MIFF 2026 Shorts Awards winners announced – Melbourne International Film Festival has announced the winners of the MIFF 2026 Shorts Awards, presented by Armani Beauty, with New Zealand filmmakers Nick Mayow and Prisca Bouchet taking the top prize for Lion Rock.
Lion Rock won the City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film, presented by Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece, at the MIFF Shorts Awards and Talent of Tomorrow Party at Melbourne Town Hall.
For Australian audiences and filmmakers, the result is another reminder of how important MIFF’s shorts program has become as a discovery platform. The awards are Academy Awards accredited and BAFTA qualifying, giving the winning films a pathway into the wider international awards conversation.
This year’s awards distributed $56,500 in prize money across seven categories. The winners covered Australian and international fiction, documentary, animation and experimental filmmaking.
Six of the seven awards went to filmmakers from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, alongside UK-based Australian filmmaker Matthew Berka.
Lion Rock Takes The Grand Prix
Lion Rock was recognised with the $12,500 City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film. The 16-minute New Zealand film is directed by Nick Mayow and Prisca Bouchet.
The jury praised the film for its emotional precision, its restrained dramatic structure and its portrait of the shifting balance of power between a son and his mother.
Australian Stories Recognised
The VicScreen Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film went to Our Choir Has Always Been Travelling, directed by Judith Pungarta Inkamala, Marjorie Williams and Nelson Armstrong.
The 10-minute film tells the story of the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir through voices, images and songs, past and present.
The inaugural Armani Beauty Talent of Tomorrow Award went to Andrew Dang and Jak Scanlon for Last Chance to Evacuate Earth. The award is valued at $10,000 and recognises an emerging filmmaker from this year’s MIFF Accelerator Lab.
The Full Winners List
- City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film: Lion Rock, directed by Nick Mayow and Prisca Bouchet. New Zealand, 16 minutes. $12,500 cash prize.
- VicScreen Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film: Our Choir Has Always Been Travelling, directed by Judith Pungarta Inkamala, Marjorie Williams and Nelson Armstrong. Australia, 10 minutes. $10,000 cash prize.
- Armani Beauty Talent of Tomorrow Award: Last Chance to Evacuate Earth, by Andrew Dang and Jak Scanlon. Australia, 17 minutes. $10,000 cash prize.
- Award for Best Fiction Short Film: Souvenir, directed by Renee Marie Petropoulos. Australia, 14 minutes. $6,000 cash prize.
- Award for Best Documentary Short Film: Intersecting Memory, directed by Shayma’ Awawdeh. Palestine, 20 minutes. $6,000 cash prize.
- Award for Best Animation Short Film: Daughters of the Late Colonel, directed by Elizabeth Hobbs. UK and Germany, 9 minutes. $6,000 cash prize.
- Award for Best Experimental Short Film: Body, remember…, directed by Matthew Berka. UK, 16 minutes. $6,000 cash prize.
A Major Shorts Platform
The 2026 MIFF Shorts Awards jury comprised Gabrielle Brady, Hannah Ngo and Samantha Eckhardt. They selected the winners from a program of 108 short films from more than 50 countries, presented across 15 curated packages.
MIFF short film programmers Mia Falstein-Rush and Raphe Lafleur said the winning films showed the freedom and precision of short-form cinema.
The MIFF Shorts program continues in cinemas through 23 August, including Best of MIFF Shorts screenings on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August.
A limited selection of MIFF Shorts highlights, including Sovereign Shorts, Footy Shorts and Australian Shorts, will also stream across Australia from 14 to 30 August through MIFF Online. Short films are free to stream through ACMI’s Cinema 3 platform.
MIFF 2026 runs in cinemas from 6 to 23 August 2026. For tickets and the full festival program, visit miff.com.au.
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