Fantastic Fest Announces 2023 Award Winners: ‘Property,’ ‘I’ll Crush Y’all,’ ‘Shackle’ and More

Fantastic Fest has announced the winners of its 2023 awards, including Daniel Bandiere’s Property as Best Picture in the Main Competition section and Kike Narcea’s I’ll Crush Y’all as the Audience Award winner. Fantastic Fest 2023 runs September 21-28.

Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world and is held each year at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas. Alamo Drafthouse has been named the best theater in the country by Entertainment Weekly, Wired, and TIME. In March 2023, Fantastic Fest joined the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations) as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival alongside Cannes, Berlin and Venice.

“We were graced with wonderful films from around the world this year,” said Annick Mahnert, Director of Programming for Fantastic Fest. “Curating this diverse showcase of cinema for our esteemed jurors was a real privilege. With so many incredible perspectives represented, their job reviewing these fantastic movies was undeniably challenging. Their thoughtful and professional critiques of each work embody the cinematic excellence we love to champion at Fantastic Fest.”

Here is the full list of winners.

“MAIN COMPETITION” FEATURES 

Best Picture: PROPERTY, directed by Daniel Bandeire

Best Director: Robert Morgan – STOPMOTION

Honorable Mention: ANIMALIA, directed by Sofia Alaoui

“NEXT WAVE” FEATURES 

Best Picture: SRI ASIH, directed by Upi Avianto

Best Directors: David Kapac and Andrija Mardešić – THE UNCLE

Honorable Mention: UFO SWEDEN, directed by Victor Danell

HORROR FEATURES

Best Picture: INFESTED, directed by Sébastien Vaniček

Best Director: Sébastien Vaniček – INFESTED

SHORTS WITH LEGS

Best Picture: Mop, directed by Joon Goh

Honorable Mention: VHS Tape Replaced, directed by Maha Al-Saati

SHORT FUSE 

Best Picture: Reds, directed by Tom Espinoza

Honorable Mention: The Third Ear, directed by Nathan Ginter

FANTASTIC SHORTS

Best Picture: Sweet Juices, directed by Will Suen & Sejon Im

Honorable Mention: Fostering, directed by Andrei Kashpersky

DRAWN AND QUARTERED

Best Picture: Shackle, directed by Ainslie Henderson

Honorable Mention: He Ran Alongside His Comrade, directed by Genís Rigol Alzola

AUDIENCE AWARD

I’LL CRUSH Y’ALL, directed by Kike Narcea

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) 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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