Winners Announced for Golden Gate, Audience Awards of the 69th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM)
(Kirby Walker Documentary Award)
photo courtesy of Carolina González Valencia
Today, SFFILM announced the winners of the Golden Gate and Audience Awards for the 69th San Francisco International Film Festival, the longest-running film festival in the Americas, where Filipiñana (New Directors Award), How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps (Kirby Walker Documentary Award), Salvation (Global Visions Award), Hot Water (Audience Award Narrative), and Figaro Up, Figaro Down (Audience Award Documentary) were among the winners.
Presented at the Festival since its inaugural year in 1957, the Golden Gate Awards (GGAs) are among the most significant honors for emerging global film artists in the United States. Prizes are traditionally awarded in narrative, documentary, and short film categories, and include balloted Audience Awards as well as categories for Family Films and Youth Works. The 2026 Festival ran April 24 through May 4 in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley.
During the 11-day event, SFFILM welcomed over 40,000 attendees, filmmakers, and students from around the Bay and the world for a celebration of global cinema that included early screenings and premieres, a special retrospective from the Festival vault, targeted programs for working filmmakers, and for K–12 students SFFILM hosted the 35th annual Schools at the Festival program.
Anne Lai, SFFILM’s Executive Director, said, “We couldn’t have asked for a more incredible Festival this year. There was such a strong spirit of discovery throughout—from audiences diving into thoughtfully curated films, to filmmakers bringing honesty and insight to every Q&A. Our supporters and volunteers made each event feel special, and our partners welcomed everyone with true warmth and generosity. We’re so grateful to everyone who showed up and made it what it was. Human connection is what made this year so memorable—it is one for the books! We can’t wait to celebrate our 70th Anniversary together next year.”
SFFILM’s Director of Programming, Jessie Fairbanks, convened juries for narrative, documentary, mid-length, and short films, as well as a special Cine Latino Spotlight panel. Juries for Family Films and Youth Works (films by directors 18 years and younger) were overseen by SFFILM’s Education team, led by Keith Zwolfer.
“There’s a particular poetic resonance in honoring these specific films with SFFILM’s jury prizes and audience awards a reminder that cinema continues to be a vital artform in these tumultuous times,” said Jessie Fairbanks, Director of Programming. “I’m delighted with each of the jury selections and moved that our audiences selected two films which received grants and support from our organization. What a wonderful way to celebrate the variety of films and stories presented at this year’s festival.”
The Golden Gate Award and Audience Award winners along with Honorable Mentions for SFFILM’s 69th San Francisco International Film Festival are:
New Directors Award
Filipiñana—WINNER
Rafael Manuel (Singapore, UK, Philippines, France, Netherlands 2025)
The jury awards Rafael Manuel’s debut feature, Filipiñana, a striking and surreal exploration of class and adolescence set against the backdrop of one endless, blistering summer day on the expansive golf course of a luxurious Manila country club. Grounded in an impressively self-assured performance by Jorrybell Agoto as a new employee – teeing up balls for the club’s wealthy members – the film offers an epic look at the individuals who exist within the club’s deeply-ingrained hierarchy. Its dazzlingly choreographed scenes of workers cleaning, caddying, and serving offer clever commentary on the monotony of daily labor and the literal rhythms of the club’s social machinery, and build a continuous sense of unease and strangeness. A bold, ethereal explosion of the coming-of-age and eat-the-rich narratives that have become well-worn in modern cinema, the film’s sumptuous, retrofuturist aesthetic is a visual delight that underlines its timelessness and Manuel’s clear-eyed perspective. Devastatingly funny and utterly mesmerizing, Filipiñana showcases a promising new voice in international cinema.
If I Go Will They Miss Me—HONORABLE MENTION
Walter Thompson-Hernández (USA 2026)
The jury also recognizes If I Go Will They Miss Me as a New Directors Honorable Mention. This is an intimate, beautifully composed story of a family in South Los Angeles in the tradition of pioneering filmmaker Charles Burnett. Big Ant’s (J. Alphonse Nicholson) return from prison takes on a mythic quality to his 12-year-oldson, Lil Ant (Bodhi Dell), who struggles between the desire for paternal approval and the acceptance of his father’s flaws. Danielle Brooks offers a sensitive, engaged performance as Lozita, the mother and matriarch reckoning with the future of a family she desperately wants to protect.
