What's a film festival without awards? Here are this years awards chosen by our panel of judges:

 

Best Animation

Best Student

Best Fiction

Best Documentary

Best Horror

Best LGBT

Best North West Film

Best Short Feature Film

The Michael Flynn Award

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The Murmuration Award: this is our audience prize! We will be asking our online audience to vote for their favourite film. The one with the most votes wins!​ Online voting for this award will go live on November 9th 2026 and stay open for the duration of the festival.

 

The Aviary Audience Award will be awarded to one of the 15 films selected to be screened at our in person event in November. The winner for this award will be selected by those who attend on the night and presented at our in person screening.

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The Michael Flynn Award will be awarded to a film for its outstanding achievements in the field of cinematography.

 

​And finally, the very exciting The Golden Feather Award for excellence in film, sponsored by Mad As Birds Films. The winner will receive a trophy, a small cash prize, and a free mentor session with Mad As Birds Films!​ 

 

*In the event that a participating filmmaker wins one of our awards, SFF will send the award to the filmmaker at an address provided by the winning filmmaker. Postage and shipping will need to be covered by the filmmaker if they wish to receive their award, and rates will vary depending on travel distance.

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