By Editorial Staff
Following the overwhelming success of our events in California—with over 40,000 participating artists and submissions from 32 countries—we’re proud to say it loud and clear: THE WILD FILMMAKER COMMUNITY is now the largest global platform for independent artists. Even Oscar-winning directors and screenwriters, along with the international press, have taken notice!
In just five years, we’ve achieved a remarkable milestone—and we’re celebrating it with what’s shaping up to be the biggest arthouse cinema event in Manhattan, New York City. The event is called NATURAL BORN ARTIST, and it’s our way of saying Happy Birthday to WILD FILMMAKER—since this extraordinary journey began exactly five years ago, in August.
To all the artists who believed in us, we owe you a heartfelt THANK YOU. Without you, WILD FILMMAKER wouldn’t include Academy members, wouldn’t be the most visible independent brand at major international festivals, featured in publications like The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, and we never would have had the honor of hosting film critics from The New York Times and IndieWire.
We’ve won—and we’re just getting started. Our mission remains unchanged: The poetry of free cinema will save the world.
Coming up next: the artists who joined our “MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!” project.
Other Side Of The Lens
By Sofia Mavrou & Carl Staples
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT SCRIPT 2025 & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE SCREENWRITER
Lambada The Dance Of Fate
By Kai Fischer
BEST WRITING STYLE, BEST INTERNATIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL SCRIPT & BEST INDIE WRITER
Asherah’s Colors
By Gary Mazeffa
BEST INDIE NARRATIVE SHORT FILM, BEST PRODUCTION COMPANY, BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER & BEST ACTING
Sheldon Mashugana gets Stooged
By Dean Morgan
BEST AMERICAN COMEDY & BEST ORIGINAL ACTOR
Thankful
By Earnest Diaz
BEST HUMAN RIGHTS FEATURE SCRIPT 2025 & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE SCREENWRITER
The Days of Knight: Chapter 1
By John Martinez
BEST DIRECTOR, BEST ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE SHORT 2025, BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT, BEST LOCATION & BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Forevermore
By Danilo Del Tufo
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM, BEST ORIGINAL EDITING & BEST EUROPEAN INDIE FILMMAKER
Sequoia Spirits
By Cherie Carson
BEST INTERNATIONAL DANCE MOVIE 2025 & BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER
Eye of the Storm
By Brooke Wolff
BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 2025, BEST BIOGRAPHICAL PROJECT, BEST PRODUCER, & BEST EDITING
Credo
By Don Pasquale Ferone
BEST EUROPEAN MUSIC VIDEO, BEST SPIRITUAL SONG & BEST INTERNATIONAL SINGER
Fear not, my child
By Michaela Kuti
BEST SONG 2025 & BEST SOUND DESIGN
Something ain’t right
By Susan Downs
BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE DOCUMENTARY 2025, BEST STORYTELLING & BEST ORIGINAL MOVIEMAKER
Mecca
By Monte Albers de Leon
BEST LGBTQ+ & BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITER 2025
Monument to Love
By Jacob Comforty
BEST DIRECTOR, BEST PRODUCER & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING (Category: Documentary Feature)
Doctor Hyphoteses
By Vicentini Gomez
BEST ACTOR 2025 & BEST INDIE COMEDY 2025
Boxed In
By Steve Hunyi
BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT & BEST INDIE DIRECTOR
Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana
By Ken Kimmelman
BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKER 2025 & BEST VIDEO POETRY
Fire Flies
By Larry Gene Fortin
BEST FANTASY SCRIPT 2025 & BEST ACTION SCRIPT
Effata
By Anaya Music Kunst
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO 2025 & BEST INTERNATIONAL VOICE
Noise
By R. Scott MacLeay
BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR 2025 & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING
The Rorschach Test
By Lena Mattsson
BEST EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2025 & BEST INSPIRATIONAL FILM
Not Without Gloves
By Lena Mattsson
BEST ARTHOUSE CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST INTERNATIONAL ART FILM 2025
Katabasis
By Samantha Casella
BEST INDIE FILM, BEST CASTING DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: Narrative Feature) & BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS
The Arcangel Of Death
By Vincenzo Amoruso
BEST INTERNATIONAL YOUNG ACTOR 2025, BEST EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL ACTING
Routine
By Russell Emanuel
BEST AMERICAN FILMMAKER 2025, BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM, BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT & BEST EDITING
The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands
By Russell Emanuel
BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER, BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE SHORT FILM, BEST CAST, BEST ORIGINAL IDEA & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
In a Whole New Way
By Jonathan Fisher
BEST EDUCATIONAL FILM 2025 & 2025 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION PRIZE
Wacko
By Matthew Roch
BEST AMERICAN NARRATIVE FEATURE 2025, BEST INDIE PRODUCER, BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE MOVIEMAKER
Chateau De Tarot
By Reid Barwick