Kirby Walker Documentary Award
How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps—WINNER
Carolina González Valencia (USA, Colombia, Mexico 2026)
We congratulate and celebrate the documentary filmmakers of the San Francisco International Film Festival for their vital, expansive works—films that deepen our understanding of the world, stretch the boundaries of storytelling, and bring essential truths into the light. Through a fanciful and deeply personal approach, this film transforms the reckoning of immigrant life—working far from family and home—into something profoundly relatable, accessible, and unexpectedly uplifting. It offers a vibrant, insightful invitation for the viewer to engage in our shared humanity. A remarkable debut feature from director Carolina González Valencia, the film draws from the lived experience of a domestic worker, caretaker, and a mother, channeling her perspective into inventive, visually dynamic storytelling. It empowers its participants, fostering a process that feels both collaborative and cathartic, while playfully and boldly testing the boundaries between fiction and reality.
Yo (Love Is A Rebellious Bird)—HONORABLE MENTION
Anna Fitch, Banker White (USA 2026)
This film is a sheer delight to experience, filled with inventive, refreshingly exciting visual and emotional surprises at every turn—a deeply heartfelt exploration of friendship taking a wonderfully artistic approach. Using puppetry, constructed miniatures, and a treasure trove of Yo’s family photos along with other archival footage, we are instantly taken on a journey that invites us into a hand-crafted memory palace that brings both Yo’s stories as well as her deeply moving, lifelong friendship with director Anna Fitch into focus. Without this richly constructed, cinematic portrait, Yo’s life might have vanished into the mists of Pacific Grove, so this film is charged with a sense of urgency – as well as delight. It’s message: let your inner-maverick chart your course with curiosity and courage, keep those you love close by, live your life with few regrets, and wander through the world with discovery and wonder as your compass.
Global Visions Award
Salvation—WINNER
Emin Alper (Turkey, France, Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Saudi Arabia 2026)
We were moved and unsettled by writer/director Emin Alper’s impeccably-crafted, haunting portrait of the process by which the collective fears of a remote village turn irrevocably toward aggression. The powerful but restrained performances of the film’s cast as well as Ozcan Vardar’s terrifically effective edit further power Salvation‘s chilling momentum as it drives toward inevitable tragedy. It’s a politically potent allegory, incorporating Anatolia’s history and distinctive, isolating landscape to immerse us in a story that resonates with so many current global tensions and anxieties. We truly believe that Emin’s work provokes engaged dialogue about our world today.
Memory of Princess Mumbi—HONORABLE MENTION
Directed by Damien Hauser (Kenya 2025)
We also recognize, with a Special Citation for Ingenuity, the work of the filmmaker Damien Hauser. His lo-fi film Memory of Princess Mumbi, a joyous, wildly inventive and scrappy futuristic romance, celebrates the power of friendship and storytelling. It’s a micro-budget work that uses widely available tools—AI imagery, green-screen techniques and imaginative editing—to transport us into brave new worlds. The jury admired the film’s anarchic spirit and formal ingenuity, which reminded us of early Godard films, and hope it might provide a spark for the continent’s filmmakers, long known for largely naturalistic films, to discover and embrace increasingly expansive ways of sharing their stories
Short Film Award—Narrative
Callback—WINNER
Matthew Puccini (USA 2026)
The jury awards Best Narrative Short to Callback for being exactly what a short film should be: subtle, smart, and surprising. The film builds with confidence, earns its twist, and sticks the landing in a way that feels both inevitable and wholly unexpected. Well-executed and genuinely funny—the kind of short that leaves you wanting to watch it again.
Short Film Award—Documentary
In the Morning Sun—WINNER
Serville Poblete (Canada, Philippines 2025)
The jury awards Best Documentary Short to In the Morning Sun for its warm, observant portrait of a multi-generational family and the quiet passage of time. The film covers a lot of ground while feeling effortless – personal without being indulgent, cinematic without losing its intimacy. Its vision is sharp and clever, its humor unexpected, and its handling of themes of mortality and home genuinely moving. A refreshing, artfully restrained piece of filmmaking.
Short Film Award—Animation
Paper Trail—WINNER
Don Hertzfeldt (USA 2026)
Paper Trail stands out as one of those rare short films that comes around only every so often, and one that will likely go on to be referenced as a tentpole of animated storytelling. Hertzfeldt applies his signature design sensibility with new purpose, drawing viewers in with the curiosity and joy of a child before taking them on an unexpected journey told in an utterly original way. What is perhaps most masterful is the film’s ability to make its audience connect deeply with a character who never once appears on-screen. Despite a strong portfolio of whimsical, child-like work, Paper Trail may well be Hertzfeldt’s masterstroke.
