Love, Loss and Moving On / Dir. Mrunal Mestri
Best Experimental Movie: Somnia Corvus / Dir. Stevie Alexandria Maxwell, Paul Van Beaumont
Best Trailer: Staycation / Dir. Russell Emanuel
Best YouTube Creation: Queen Elizabeth / Dir. Shihyun Wang
Screenplay Finalists
Screenplay (Long-Form) Finalists:
Christmas Latte by Miriam E. Bavly
Da Fast Lane by Raymond Williams Williams, David Vernon
Horace Bell by Steven Wayne Knight, Elizabeth Baldwin Knight
Love in Italy by Sena Tunali
Single at Christmas by Joseph Anthony Francis
Screenplay (Short-Form) Finalists:
Biters and Bleeders by Charlie Carson Monroe
GeoAnthem by John Martins III
It’s All Good… Not by Lawrence Whitener
Kim-Ly and the Bottled Up Emotions by Anh Le
The Light of Hassia by Dr Angelina Yue
Honorable Mentions
Feature Honorable Mention:
One Man Picture Show or The Modern Tragedy of Creation / Dir. Timmy Walczak
Todd / Dir. Aaron Warren
Short Honorable Mention:
7 Years / Dir. Andrew Sindt
Ashes / Dir. Cagan Kayi
Disconnected / Dir. Dave Shecter, Earl Gray
Fig Jam / Dir. Frank J. Avella
Forgetting Chloe / Dir. Maiqi Zuo
Grave Talk / Dir. Andrew Huggins
Made in China / Dir. Stacy Singh
Panah / Dir. Fatemeh Ghadirinezhadian
The One Hundred / Dir. Shihyun Wang
tRuth / Dir. Sylvie Zaidman, Nic Shake
Documentary Feature Honorable Mention:
A Wolf in the Asylum / James Lilly
Science for Hire / Dir. Gary Null
Documentary Short Honorable Mention:
Living the Hospitality Lifestyle / Dir. Fabio Ciccarelli
When the Dust Clears / Leo Kang, Sam Lam
Screenplay Honorable Mention:
Bug Soup by Richard Scott Pool
Forever After by Emil Faithe
Night Terrors by Kenneth Hicks, Anne Rothman-Hicks
No Address by Julia Verdin, James Papa
Runaway Ship by Theodore Carl Soderberg
Six Impossible Things by Amanda Nitsa Oz
Soul Work by Dan Roentsch
The Tale of Jean Pierrer by Dijon Marquise McIntyre
The Trap by Nate Scott Plotkin, Nick Ford
The War on Christmas by Karl Larsson