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENWRITER & BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT OF THE YEAR
“Only You Can Save Her,” pilot teleplay of series THE BOY WHO EARNED HIS MAGIC
By Lynn Elliott
BEST INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION SCRIPT & BEST AMERICAN WRITER 2025
Alta California
By Lynn Elliott
BEST HUMAN RIGHTS FEATURE SCRIPT OF THE YEAR
The Dead Ringer
By Suzanne Lutas
BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY
The Duchess
By C. Arnold Curry
BEST INDIE DRAMA 2025, BEST WRITING STYLE & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA
Omnipotent Resolution
By Uniqueness Heiress & Azia
BEST INTERNATIONAL DANCE FILM, BEST ARTHOUSE MUSIC VIDEO, BEST ORIGINAL EDITING & BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category: Musical)
Precious the Baby Dragon
By Dawn Menge
BEST INTERNATIONAL ORIGINAL WRITER & BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Priory of Sion and the treasure of abbey Sauniere of Rennes the Castle France
By Florence Cazebon-Taveau
BEST EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER & BEST HISTORICAL SCREENPLAY
I Just Want To Be With You
By Jeremy and Christine Stork
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE MUSIC VIDEO & BEST ORIGINAL SONG 2025
Queen: checkmate for the king
By Luca De Giorgi
BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE, BEST DIRECTOR & BEST EDITING (Category: Documentary Feature)
The Stones of Rome
By Sean Gregory Tansey
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTOR & BEST HISTORICAL SHORT FILM
The Pathos of Hamlet
By Sean Gregory Tansey
BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILM & BEST ARTHOUSE ACTING
See me
By Anton Svantesson-Helkiö
BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENWRITER, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY. BEST EDITING & BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT (Category: Narrative Short)
A Long Journey
By Mira Kim
BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category: Experimental Film) & BEST ORIGINAL EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Heat and Love
By Michał Kucharski
BEST FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR (Category: Music Video), BEST ORIGINAL EDITING & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE MUSIC VIDEO
Bert the Singing Cat
By Darla Zuhdi
BEST HUMAN RIGHTS MUSIC VIDEO & BEST AMERICAN SINGER 2025
Virulence
By Christopher Pennington
BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT, BEST ORIGINAL WRITING STYLE & BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER
Get out Breathing
By Nathan Benham
BEST INTERNATIONAL DRAMA & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE DIRECTOR 2025
Colombano e la 21esima Fetta
By Paolo Pier Luigi Guglielmetti
BEST ORIGINAL FILM 2025, BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY & BEST EUROPEAN ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR
Black Wolf
By Jamie Sutliff
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR, BEST INDIE MOVIEMAKER & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY SHORT
The Edge “Into The Past”
By Gary St. Martin
BEST INTERNATIONAL PILOT TV 2025 & BEST SCREENWRITER (Category: Pilot TV)
The Duchess
By Arnold Curry
BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENWRITER & BEST INDIE PRODUCER (Category: Drama)
Urban Eats MTL
By Ioannis Koutroubis
BEST INTERNATIONAL WEB/TV SERIES, BEST ORIGINAL IDEA & BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER (Category: Web/Tv Series)
I Waited for You
By Jennifer Glee
BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING (Category: Experimental Film)
The G-Files
By John Johnson
BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, BEST CAMERA OPERATOR (Category: Documentary Feature) & BEST ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 2025
Louie (KR.ONE) Gasparro 5POINTZ
By Eirini Alligiannis
BEST ARTHOUSE MOVIEMAKER & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA
Nossos Caminhos
By Carla Di Bonito
BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY, BEST DRAMA SCRIPT & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE SCREENWRITER
The Ghost and the Gold Louis
By Jamie Sutliff
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE TV SERIES OF THE YEAR
Life Is Beautiful
By Dhanashree Ganatra
BEST INTERNATIONAL SONG 2025 & BEST SOUND DESIGN
The Mountain
By Ruth Finnegan
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT SCRIPT & BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITER
I Know What You Do When I Go to School
Written and illustrated by Siona Talekar
Published by Story Monsters Press
BEST ORIGINAL BOOK OF THE YEAR
Croix – The Prequel: Kiss The Ring
By Charli Brown
BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST AMERICAN DIRECTOR, BEST CASTING DIRECTOR & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY SHORT
Lucky in Long Island
By Michelle Lynn
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT
An Ever After Drama
By Michelle Lynn
BEST ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Silver Lights
By Michelle Lynn
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE WRITER & BEST INTERNATIONAL BOOK/MANUSCRIPT 2025
Medea
By Andronica Marquis
BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENWRITER & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA (Category: International Narrative Short)
Ghost Town, N.M.