Short Film Award—Bay Area
The Baddest Speechwriter of All—WINNER
Ben Proudfoot, Stephen Curry (USA 2026)
The jury awards the Bay Area Short Film Award to Ben Proudfoot and Steph Curry for The Baddest Speechwriter of All. Though rooted in the past, the film pulses with an urgency that feels entirely present. The film’s musicality is somehow captured in the very timing and structure of the work itself. Proudfoot and Curry seamlessly combine animation, archival material, and interview into an electric whole, brought into poignant focus through an intimate portrait of Clarence B. Jones and a lasting legacy that marches on through the very spirit of the Bay Area today.
Mid-Length Film Award
Scenes from the Divide—WINNER
Alison Klayman (USA 2026)
Director Alison Klayman brought us into personal and private conversations during a tense time of conflicting viewpoints within the Jewish community leading up to Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 high stakes NYC mayoral election. Contemporary, timeless, and deeply intimate in its candor, Scenes From The Divide honored all viewpoints about Mamdani’s potential impact on the Jewish community by anchoring the title in a thoughtful, compassionate lead seeking understanding from voters. Going beyond a sharp beginning, middle, and end, the film succeeds in inspiring conversations that will continue long after the credits.
Cine Latino Spotlight
It Would Be Night In Caracas
Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugás (Mexico 2025)
It Would Be Night In Caracas is an exquisitely crafted thriller that captivates from the first frame to the last. Co-directors Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás make deft use of the genre to immerse the viewer in a common person’s high-stakes struggle for survival when political violence from all sides has become the norm. Meticulously intentional cinematography and sound, paired with seamless performances, result in an unforgettable, deeply-felt film that reflects the painful, ongoing lived experience of millions of Venezuelans.
Family Films Award
Duet—WINNER
Léo Brunel (France 2025)
Sometimes a single, simple joke is an epiphany. Duet is gloriously inspired and perfectly executed. All three judges feel strongly that if you do not laugh when you see this short film, something is wrong with you.
Youth Works Award
Cindy Undead—WINNER
Mariella Gutiérrez (USA 2025)
Cindy Undead has an original storyline that is simple but also carries so much depth. We believe it is sincere, nostalgic, and emotion driven which makes it a powerful story. The visuals and colors were very striking, and the score fit so well with the story. The message was very relevant to our time but also throughout history.
Little Things—HONORABLE MENTION
Noam Rignault Clement (France, Spain, USA 2026)
Little Things was beautifully shot and well written. The character driven storyline was youthful and celebratory of a foundational time in all of our lives. The location and directing was also great.
Audience Award—Narrative
Hot Water
Ramzi Bashour (USA 2026)
Audience Award—Documentary
Figaro Up, Figaro Down
Javid Soriano (USA 2026)
Jurors for each competition were: New Directors Award—Aisha Harris, author and co-host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour; Celia Mattison, film critic and culture writer (Vulture, MUBI Notebook); and Trish Bendix, writer, editor, and producer (The New York Times, Time); Kirby Walker Documentary Award—Michael Kinomoto, Senior Manager of Production and Supervising Producer, ITVS; Loren Hammonds, Emmy and Peabody Award–winning producer and Head of Documentary, TIME Studios; and Trish Adlesic, Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer; Global Visions Award—Jason Silverman, film curator and Festival Director, Telluride Film Festival; Lora Hirschberg, Academy Award–winning sound mixer; and Heidi Zwicker, Senior Programmer, Sundance Film Festival; Mid-Lengths and Shorts Awards—Bao Nguyen, award-winning filmmaker and founding partner, EAST Films; and Zelle Bonney, film acquisitions executive, Netflix; David Lally, Executive Producer of Pixar SparkShorts; Cine Latino Spotlight—Carlos A. Gutiérrez, co-founding Executive Director, Cinema Tropical; Megan Martinez Goltz, filmmaker and multimedia storyteller; and Florencia Manovil, filmmaker and SFFILM Resident (2025); Family Films Award—Daniel Handler novelist and AKA as author Lemony Snicket; Trevor Jimenez, director and story artist, Pixar; and Nínive Clements Calegari, educator, author, and co-founder 826 National; and Youth Works Award—Maria Victoria Ponce, filmmaker; and local high school students Amiko Muscat, Cait Yoffi, and Melissa Nava.
SUPPORTERS + SPONSORS
Support for SFFILM’s year-round programming is made possible by our Board of Directors, whose leadership and generosity empower artists, audiences, and the future of independent film. The 69th San Francisco International Film Festival is made possible with generous support from our corporate and media sponsors and partners. Major Sponsors are Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Signature Sponsors are STX Entertainment, Prime Group, Dolby Laboratories, the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF), and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). Media Sponsors are Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, and KQED.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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