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The 23rd Annual Tallgrass Film Festival Presented by the Emily Bonavia Charitable Trust Announces New Awards and 2025 Winners

The 23rd Annual Tallgrass Film Festival Presented by the Emily Bonavia Charitable Trust Announces New Awards and 2025 Winners

The 23rd Annual Tallgrass Film Festival, presented by the Emily Bonavia Charitable Trust, announced its 2025 award winners during a ceremony held Sunday, October 19, at Margarita’s Cantina.

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Wichita, KS (October 21, 2025) – The 23rd Annual Tallgrass Film Festival, presented by the Emily Bonavia Charitable Trust, announced its 2025 award winners during a ceremony held Sunday, October 19, at Margarita’s Cantina. The event was hosted by Interim Executive Director Sierra Franklin-Morton and Program Director Andre Seward.

The festival concluded with the closing night screening of Lesbian Space Princess at the Boulevard Theatre. Virtual screenings are now open and will run through October 28.

Programmer Awards

Presented by: Andre Seward, Alex Megaro (Documentary Shorts), and Brian Ratigan (Vortex Shorts)

Outstanding Courage in Filmmaking

  • Short: ملاذ (Sanctuary) – Dir. Mena Nasiri

  • Feature: حالة عشق (Halatu ‘Ishq) [A State of Passion] – Dir. Carol Mansour & Muna Khalidi

Outstanding Cinematography

  • Short: All The Real Boys – Dir. Ohad Ira Amram

  • Feature: Remaining Native – Dir. Paige Bethmann

Outstanding Editing

  • Short: Mystery Seeds – Dir. Nathan Truesdale

  • Feature: Meta Take One – Dir. John Dierre & Ryan Dutter

Outstanding Art Direction

  • Short: Are You a Friend of Dorothy – Dir. Andrés García

  • Feature: If You Should Leave Me – Dir. J. Markus Anderson & Boyd Anderson

Outstanding Sound Design

  • Short: Forest Echoes – Dir. Eva Grant

  • Feature: An Autumn Summer – Dir. Jared Isaac

Murmurations Awards

  • Honorable Mention: Imade – Dir. Ignacio Acconcia González

  • Best Short: Synthesize Me – Dir. Bear Damen

  • Best Feature: NINX – Dir. Kani Lapuerta

Documentary Awards

  • Honorable Mention (Short): Entre le Feu et le Clair de Lune – Dir. Dominic Yarabe

  • Best Documentary Short: Correct Me If I’m Wrong – Dir. Hao Zhou

  • Best Documentary Feature: A State of Passion – Dir. Carol Mansour & Muna Khalidi

Kansas Filmmaker Awards

  • Honorable Mention (Short): Kansas, 1989 – Dir. Clayton Dean Smith

  • Best Kansas Filmmaker Short: Derby – Dir. Aisha Amin

  • Best Kansas Filmmaker Feature: Flood – Dir. Katy Scoggin

Thane Chastain Emerging Young Filmmaker Award

  • Honorable Mentions: Patriot – Dir. Audrey Maxson (Story) and Just One More – Dir. Bingquing Liu (Artistic Achievement)

  • Winner: The Backseat – Dir. Benjamin Shore

Somewhere Fest Music Video Award

Sponsored by Somewhere Fest & Conference

  • Honorable Mention: Church Bell – Dir. Naftali Beane Rutter

  • Winner: FootRocket – “Appleseed” – Dir. Zach Strum

The Gordon Parks Awards for Black Excellence in Filmmaking

Sponsored by Cargill, with prizes of $4,000 for Short and $10,000 plus a distribution mentorship with Venera Films for Feature.

  • Honorable Mention (Short): BABA – Dir. Fitzgerald Junior

  • Winner (Short): ADO – Dir. Sam Henderson

  • Winner (Feature): Seeds – Dir. Brittany Shyne

Narrative Awards

  • Honorable Mention (Short): One Day This Kid – Dir. Alexander Farah

  • Best Narrative Short: Deux Personnes échangeant de la Salive (Two People Exchanging Saliva) – Dir. Natalie Musteata & Alexandre Singh

  • Honorable Mention (Feature): Lijepa večer, lijep dan (Beautiful Day, Beautiful Evening) – Dir. Ivona Juka

  • Best Narrative Feature: Our Hero, Balthazar – Dir. Oscar Boyson

Vortex Shorts & Animation Awards

Tallgrass expanded its Vortex Shorts category this year to include Animation as a standalone award.

  • Honorable Mention (Animation): I Beg Your Pardon – Dir. John W. Lustig

  • Best Vortex Animation: Tiger Lily Mountain Pass – Dir. Nate King

  • Best Vortex Experimental: A Poem – Dir. Vasilios Papaioannu

Stubbornly Independent Award

This honor recognizes a U.S. narrative feature made for $750,000 or less without traditional theatrical distribution at the time of screening. The winner receives a one-of-a-kind Tallgrass Tap Handle created by Van Chase Studios.

  • Winner: If You Should Leave Before Me – Dir. J. Markus Anderson & Boyd Anderson

Audience Award Winners

  • Audience Favorite Documentary Feature (TIE): Coroner to the Stars – Dir. Ben Hethcoat & Keita Ideno, and God As My Witness – Dir. Lindsay Quinn Pitre

  • Audience Favorite Narrative Feature: Lesbian Space Princess – Dir. Emma Hough Hobbs & Leela Varghese

  • Audience Favorite Kansas Feature (TIE): Flood – Dir. Katy Scoggin and Let’s Talk Shop – Dir. Sara & Charity Harmon

  • Audience Favorite Kansas Short: Matt’s Monsters – Dir. Blaise Webster

  • Audience Favorite Narrative Short: She Raised Me – Dir. Ben Lewis

  • Audience Favorite Documentary Short: Sanctuary – Dir. Mena Nasiri

Tallgrass extends heartfelt thanks to its sponsors for supporting the 23rd edition of the festival, including presenting sponsor Emily Bonavia Charitable Trust, and host venues Boulevard Theatres, Century II, and the Emily Bonavia Tallgrass Film Center.

About Tallgrass Film Festival

Stubbornly Independent since 2003, the Tallgrass Film Festival is the largest film festival in Kansas. A program of the 501(c)(3) Tallgrass Film Association, the festival showcases more than 200 films from around the world, hosts dozens of visiting filmmakers, and features galas, parties, workshops, and panels.

Beyond the annual festival, Tallgrass Film Association brings independent cinema to Wichita year-round through screenings at the Emily Bonavia Tallgrass Film Center in the Lux.

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