Empire State Film Festival Award Nominations 2026
Outstanding Feature
The Freaks Go Marching
Green Flag
It’s Always Almost Over
The Sight Unseen
Outstanding Director, Feature
Shawn Antoine II, The Sight Unseen
Mandy Hebblethwaite, Green Flag
Jay Leonard, It’s Always Almost Over
Outstanding Sceenwiter, Feature
Shawn Antoine II, The Sight Unseen
Mandy Hebblethwaite, Green Flag
Jay Leonard, It’s Always Almost Over
Outstanding Short
Aqueduct
Cosmos
Deadman’s Float
Papa Vanya
The Pickup
Sky
Outstanding Experimental Film
Machina
Monochromatic
Rustbelt Butterfly
We Like Red
Outstanding Horror/Thriller Short
Burn
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Manic
Survival Story
The Watch
We Like Red
Outstanding Micro Short
Along the Way
Oh Shit, Did We Just Kill a Guy?
PiE
Surveillance
Thumbprint Cookies
What You Don’t Remember
Outstanding Director, Short or Micro-Short
Travis Burges, Aqueduct
Chris D’Addario, We Like Red
Katy Frame, Thumbprint Cookies
Andrew Lucido, Sky
Andrew Reardon, Deadman’s Float
David M. Tan, Along the Way
Karen Wang, The Pickup
Outstanding Screenwriter, Short or Micro Short
Travis Burgess & Braeson Herold, Aqueduct
Masa Gibson, DaViD-19
Chris Harcum, The Save
Karen Wang, The Pickup
Navida Stein, Thumbpint Cookies
Don Scime, Papa Vanya
Outstanding Student Film
Coming Home
Heads or Tails
Machina
Me, Steve & the Monster Under My Bed
Monochromatic
Noise Within
Outstanding Ithaca Student Film
Evermore
Heartbreaker
Joyce Jarvish Is Actually Cool
Not My Story
Outstanding Animated Film
Dear Satan
A Grieving Heart
The Hare
Lady Luck