The 11th Coronado Island Film Festival has announced the winners of its 2026 Audience and Jury Awards, with I Play Rocky, the festival’s opening night film, winning the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, as selected by festival attendees.
Additional Audience Award winners include Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart (Best Documentary Feature), Minotaur (Best International Feature), Ray Gunn (Best Animated Feature) and Williston (Best Independent Feature).
Hustler, directed by Fedor Kravchuk, and Nikita Kravchuk, won the jury awards for Best Narrative Feature and Best International Feature; Habiba Nosheen’s The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony won Best Documentary, and Renée Zellweger’s THEY won the Bardin Animation Award.
This year, the festival honored Coco Francini (Industry Impact Award), Kenny Loggins (Legacy Award), Nia Long (Leonard Maltin Award), Amy Roth (Artistry in Film Award) and Victoria Thomas (Excellence in Casting Award) at the Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Awards Gala.
CIFF’s panel series included Nia Long and Victoria Thomas joining a Gold Derby Dream Team conversation on Michael, and actor Jonathan Lipnicki sat down with Variety ahead of the world premiere of his film Williston.
Complete list of winners of 2026 Coronado Island Film Festival
Jury Awards
Feature Film Awards
Best Narrative Feature—Hustler, dirs. Fedor Kravchuk, Nikita Kravchuk
Best International Feature—Hustler, dirs. Fedor Kravchuk, Nikita Kravchuk
Best Documentary Feature—The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony, dir. Habiba Nosheen
Short Film Awards
Best Narrative Short—A Crime Across Four Landscapes, dir. Aidan Weaver
Best Documentary Short—Panther Pat, dir. Ashley Brandon
Best International Short—Nightfaces, dirs. Martin Winter, Stefan Langthaler
Special Jury Awards
The Dale St. Denis Female Filmmaker Awards
Mary Pickford Award—Balloon Animals, dir. Anna Baumgarten
Fearless Female Filmmaker Award—Panther Pat, dir. Ashley Brandon
Frances Marion Award—Ben’s Sister, dir. Emma Weinswig
The Emerald Award
Jury Grand Prize—Plant Life, dirs. Brett Marty, Josh Izenberg
Jury Special Recognition—Fish for the Future, dir. Matthew Benton
The Bardin Animation Award
Jury Grand Prize—THEY, dir. Renée Zellweger
Jury Special Recognition—Saba, dir. Liron Topaz
Dr. George M. Sanger Student Awards
Jury Grand Prize for Student Film—Front Row, dir. Julian Rodriguez
Jury Prize, Advanced Student—The Expiration Date, dir. Joshua Ebrahimi
Jury Prize, High School Student—The Hard Way Home, dir. Hunter Nickless
Screenwriting Awards
TV Pilot Script Jury Grand Prize—Hindsight, writer Arthur Tiersky
TV Pilot Script Top Finalist—Sigrid Mortis, writer Kelly Blackard
Feature Screenplay Jury Grand Prize—Detective of the Arts, writer Joshua Frazar
Feature Screenplay Rewrite Scholarship—We Killed Craig, writer Laura Swanson
Audience Awards
Features
Best Narrative—I Play Rocky, dir. Peter Farrelly
Best Documentary—Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart, dir. Dori Berinstein
Best International—Minotaur, dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
Best Animated—Ray Gunn, dir. Brad Bird
Best Independent—Williston, dir. Adam Seidel
Best Independent Comedy—Line Cooks, dir. John Mossman
Best Culinary Film—Top of the World, dirs. Julie Cohen, Betsy West
Special Recognition for Focus on Valor—Jimmy, dir. Aaron Burns
Special Recognition in Animation—Tangles, dir. Leah Nelson
Special Recognition in Documentary—Poverty Trap, dir. Michael Matheson Miller
Special Recognition in Documentary—The Right Whale: Tales of Resilience and Hope, dirs. Nick Dean, Cheryl Holmen Dean
Shorts
Best Comedy—Everything Is Brand, dir. Brett Weiner
Best Live Action—Vultures, dir. Dian Weys
Best International—Bloom, dir. Julie Agnete Vang
Best Dramatic—Lucky, dirs. Ryan Malloy, Michael Langan
Best Documentary—Panther Pat, dir. Ashley Brandon
Best Animated—The Craftsman, dir. Devin Scott
Best Animated Musical—Addicted to It, dirs. Nigel Tierney, Federico Heller
Best Culinary—The Sideways Phenomenon, dir. Vanessa McMahon
Special Recognition for Focus on Valor—Bobby, dir. Isabella Webber
Special Recognition in Comedy—Balloon Animals, dir. Anna Baumgarten
Special Recognition in International—A Family Woman, dirs. Anna Arden, Linnea Arden
Special Recognition in Documentary—Body of Work, dirs. Cassidy Rast, Odin Wadleigh
Special Recognition in Documentary—Submitting Tigers, dir. Luke Kellerhouse
Special Recognition in Animation—King Karno, dir. Richard Thompson
Emerging Filmmakers
Best Advanced (Short Documentary)—We Bloom in Spring, dir. Kali
Best High School (Short Documentary)—Constellations of the Sea, dir. Addie Akina Knoll
Best Advanced (Short Live Action)—¡Que Suene La Banda!, dir. Jorge Parra Jr.
Best High School (Short Live Action)—The Hard Way Home, dir. Hunter Nickless
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