Award Winners 2026
The 38th edition of Minimalen Short Film Festival was rounded off today with the selection of this year's award winners. Throughout the week, the festival has served as a creative melting pot for both established names and tomorrow's stargazers. With contributions from all over the world in the program, the international juries have had a formidable task in selecting the best films of the year.
International competition
Beste film
Daria has written her first manuscript, about falling in love with a mysterious girl called ‘abi’ (blue). The night flowers in her garden hide the secrets of a country that has turned love stories into routine crime scenes.
Honorable mention
In a sterile laboratory, a woman anxiously awaits her test results with her young daughter by her side. Sensing the tension in the air, the girl watches her mother closely, trying to unravel the secret behind her unease.
Audience award
In a sterile laboratory, a woman anxiously awaits her test results with her young daughter by her side. Sensing the tension in the air, the girl watches her mother closely, trying to unravel the secret behind her unease.
Jury
SVEN SCHWARZ
The Managing Director of Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg since 2010, where he also curates special programmes. Board member of the international Short Film Conference and part of the Hamburg-based collective A Wall Is a Screen, which presents short films in public spaces worldwide.
ANNA LIAN
Screenwriter based in Trondheim, primarily working with feature-length and short fiction. She teaches idea and script development at NTNU and has written short films that have won numerous awards nationally and internationally. Her short film Baby Blues had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2025.
KORNÉL SZILÁGYI
Avant-garde filmmaker working primarily with analogue techniques, best known for his long-standing collaboration with Nándor Hevesi under the names Igor & Ivan Buharov - shown at major international exhibitions and biennials. Szilágyi also directs sound works and documentaries, and is a member of the Berlinale Shorts Selection Committee.
Nordic competition
Best Nordic film
When Kaali discovers that his dog has been stolen, he goes on an intensive search for the thief through the town of Tasiilaq, East Greenland.
administration@gargantuafilm.it
Best norwegian film
Molecular gastronomy, pretentious self-realization, and the weird choice of having children are all ingredients in this semi-apocalyptic double date from hell.
Best nordic documentary
The cam girl and artist, Lindsay Dye, has fought her whole life against stigma in a patriarchal society - all shot on 8 mm.
Best nordic animation
Girls have been cultivated like flowers for generations. We need more growing seasons to breed new ways into the system.
Best nordic art film
This cameraless video work features animated, digital northern lights and a luohti (a Northern Sámi yoik) by indigenous sami musician Ánnámáret on homeless, wandering spirits.
marjamikko@hotmail.com
Honorable mention
As the winter season begins in Crete, a family of locals, owners of a small struggling bed & breakfast, gets an unexpected visit from a Norwegian family of tourists looking for a tour into the piratic past of the area.
festivals@manifest.pictures
Jury
WIM VANACKER
Consultant, creative advisor, programmer, and curator with extensive experience in international film festivals and development projects. Member of the Selection Committee for the Official Short Film Competition at the Cannes FF, editorial consultant for First Cut Lab, and curator and editing consultant for the Works-in-Progress Showcase at the Red Sea IFF.
JESPER BERGOM-LARSSON
Head of Talent and Senior Documentary Adviser at Midtnorsk Filmsenter. Producer and film consultant for Nordic short fiction and documentary, and has held key roles at SVT, SFI, and regional film centres in Sweden and Norway. Bergom-Larsson frequently serves as a jury member and advisor at international festivals and industry events.
CARMEN GRAY
Freelance arts journalist, critic, and film programmer based in Berlin. She has written extensively on cinema and art for publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Sight & Sound, Criterion, and Art Review, and is a contributing critic for The Film Verdict. Programmer for international film festivals and currently serves on the selection committees of the Berlin IFF and the New Zealand IFF.
Best norwegian prerunner
Winner
A fearless four-year-old sets out to conquer the steepest hill in town with his homemade Gravity Racer.
martin@waltherbros.no
The raskin spirit festival award
Winner
In a sterile laboratory, a woman anxiously awaits her test results with her young daughter by her side. Sensing the tension in the air, the girl watches her mother closely, trying to unravel the secret behind her unease.
One-minute-films
No age-REstriction
Youth
Regional student competition
Best student film 2025
After the loss of their only daughter, the parents are left shattered by grief. When she suddenly reappears at their door — weak, starving, yet alive — they welcome her back, and life seems to return to normal. But that doesn’t last long.
Jury
Ask Jacobsen
Guro Kobberød
Thomas Rønning
Multiplié dansefilm
Best nordic film
When time stretches and choices torment, our freedom is revealed in all its beauty and chaos.
Honorable mention
Kielo finds it hard to sit still in class. She takes a break venturing into the corridors of her imagination.
Best International film
Ravel’s Bolero, renowned for its contagious rhythm and universality, is reimagined through Mehdi Kerkouche’s inclusive and visually driven style. The film captures scenes from a young life in Créteil through energetic and accessible dance.
Honorable mention
A short movement study on sapphic longing and obsession.
Jury
Henrik Skotte
Sindre Sten Vik