Celebrating Excellence
Festival Awards
Each year, the Sarasota Film Festival honors outstanding achievement in independent filmmaking through both jury and audience awards across multiple categories.
Jury Awards
Our distinguished panel of industry professionals recognizes exceptional work in narrative and documentary filmmaking. Jury awards are presented for:
- Best Narrative Feature
- Best Documentary Feature
- Best Independent Vision
- Best Short Film
- Special Jury Prizes
Audience Awards
Festival-goers vote for their favorite films, with audience choice awards presented in:
- Audience Award - Narrative Feature
- Audience Award - Documentary Feature
- Audience Award - Short Film
Recent Festival Jury
The 2026 jury will be announced ahead of the festival. Here are members from our recent jury panels:
Narrative Feature Jury
- Megan Colligan
Veteran Film Executive - Alex Hedison
Photographer and Filmmaker - Katie Martin Kelley
Warner Bros. Pictures Communications Executive - Wynn Thomas
Production Designer, Former Academy Governor
Documentary Feature Jury
- Wren Arthur
Producer, Co-Founder of Olive Pictures - Christian Blauvelt
Digital Director, IndieWire - Eric Deggans
TV Critic, NPR - Jaie Laplante
Artistic Director, DOC NYC
Past Winners
SFF alumni have gone on to achieve remarkable success, with many receiving Academy Award nominations and wins, distribution deals with major studios, and recognition at festivals worldwide.
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