The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards have announced the shortlists for the 2025 edition. Selected for their outstanding originality, the 30 shortlisted filmmakers across four categories — Fiction, Non-Fiction, Animation and Student — are awarded the unique opportunity to attend a four-day immersive program behind-the-scenes at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City from June 2-5, 2025, and culminating in the Awards ceremony on June 5, 2025 at Sony Pictures’ historic Scenic Arts Building, hosted by Emmy winner Denny Directo.
Now in their third year, the Awards were established by Creo in partnership with Sony to nurture the filmmaking talent of tomorrow and to provide a portal into the industry for filmmakers from across the globe. Each year the shortlisted filmmakers are flown to Los Angeles for an extensive program of workshops, screenings and events, fostering talent through opportunities to expand filmmakers’ networks and giving them direct experiences right in the heart of Hollywood.
The 2025 shortlist was chosen from over 11,750 films submitted by more than 7,500 filmmakers across 158 countries and territories. The shortlist features entries from Australia, Burundi, Chile, Colombia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The selected works span a diverse array of stories, including a tense drama about an inmate firefighter battling parole denial amidst a historic blaze, a poignant tale of Chilean shellfish divers searching for answers about a missing relative under Pinochet’s regime, an animated fable of a piglet and a wolf forging an unlikely friendship, an elderly fieldworker outshining her AI substitute, and a stirring exploration of Australia’s First Nations using fire to renew the land.
This year’s shortlisted Animation filmmakers and projects are:
Rich Farris (U.K.), From The Top
Robin grapples with letting go of her drum kit and her passion.
Case Jernigan (U.S.A.), Noggin
Throu
Santiago O’Ryan & José Navarro (Chile), Hermanos Casablanca (Casablanca Brothers)
At the height of the Pinochet dictatorship, two divers agree to help an army official in the hope of receiving information on their missing sister in return.
Fadi Syriani & Jana Wehbe (Lebanon), The Day Vladimir Died
In Beirut, the day-to-day life of an elderly man is punctuated by grief and mourning both for lost friends and for a city undergoing rapid change.
Leo Wright (U.K.), The Big Bad Wolf
Set in an industrial pig society, a wolf and a pig form an unlikely friendship, defying prejudices and the cautionary words of the age-old parable.
The 30 shortlisted filmmakers proceed to the next stage of judging from which the four category winners will be chosen by a panel of industry leaders which includes filmmaker and writer Minhal Baig (We Grown Now, Hala, BoJack Horseman); President of 3000 Pictures Elizabeth Gabler (Where the Crawdads Sing, upcoming Klara and the Sun, Life of Pi); Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Jason Reitman (Saturday Night, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Juno); and award-winning theater, television and film director and Chair of the Jury Justin Chadwick (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, The Other Boleyn Girl, Shardlake). The four category winners who are awarded with cash prizes and Sony Digital Imaging equipment.
The extensive four-day program for the shortlisted 30 filmmakers at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City offers an exclusive opportunity to learn from and connect with both their peers and industry leaders. Through sessions led by Sony Pictures executives the filmmakers dive into everything from cinematography masterclasses, to navigating talent deals, demonstrations of cutting-edge tech and learning about the art of soundtracking a story.
Learn more about the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards and see the full list of shortlisted entries at sonyfuturefilmmakerawards.com.