By Lynn Elliott
BEST ORIGINAL INDIE SCREENWRITER WRITER (Category: FEATURE SCRIPT)
Alta California
By Lynn Elliott
BEST HUMAN RIGHTS SCRIPT & AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT 2025
Borderline Justice
By Lynn Elliott
BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIP 2025
“Only You Can Save Her,” pilot teleplay of series THE BOY WHO EARNED HIS MAGIC
By Lynn Elliott
BEST INTERNATIONAL PILOT TV
Doctor Hyphoteses
By Vicentini Gomez
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST ACTOR 2025
A Child’s Voice
By Karen Matthews
BEST SCREENWRITER (Category: International Television Script)
Dancing with Spies @Goddess
By Francis Billingsley
BEST INDIE BOOK/MANUSCRIPT 2025
The Golden Years
By Joe Starzyk
BEST INDIE SHORT FILM 2025, BEST FILMMAKER & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER (Category: Narrative Short Film)
Walking With God
By Lois Banks
BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST MOVIEMAKER & BEST SCREENPLAY
Flashes of Light (Bagliori)
By Mattia Paone
BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST INDIE PRODUCER & BEST EUROPEAN INDIE FILMMAKER
The Devil Wind
By Jamie Sutliff
BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR & BEST INDIE DIRECTOR (Category: Narrative Feature)
Water
By Gary Beeber
BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CAMERA OPERATOR, BEST EDITING & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA (Category: Documentary Feature)
Passacaglia
By Ryosuke Handa
BES ORIGINAL ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION COMPANY & BEST INTERNATIONAL MOVIEMAKER
Hollywood Elite Podcast Episode 2 Sir Earl Toon Jr Apr 2025
By Tommy Anderson & Sherry Severs
BEST INTERNATIONAL WEB/TV SERIES & BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Web/Tv Series)
The Invitation
By Thorsten Schade
BEST INTERNATIONAL HORROR OF THE YEAR, BEST DIRECTOR & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: Horror)
Dinner With Dance
By Katherine Schimmel
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT SCRIPT OF THE YEAR, BEST WRITING STYLE & BEST ORIGINAL WRITER
Searching for Camelot
By Roger Paradiso
BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR 2025 & BEST AMERICAN SCREENPLAY
Cassandra Venice
By Hugo Teugels
BEST EUROPEAN FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR & BEST ARTHOUSE CINEMATOGRAPHY
Medea
By Andronica Marquis
BEST INDIE DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENWRITER, BEST CAST & BEST MAKE-UP ARTIST (Category: Narrative Short)
Fractures In Time
By Lesley Ann Albiston
BEST ORIGINAL WRITING STYLE, BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT
Emergency Musical Response: Part 1 – Journey to Netherworld
By Alexander Senicki
BEST INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL 2025
The Girl Made of Earth and Water
By Pamela PerryGoulardt
BEST DIRECTOR, BEST ORIGINAL IDEA, BEST EDITING (Category: International Super Short Film) & BEST SUPER SHORT 2025
Downriver
By Andea Boll
BEST DANCE FILM 2025 & BEST FILMMAKER (Category: International Dance Film)
I Swear
By Richard VanOverbroeck
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO & BEST FILMMAKER (Category: Music Video)
The New Immigrants- Hong Kongers
By Vivian Tsang
BEST INTERNATIONAL ORIGINAL DIRECTOR & BEST STUDENT FILM
A Lady’s Love
By Sonia Machado Hines
BEST INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: Narrative Feature Film)
Brothers of Babylon
By Gabriel Womack
BEST AMERICAN SCREENWRITER & BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT
Unmaskyourlife
By Bruno Marro
BEST EUROPEAN SONG OF THE YEAR & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SINGER
