From more than 250 entries our festival selection committee has chosen 9 finalists. We will screen each short film and our jury will select the “Best Overall” film at the conclusion of the program. Several of the filmmakers will be in attendance.
Our Jury:
Diana Barrett – Diana has been a long time festival jury member and president and founder of the Fledgling Fund, a philanthropic organization that supports documentary films that have a social impact.
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Sarah Kernochan – Sarah is a two-time Academy Award winner for short documentary film, a director, and screenwriter.
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David Helpern -David is an Academy Award nominated producer and director, most recently an executive producer of “Monsieur Spade” starring Clive Owen as the iconic private eye Sam Spade. (David is a seasonal resident of Martha’s Vineyard).
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David Breschel – David produced the breathtaking short film The Singers, which won the grand prize in last year’s shorts competition, and went on to win the 2025 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
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*** Extreme Thanks to our Short Film Selection committee: Anne Evasick, Jennifer Turner Smith, Steven Berry, and Deborah Alves for their work over the last six months to view, rate and select our finalists from close to 250 submissions. Bravo!
2026 MVIFF SHORT FILM FINALISTS
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WEAVE THE VOID (14:45)
Director Javier Torres (Mexico)
In rural Mexico, controlled by criminal violence, Thähi, an impoverished tailor, has isolated herself in her apartment to rehearse an impossible conversation. She must confront the man who abducted her daughter, Ntuhni, to find her. To prepare herself for this horrific moment, she creates a life-size figure that embodies the nightmarish presence of El Titán, the criminal who hollowed out her life.
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RENEWAL (14:31)
Director Oleksandr Bykov (Ukraine)
A man retreats to the silence of the forest to confront the inner turmoil left by war and betrayal.
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SOMETHING POINTLESS (14:21)
Director Asa Bailey (United Kingdom)
When a bullied young boy discovers an elderly man quietly covering a forgotten brick wall with painted eggshells, an unlikely friendship forms — and a “pointless” act becomes something transformative.
I SHOULD BE GOING (12:02)
Director Gemma Holdway (Canada)
When perpetually adolescent Darcy returns home to pack up her childhood bedroom, she seizes the chance to live out her wildest teenage fantasy—until reality crashes in with the arrival of her emotionally-frayed mother, a woman desperate to escape what Darcy can’t bear to lose.
Gemma Holdway is a British-Canadian filmmaker and former journalist based in Los Angeles. She works across film and television, developing original projects and adaptations on both sides of the border.
Her original spec Get Rid of It has Daisy Ridley and AnnaSophia Robb attached, with Ry Russo-Young (Nuclear Family, Before I Fall) directing and David Lancaster (Drive, Whiplash, Nightcrawler) producing. She has adapted BOOM! Studios comics for screen, including The Unsound for Netflix and The Spire for Roku and Fremantle, and written and produced the YA feature Boot Camp for Wattpad WEBTOON Studios. She is also set to direct Best Friend’s Revenge, a contemporary twist on The Count of Monte Cristo. In television, she recently sold original half-hour dramedy Safe Word to Crave (Heated Rivalry) and her sci-fi series Degeneration is set up at MGM with Jessica Yu (Fosse/Verdon, Billions) attached to direct. Her staffing credits include Mixtape Massacre (Sony/Netflix), Cardinal (CTV/Hulu), Ghost Wars (SYFY/Netflix), and The Murders (Citytv/FX).
I Should Be Going, her directorial debut, is a short film adapted from her own essay published in The Globe and Mail‘s “First Person” column.
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OLD LADIES AGAINST UNDERWATER GARBAGE (14:59)
Director Liz McGregor (United States)
Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage follows Susan Baur, the 85-year-old leader, and her crew of fearless women as they defy limits, protect the environment, and rediscover wonder and joy through water and community. A reminder that adventure and activism know no age.
ALL ALONG THE SUNFLOWER (15:00)
Director Zsolt Anger (Hungary)
Two weary soldiers on opposite sides of the Ukrainian and Russian war uncover shared childhood memories while, far away, diplomats “talk” of peace.
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2026 JURY PRIZE WINNER
THE CORKSCREW (18:00)
Director Torfinn Iversen (Norway)
The Corkscrew is a coming-of-age story set in a winter landscape, where the main character Lucas finds himself in a dilemma that tests friendship and conscience. Lucas struggles to balance his life between an absent father and an exhausted mother, while navigating a complex relationship with his friend Leo.
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CIRRUS: A Wooden Boat Story (15:50)
Director Kenneth Murphy and Durier Ryan (United States)
A celebrated, 90-year-old wooden boat sails again. Told through the voices of those who admired, sailed, and later rescued her — and featuring archival 16mm film from her heyday in 1930s coastal Maine — CIRRUS: A Wooden Boat Story reaches across generations to share an intimate tale of maritime craftsmanship and preservation.
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Ken Murphy has written & directed short films (DECEMBER THAW, INTERMEZZO), and penned two feature-length screenplays (FIRE ON THE BEACH and JURY RIG). Ken produced the short film FIRST MATCH, which premiered at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center and was directed by Olivia Newman (Director of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING). Ken is a former winner of the HBO FILMS Young Producer’s Development Award for FIRST MATCH. Ken’s screenplay FIRE ON THE BEACH was awarded Faculty Honors at the 2012 Columbia University Film Festival. Ken also wrote and directed the award-winning short REACHING HOME starring Debra Monk. Ken has also penned a Maine-based feature also titled REACHING HOME which received screenplay recognition at the Austin Film Festival.
LAUNDROMAT (16:50)
Director Jonathas Nazareth (United States)
Laundromat follows a day in the life of two best friends, Jo and Danny, immigrant children who spend their days working alongside their parents. Living their childhood on the margins of society, they move through the day with a sense of wonder and adventure.
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Jonathas Nazareth is a Brooklyn-based Brazilian American filmmaker working across narrative, documentary, and commercial film. His work as a cinematographer and editor has screened at festivals including Tribeca, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Festival du Film Britannique du Dinard, SCAD Savannah, and Newport Beach. He has collaborated with organizations and publications including The New York Times, Discovery, and The Trevor Project, and is a recipient of a Cinematography Fellowship at the Newport Film Lab and the United Kingdom Royal Television Society Student Award. His work in dance film includes an upcoming collaboration with Lucinda Childs and Philip Glass for a world premiere at New York City Center. Laundromat, following two immigrant children living their childhood on the margins alongside their working parents, marks his narrative directorial debut.
This program is funded in part by a grant from the Martha’s Vineyard cultural council, a local agency which is supported by Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
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