‘Scenario’ ‘A Hunt For Hedgehogs’ ‘Duse, The Greatest’ Take Top Prizes at Lee Strasberg Film Festival

Kazunori Miura’s Scenario took the Best of Fest award along with Best Actress for Ayaka Onishi, at the 9th Lee Strasberg Film Festival in West Hollywood.

Best Narrative Feature Film award went to A Hunt For Hedgehogs directed by Mihály Schwechtje, and Duse, The Greatest directed by Sonia Bergamasco won the award for Best Documentary Feature Film.

Other top acting honors including Best Actor went to Vincent Van Sande for Stay, Best Supporting Actress went to Sabine Timoteo for Violet, and Dainius Svobonas won Best Supporting Actor for Arrested.

Hosted at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre, this year’s festival brought together filmmakers, actors, and Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute alumni from around the world for three days of screenings, Q&As, and industry discussions.

“The festival is a reminder of how central the actor’s process is to filmmaking,” said David Strasberg, Lee Strasberg Festival Director. “Each film we screened, whether a feature or a short, reflected a deep respect for the human experience and the craft of transformation that my dad championed.”

The 2025 festival kicked off with Italian documentary feature, Duse, The Greatest, followed by an in-depth discussion of Eleonora Duse, the renowned actress whose groundbreaking subtlety helped inspire Lee Strasberg’s Method. The program also included Scenario (Japan), a short film on AI’s influence on the future of humanity.

“The Lee Strasberg Film Festival continues to be a space where filmmakers and actors meet in shared purpose to explore, to take risks, and to tell stories that move people,” said Festival Director, Sasha Krane. “That spirit was alive in the films we watched this weekend.”

2025 Lee Strasberg Film Festival Award Winners

Best Actress
Ayaka Onishi, Scenario

Best Actor
Vincent Van Sande, Stay

Best Screenplay
Scenario, Kazunori Miura

Best Cinematography
The Steak, Farzad Shahab

Best Supporting Actress
Sabine Timoteo, Violet

Best Supporting Actor
Dainius Svobonas, Arrested

Best Director
Pablo Delgado, The Cascade

Best Alumni Director
Isabella Uzcátegui, Flashlight

Best Alumni Actress
Lisette Lastra, NMBR 1 FN

Best Alumni Actor
Braden Misiaszek, Disco

Best Editing
Scenario, Kenichi Hirai

Best Short Film
The Steak, Kiarash Dadgar

Best Alumni Short Film
NMBR 1 FN, Rudy Weimer

Best Narrative Feature Film
A Hunt For Hedgehogs, Mihály Schwechtje

Best Documentary Feature Film
Duse, The Greatest, Sonia Bergamasco

Best of Fest
Scenario, Kazunori Miura