29th Brooklyn Film Festival Awards – ‘1001 Frames’ Wins Grand Chameleon Award

1001 Frames, directed by Mehrnoush Alia, took home the top honor, the Grand Chameleon Award, along with Best Narrative Feature, at the 29th Brooklyn Film Festival, which wrapped after ten days of screenings, panels, industry events, and filmmaker gatherings across Brooklyn, New York City.

The award for Best Documentary Feature went to Celtic Utopia, directed by Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén.

In the short film categories, RODRIGO by Jacob Vaughan won Best Narrative Short, Sea Song by An-Phuong Ly won Best Documentary Short, Paradaïz by Matea Radic won Best Animation, and The House Left Empty by Juana Orbegozo Forero won Best Experimental.

“This year’s winners represent a continued push toward recognizing independent work in a tough time in our industry,” said Brandon Harrison, Executive Director of Brooklyn Film Festival. “As we close the 29th edition of Brooklyn Film Festival and look ahead to our 30th anniversary, it is especially meaningful to celebrate with artists and partners whose work reflects the spirit of the filmmaker forward festival we’re building here in Brooklyn.”

In addition to the jury-selected awards, the festival presented Spirit Awards, Audience Awards, Certificates of Outstanding Achievement, along with winners of the BFF Exchange pitch contest held at Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.

2026 Brooklyn Film Festival award winners

Grand Chameleon Award
1001 Frames
Directed by Mehrnoush Alia

Category Winners

Best Narrative Feature
1001 Frames
Directed by Mehrnoush Alia

Best Documentary Feature
Celtic Utopia
Directed by Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén

Best Narrative Short
RODRIGO
Directed by Jacob Vaughan

Best Documentary Short
Sea Song
Directed by An-Phuong Ly

Best Animation
Paradaïz
Directed by Matea Radic

Best Experimental
The House Left Empty
Directed by Juana Orbegozo Forero

Certificates of Outstanding Achievement

Best Brooklyn Project
JULY 4TH, EAST NEW YORK

Best Actor — Male
Kelson Succi
For Tony Odyssey

Best Actor — Female
Zoe Ziegler
For Howl

Original Score Award
Nuclear Boy
Rutger Reinders

Best Style
Glorious Summer

Best Editing Award
Tony Odyssey
Thales Banzai

Best Cinematography Award
If They Go Will They Miss Me
Michael Fernandez

Best Screenplay Award
The Mechanics of Borders
Sophie B. Sylvestre and Hubert Caron-Guay

Best Producer Award
Valentina
Noelle Forougi, Jack Pearkes, and Tattijani Ribeiro

Best New Director
Jules Benchetrit
For Raging Rascal

BFF Exchange Awards

BFF Exchange — Documentary
Neha Aziz

BFF Exchange — Narrative
Kiana Rawji

BFF Exchange — Student Winner
Myles Jackson

Spirit Awards

Narrative Feature
Crystal Cross

Documentary Feature
Freeing Juanita

Narrative Short
JULY 4TH, EAST NEW YORK

Documentary Short
Liminal

Animation
On The Mat Outside My Door

Experimental
Same Water

Audience Awards

Narrative Feature
Crystal Cross

Documentary Feature
Blood & Guts

Narrative Short
Scratch

Documentary Short
Tommy Speed

Animation
No Witches in the Valley

Experimental
Dance of Earth