The 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival has unveiled its coveted Audience Award winners.
After IndieWire announced the festival’s Jury Awards, with Amy Wang’s “Slanted” taking the top Narrative Feature Award, the Audience Awards have been totaled. “The Accountant 2” starring Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal has won the Headliner section, with “Fantasy Life” getting the Narrative Feature Competition vote. (Amanda Peet also previously won the Special Jury Award for her performance in “Fantasy Life.”)
Jay Duplass’ “The Baltimorons” received the Audience Award for the Narrative Spotlight section. Documentaries “Remaining Native” and “Luv Ya, Bum!” were also recognized in the Documentary Feature Competition and Documentary Spotlight categories, respectively. Rodney Ascher’s “Ghost Boy” was also a winners in the Visions category.
Audience Award winners were certified by Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP.
“Our deepest thanks to the filmmakers, audiences, and volunteers who made this year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival exceptional,” Claudette Godfrey, VP Film & TV, said. “We assembled another stellar program that puts independently made narratives, documentaries, TV series, and XR experiences on the same stage as studio films and TV shows. The magic of shared viewing experiences and a sense of community continued to define our festival, and we’re excited for all of this year’s projects to reach even wider audiences beyond SXSW!”
The SXSW Film & TV Festival presented 114 Features including 93 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres, 3 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, 11 Texas Premieres + 57 Short Films and 19 Music Videos. The TV Program includes 17 TV projects, with 6 TV premieres, 4 TV Spotlight and 7 Independent TV Pilots. There are 31 projects in the XR Experience Program, including 15 in XR Experience Competition and 16 in XR Experience Spotlight.
Check out the full list of the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival Audience Award winners below.
Feature Film Program
HEADLINER
Presented by Epidemic Sound
Audience Award Winner: “The Accountant 2”
Director: Gavin O’Connor, Producers: Ben Affleck, Lynette Howell Taylor, Mark Williams, Screenwriter: Bill Dubuque
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Presented by Kickstarter
Audience Award Winner: “Fantasy Life”
Director/Screenwriter: Matthew Shear, Producers: Charlie Alderman, Chris Dodds, Phil Keefe, Amanda Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: “Remaining Native”
Director: Paige Bethmann, Producers: Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: “The Baltimorons”
Director: Jay Duplass, Producers: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Shuli Harel, David Bonnett Jr., Michael Strassner, Drew Langer, Screenwriters: Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: “Luv Ya, Bum!”
Directors: Sam Wainwright Douglas, David Hartstein, Producers: Paul Jensen, Vance Howard, Screenwriter: Andrew Miller
MIDNIGHTER
Audience Award Winner: “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie”
Director: Matt Johnson, Producers: Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson, Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol
VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: “Ghost Boy”
Director: Rodney Ascher, Producers: Elika Portnoy, Ryan Bartecki, Gary Levinsohn, Billy Hines
GLOBAL
Presented by MUBI
Audience Award Winner: “Corina”
Director: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Producers: Carlos Hernández, Iván López- Barba, Urzula Barba, Screenwriters: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Samuel Sosa
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Audience Award Winner: “Selena y Los Dinos”
Director: Isabel Castro, Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, David Blackman, Simran A. Singh
FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Audience Award Winner: “Deaf President Now!”
Directors: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Producers: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Amanda Rohlke, Jonathan King, Michael Harte
Short Film Program Presented by Vimeo
NARRATIVE SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: “Ben’s Sister”
Director/Screenwriter: Emma Weinswig, Producers: Will Noyce, Emma Weinswig, Shane Bagwell, Chelsea Eisen
DOCUMENTARY SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: “Armed only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”
Directors: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud, Producers: Juan Arredondo, Jon Alpert, Christof Putzel, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen, Jeff Newton, Mami Kuwano Renaud, Naomi Mizoguchi, Tami Alpert
ANIMATED SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: “Retirement Plan”
Director: John Kelly, Screenwriters: John Kelly, Tara Lawall, Producers: Julie Murnaghan, Andrew Freedman
MIDNIGHT SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: “Lurk”
Directors: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Screenwriter: Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Producers: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Devin Das, Greg Cohen, John Nodorft
TEXAS SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: “Sweetbriar”
Director/Screenwriter: Danny Rivera, Producer: MK Goss
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: A$AP Rocky – ‘Tailor Swif’
Directors/Screenwriters: Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia
TV Program
TV PREMIERE
Audience Award Winner: “Spy High”
Director: Jody McVeigh-Schultz, Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Aliza Rosen, Jody McVeigh-Schultz, David Wendell
TV SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: “Mix Tape”
Director: Lucy Gaffy, Producers: Aoife O’Sullivan, Tristan Orpen Lynch, Angie Fielder, Polly Staniford, Screenwriter: Jo Spain
INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: “Bulldozer”
Showrunner/Screenwriter: Joanna Leeds, Director: Andrew Leeds, Producers: Joanna Leeds, Andrew Leeds, Rhett Reese, Caleb Reese, Michael Day
XR Experience
XR EXPERIENCE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: “Face Jumping”
Directors: Danny Cannizzaro, Samantha Gorman, Producers: Yuxin Gao, J Noland, Screenwriter: Samantha Gorman
XR EXPERIENCE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: “Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul”
Directors: Scott Berman, Ryan Hartsell, Producer/Screenwriter: Scott Berman
