of the Genesis International Film Festival (GIFF). We are proud to announce the results.
September 30, 2025.
CONTESTS
GIFF'25 Grand prix
The Funeral Rehearsal
Ronald Zuidinga
GIFF.SHORTS Best Short Film
Al fresco
Ignacio Rodó
GIFF.DEBUTS Best Debut film
The Funeral Rehearsal
Ronald Zuidinga
GIFF.RUSSIA Best Short Film
THIEF
Sofia Elistratova
GIFF.DOCU Best Documentary
SHADYTALES
Rustam Burkhonov
GIFF'25 People's Choice Award
The Funeral Rehearsal
Ronald Zuidinga
Press release
We're excited to unfold the winners and nominees of the 2025 Genesis International Film Festival (GIFF). This unique journey welcomed over 1689 entries from more than 70 countries. Showcasing a spectrum of international short films, documentaries, and debuts, the main winners of each competition will be honored with a statuette and offered promotional support at global stages. Other laureates will earn the Winner's Wreath and participation in our international screenings. Now, we proudly present the distinguished winners and nominees:
Submissions Map
GENESIS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025 WINNERS
SPECIAL AWARDS
Best Short Film – Grand Prix: The Funeral Rehearsal by Ronald Zuidinga
People’s Choice Award: The Funeral Rehearsal by Ronald Zuidinga
GIFF.SHORTS – SHORT FILMS CONTEST
Best Short Film: Al fresco by Ignacio Rodó
Best Short – Drama: The Voice of Dogs by Mohammad Reza Nazi
Best Short – Comedy: Al fresco by Ignacio Rodó
Best Short – Animation: Space Clodo by Nicolas Bechet, Vincent Guilbaud, Zélie Saindon
Best Short – Experimental: 神明啊!请看我跳舞 (Oh My God!) by 张小璐 (Lulu Zhang)
Best Short – Arthouse / Indie: 杀死黄羽衣 (Kill a woman) by 艺覃 (Yi Tan)
Best Short – Fantasy: 《龟壳》 (Tortoise Shell) by 张倍嘉 (Joanne)
Best Short – Sci-fi: Verflechtung by Philip Hofmänner, Simon Jonas Pflanzer
Best Director: 刘晓婧 (XiaoJing Liu) for 荒野游乐园 (The Wild Fairground)
Best Actress: Tahereh Joor Bonyan in Like a Wandering Cloud
Best Actor: Joseph Maroun in Soeur Marie-Ange
Best Cinematographer: Eric Oh for Al fresco
Best Editing: Yizhu Wang for “UN”CURRENT
Best Music (OST): Barbad Bayat for Brighter Days
Best Extra Short (Out of Competition): Weasel by Hisham Iyad Hajir
Best Short Screenplay (Filmed): Tendon by Jannik Ehret
Best Short Screenplay (Script): The Tin Can in the Cemetery by Anh My Nguyen
Best Music Video: HAPPY DAY by Boru Zheng
Digital Art (AR/VR/AI/Generative): Hyperborea by Mitchell Louis Flautt
GIFF.DEBUTS – SHORT FILMS CONTEST
Best Debut Film: The Funeral Rehearsal by Ronald Zuidinga
Best Debut – Drama: Claiming Faith by Lasse Malmberg
Best Debut – Comedy: Moving Out by Marlene Auer-Pleyl
Best Debut – Animation: Cell Buddies by Melle Windig, Hidde Alberts, Miguel Reyes, Jurgen de Smit, Arjen van der Plas
Best Debut – Experimental: She’s Asking For It by Natalia Zajączkowska
Best Debut – Arthouse / Indie: Overflow by Nahal Dashti
Best Debut – Fantasy: Mû by Malin Neumann
Best Debut – Sci-fi: Learning Machine by Rafaela Sakaguchi
Best Director: Penelope Mavropsaridi for Why Won’t You Dance?
Best Actress: Clara Basset in My Angel
Best Actor: Bart Klever in The Funeral Rehearsal
Best Cinematographer: Santiago Roman for Any Day
Best Editing: Panos Vlassas for AEROSTATA
Best Music (OST): Lucas Matias for Memories of a Song
Best Short Screenplay (Filmed): Milana Karaeva for Billy & Bobby
GIFF.RUSSIA – NATIONAL SHORT FILMS CONTEST
Best Short Film: THIEF by Sofia Elistratova
Nominee: The Game by Inga Sunagatullina
Nominee: Gennady at the Phone by Ilya Vladimirovich Ponomarev
Nominee: #chainletter by Georgii Verolainen
Nominee: Ambulance by Mikhail Nilov
GIFF.DOCU – DOCUMENTARY FILMS CONTEST
Best Documentary: SHADYTALES by Rustam Burkhonov
Honorable Mention – Visual Originality: Sewing Machine by Ülo Pikkov
Congratulations to all the winners and nominees! We would like to thank all the participants for their hard work and dedication. We hope to see you all again next year.
Sincerely, The GIFF Team
THIS SEASON'S JURY
Rod Sáez Chávez
Co-founder of a film studio Cintámani Films
Eve Zhao
Award winning actress, filmmaker
Alexey Derevyanko
🎬GIFF.Docu headliner. Editing director and post-production producer
Björn Boström
Award-winning screenwriter, playwright and script consultant
Iraj Habashi
Director & Writer
Vaccaro Abel ZarbeL
Film Maker, producer
Alexandra Novokreshchina
🎬 GIFF headliner. Executive producer
Andrei Litvinenko
Director, DOP, Producer, FIlm Institute Senior Teacher
Timur Ramazanov
🎬GIFF headliner. Director, entrepreneur
Lauren Ransan
Filmmaker
Konstantin Sotskov
Chief editor of a TV channel
Arina Vinogorodskaya
🎬GIFF.Debuts headliner. Film critic, filmmaker, photographer
Oksana Sinchugova
Director, screenwriter, lecturer
Alexander Laukhin
Producer, owner of a digital agency, head of an IT company
Victoria Skorokhodova
🎬GIFF headliner. Filmmaker, producer
Dmitry Romakhin
Director, producer
Egor Chichkanov
Director, screenwriter
Lex Rodnov
Director, producer, virtual and augmented reality artist