A Night of Stars and Stories: SMMFF 2025 Winners Announced

Last December 6, the summit of Santa Maria turned into a cinema again. As the sun slipped behind the ridge and the stars came out one by one, people settled onto the grass, jackets zipped up against the wind, warm drinks in hand, strangers sitting shoulder to shoulder.

There’s something different about watching films in a place like this. Without neon lights, without noise, without the rush of the city, stories feel larger. You can hear every pause. You can sit with each silence.The mountain slows everything down, including the audience.

This year, 39 filmmakers from 17 countries shared their work on a single screen above the clouds. A student short from New England played right beside a documentary about a reggae icon; a surreal experimental film followed a quiet Korean drama. The mix wasn’t accidental, it was the point.

Cinema is at its best when different worlds meet. Late in the night, as the wind moved against the screen and the sky became darker than the visuals on it, the jury announced the films that stayed with us long after the last scene faded.

Here are the SMMFF 2025 Winners the stories that found their way through the cold air, into the quiet, and into us.

2025 WINNERS

Best Short Documentary

Life in Tandem

After a tragic accident, a member of the freestyle canoe dancing community struggles with loss until his fellow paddlers rally around him, helping him heal emotionally and physically, and return to the water that shaped his life.

Best Drama

Reborn

A doctor who secretly performs mercy killings for terminal patients faces a moral crisis when a young girl with suicidal thoughts seeks his help, forcing him to confront the line between compassion, justice, and humanity.

Best Experimental Short

First Refusal

A surreal journey through grief unfolds like a fever dream, as the protagonist learns that healing isn’t about holding on but about finding the courage to let go.

Best Feature Documentary

Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story

A vibrant portrait of reggae icon Sister Nancy, blending tour footage, rare archives, and interviews with global artists celebrating the legacy of a woman who reshaped music by staying true to herself. Note: “Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story” was awarded Best Feature Documentary by the SMMFF jury. Due to the film’s existing screening contract with Kinema, it was not screened at the summit, but remains a full and official SMMFF 2025 winner.

Best First-Time Director

First Refusal

A fearless directorial debut that transforms grief into visual poetry using bold imagery, color, and rhythm to create a story that’s both intimate and experimental.

Best Inspirational Film

Castle in the Air

A young girl drifts between reality and her own imagination, discovering that dreams can be a refuge, a compass, and a way to rise above what feels impossible.

Best International Feature Film

K-Indi IDOL

To pursue her dream, Seung-hyun disguises herself as a man and enters a male idol audition, stepping into a world where performance is survival, and identity becomes both mask and mirror.

Best LGBTQ Film

Time Before Kevin

In a near future, a scientist haunted by his past builds a time machine to relive key moments of his life, confronting truth, memory, and the possibility of rewriting who he becomes.

Best Promotional Film

Inspire Me

A professional oboist discovers his music is mysteriously connected to a ballet dancer, inspiring a creative exchange where melody and movement shape each other.

Best Student Short

Lucky Night

On a freezing New England night, a missing $215-million lottery ticket forces a first-generation American to confront family expectations, ambition, and the price of chasing the dream.

Young Filmmaker Award

Guiding Light

A young director revisits a landmark kidnapping case in her hometown, interviewing those who fought for justice, and shining light on the ongoing responsibility to keep children safe.

Until Next Year

When the final credits rolled, no one hurried to leave. People stayed talking quietly, sharing thoughts, offering jackets, packing equipment together. The wind was cold, but the night felt warm.

Thank you to everyone who climbed, watched, listened, and believed in what stories can do when the world becomes quiet.

See you next year! Same mountain, Same stars, New stories. See what others can’t.

Website: www.SantaMariaFestival.com Film Submissions: filmfreeway.com/SMMFF

📽️ Watch the Video Recap Here:

SMMFF VIDEO RECAP