2025 Award Winners
41st Boston Film Festival Announces Award Winners Celebrating a Bold, Diverse Lineup
The 41st Boston Film Festival unveiled the winners of its 2025 program, which spotlighted an extraordinary range of films and talent across genres and themes.
This year’s festival was presented by ad-free streaming service Kanopy and featured a special red carpet moment for filmmakers and talent as the platform joined the festival in inspiring students to discover, discuss, and celebrate the art of cinema.
Audiences across Boston were treated to an array of premieres and screenings spanning suspense, drama, historical, and environmental storytelling. Highlights included the International Premiere of opening night feature, The Fallow Few, and the World Premiere of Ambleside, the closing night selection.
Students at Emerson College were also treated to a special screening of the new Warner Bros. Television series It: Welcome to Derry featuring panelists: Academy Award Winning Production Designer Paul Austerberry and Academy Award Nominated Costume Designer Luis Sequeira, moderated by EXTRA’s Mona Kosar Abdi. As part of their ongoing collaboration with the Boston Film Festival, Warner Bros. Television Voice Actor Eric Bauza was also featured on the festival’s Animation Panel.
Ambleside dominated, winning six awards including Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Music, Best Actress and Best Ensemble Cast. Best Actor was awarded to Bradley James for his portrayal of “Cpl. George Hansen” in The Fallow Few. Best Actress was awarded to Ellie Bamber for her portrayal of “Lucy Gladwell” in Ambleside.
Taking Best Documentary Film award is Blue Zeus from Directors Rocky Romano, Miranda Winters. Documentary The Snake and the Whale from Director John Carlos Frey was named EcoFilm, and taking the Mass Impact Award was Hidden: The Kati Preston Story, directed by Daniel Matmor.
Additional awards included: Best Short, The Ride (Director, Slava Denisov); Best Foreign Documentary, La Madone (Directors, Guillaume Pierrel and Laurent Jamet ); and Best Animated Short, Snow Bear (Director, Aaron Blaise; Writer, Nichols Burch).
“Each year, the Boston Film Festival showcases stories that challenge, entertain, and inspire,” said Robin Dawson, Executive Director, Boston Film Festival. “We are thrilled to celebrate this year’s honorees reflecting both the diversity of filmmaking voices and the universal themes that resonate with audiences everywhere.”
Full List of Award Winners
Best Film
( Based on the novel The Prisoner of Paradise by Romesh Gunesekera’ and separately ‘The making of this film was inspired by the lives of Alan Maria J Govinden’. )
Best Actor
Bradley James – The Fallow Few
Best Actress
Ellie Bamber – Ambleside
Best Screenplay
Ambleside – Mitch Jenkins, Alan Govinden, Jason Wingard, Writers
Best Director
Mitch Jenkins – Ambleside
Best Cinematography
Joe Pontecorvo, Jeff Hogan – Heart of a Lion
Best Animated Feature
Dragon Heart – Adventures Beyond This World – Isamu Imakake, Writer and Director
Best Story
The Fallow Few – JR Rappaport, Director and Writer
Best Editing
Editor, Brad Allgood; Supervising Editor, Billy McMillin – Heart of a Lion
Best Ensemble Cast
Ellie Bamber, Medhi Debhi, Rupert Penry-Jones, JJ Field, Rhona Mitra, Amy Beth Hayes, Edward Akrout – Ambleside
Audience Favorite
The Last Dive – Cody Sheehy, Director
Best Music
Ambleside – Sturdivant Adams, Composer
Best Documentary
Blue Zeus – Rocky Romano, Miranda Winters, Co-Directors
Emerging Filmmaker
JR Rappaport – The Fallow Few
Mass Impact Award
Hidden: The Kati Preston Story – Daniel Matmor, Director
Eco Film
The Snake and the Whale – John Carlos Frey, Director
Best Short Film
The Ride – Slava Denisov, Director
Audience Favorite Short
What It’s Like to be Okay – Noah Bean, Director
Best Animated Short
Best Foreign Documentary
La Madone – Guillaume Pierrel, Laurent Jamet, Directors
Best Short Documentary
Black Longevity – Geneva Peschka, Director
Sponsors of the 41st Boston Film Festival include: Kanopy, Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport, Boston Harbor Studios, Meet Boston, FAN EXPO Boston, TVPaint, Sip Wine Bar and Kitchen, Dream Alley, OUTFRONT, Emerson College, Boston Public Library, and Shalin Liu Performance Center.
Media Contact: Ashley Sandberg ashley@triple7pr.com
