Nitehawk Shorts Festival 2025 Recap
by Cristina Cacioppo, Director of Programming
We’re all still riding high following this year’s festival. So many filmmakers were in attendance, some local, others traveling in and hanging out all week. The programming team, Desmond Thorne, John Woods and I, when we see not only the filmmakers but also the cast or film subjects, at first we have a moment of recognition where we’ll think “That’s my friend!” only to realize we hadn’t actually met yet, but only watched their films several times over the past month. Unless of course they are a returning filmmaker, several of which we had in this year’s program.
Filmmakers and friends at the afterparty
With just over 60 films in the mix over seven programs, we had several World Premieres as well as first time filmmakers, with 60% of the films directed by women or non-binary people.
As with the past few years, we commissioned a custom bumper from a festival alum, this time Marissa Losoya whose Beyond Failure had us cracking up last year. She created something with her inimitable sense of humor, which got big laughs at the start of each screening.
This year our main jury includes Joanna Arnow (The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed), David Ehrlich (IndieWire), and Nyala Moon (winner of last year’s Jury Prize), who selected Strangers by Leah Doz, a heartwrenching tale of a young daughter at odds with her mother. Artie Shepherd (Saint Vitus) selected our Music Driven winner, the inventive animation Mount Vernon and Fairway by Edel Ferri and Phill Skokos, and publicist Kate McEdwards and Matt Desiderio (Visual Vengeance, Horror Boobs) served as our Midnite program jury, landing on the also-Audience Winner Spicy Latina by Michelle Cepeda. Full list of prizes and winners included below.
Michelle Cepeda, winner of the Midnite Jury and Audience Prizes, with Desmond Thorne
As always, we’re grateful for the whole Nitehawk team for all of their efforts in bringing the festival to life – our bar team who come up with thematic cocktails for the parties, our server and runner staff who take care of the audience, our projectionists and content manager who juggle many formats; to our sponsors Periscope and Heard City for support as well as all of the prize sponsors AbelCine, Grado, Boris FX, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Future of Film is Female, Vimeo and Heard City.
Filmmakers at the Closing Nite Q&A
Prize Winners
Jury Prize
STRANGERS / Leah Doz
MUSIC DRIVEN Winner
Mt Vernon and Fairway / Phill Skokos, Edel Ferri
MIDNITE Winner
Spicy Latina / Michelle Cepeda
New Filmmaker Award
You’re Invited to Tuscan’s 5th Birthday Party! / Lee Eddy
Future of Films is Female Prize
STRANGERS / Leah Doz
Audience Award: Opening Nite
Meal Ticket / Wes Andre Goodrich
Audience Award: Music Driven
“Slow Rider” / LILLIMURE / Emily Massey
Audience Award: Midnite
Spicy Latina / Michelle Cepeda
Audience Award: Matinee One
Sudden Apathy / Ryan Weatrowski
Audience Award: Matinee Two
Daly City / Nick Hartanto
Audience Award: NoBudge
I’M REALLY SCARED I’M DYING TBH / Lindsay Callera
Audience Award: Closing Nite
Wait To Tell Mother / Emma Elizabeth Steiger
Nitehawk Shorts Fest 2025 program (PDF)
Thanks to our sponsors!
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Highlights of past festivals:
