The 2026 Fantastic Fest has wrapped another year in Austin, and the jury has picked its winners. The largest genre film festival in the U.S. announced its 2026 awards today. Top honors went to Luka Marčetić’s Girl in the Night in the Main Competition, Joko Anwar‘s Ghost in the Cell in the Horror competition, and Alex Schulman’s Adult Supervision in the Next Wave section for emerging filmmakers.
Director of Programming Annick Mahnert said the winners represent “the exciting new generation of talent shaping the future of genre cinema.” This year’s winners come from across the globe, from Indonesia to Poland to Spain.
In the Main Competition, jurors Christopher Andrews, William Earl, and Marissa Frobes gave Best Picture to Girl in the Night and Best Director to Bertrand Mandico for Roma Elastica. Javier Ruiz Caldera’s Five More Minutes received a Special Mention. It also went on to win the festival’s Audience Award, which makes it one of the breakout titles of the week.
The Next Wave competition spotlights up-and-coming directors. Jurors Taratoa Stappard, Tristan Scott-Behrends, and Ariella Mastroianni named Adult Supervision Best Picture and gave Best Director to Agata Trzebuchowska for Sick. Justin Floyd’s Jollyface earned a Special Mention. The jury also singled out Konrad Karol and Katarzyna Lubik for their performances in Sick and Cole Asher Phillips for Phreaker.
In the Horror competition, jurors Whitney Fuller and Heidi Wong gave Best Picture to Ghost in the Cell, the latest from Indonesian horror master Joko Anwar. Best Director went to Nikias Chryssos for the gloriously titled Bloody Tennis. Jordan Downey‘s The Cycle received a Special Mention.
Inmates in mustard-yellow uniforms brawl in a grimy prison corridor in Joko Anwar’s Ghost in the Cell, winner of Best Picture in the Horror competition at Fantastic Fest 2026.
The short film jury of Nicholas Lazo, Adam Piron, and Tiffany Kimmel handed out awards across several programs. In Fantastic Shorts, James P. Gannon‘s Jimmy’s Custom Coffin won Best Picture, and Richard Perez won Best Actor for Richard Goes on a Date, directed by Johnny Frohman. Short Fuse Best Picture went to Bagman from Connor and Vaughn Gaston. Connor Wiles took the top prize in Shorts with Legs for Sinkpisser. Yu Yu’s Pre-Parenting won Drawn and Quartered for animation. Joe Garber’s The Magician took Best WTF Short, arguably the most Fantastic Fest award ever handed out.
The biggest indie story of the festival may be Fantastic Pitches, which returned for its second year, presented by Chroma. First Place went to Father Figure, a 1970s wedding folk horror project from Washington state by writer/director Connor Martin and producer Josh Farnworth. The team receives a $100,000 financing award from Chroma, a distribution deal, and a premiere slot at Fantastic Fest 2027. They have one year to make the film.
The jury of Gore Verbinski, Catherine Hardwicke, and Nicolas Curcio also created a surprise Second Place prize. It went to the Georgia-based American Vermin, from writer/director A.K. Espada, producer Annie Jacob, and cinematographer Alexandra Bock. The team receives a Blackmagic cinema camera package from Fangoria and a year-long mentorship with all three jurors, along with Curcio’s Play House writing partner Kirby Gladstein.
Fantastic Fest is held every year at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. It has been home to the premieres of Parasite, John Wick, Jojo Rabbit, Smile, and The Black Phone. It has also become an important launchpad where indie genre films find distributors. For more on this year’s winners, visit the Fantastic Fest film guide.
Complete List of Fantastic Fest 2026 Winners
- Main Competition – Best Picture: Girl in the Night (Luka Marčetić)
- Main Competition – Best Director: Bertrand Mandico, Roma Elastica
- Main Competition – Special Mention: Five More Minutes (Javier Ruiz Caldera)
- Next Wave – Best Picture: Adult Supervision (Alex Schulman)
- Next Wave – Best Director: Agata Trzebuchowska, Sick
- Next Wave – Special Mention: Jollyface (Justin Floyd)
- Next Wave – Best Performance Special Mentions: Konrad Karol and Katarzyna Lubik (Sick), Cole Asher Phillips (Phreaker)
- Horror – Best Picture: Ghost in the Cell (Joko Anwar)
- Horror – Best Director: Nikias Chryssos, Bloody Tennis
- Horror – Special Mention: The Cycle (Jordan Downey)
- Audience Award: Five More Minutes (Javier Ruiz Caldera)
- Fantastic Shorts – Best Picture: Jimmy’s Custom Coffin (James P. Gannon)
- Fantastic Shorts – Best Actor: Richard Perez, Richard Goes on a Date (Johnny Frohman)
- Short Fuse – Best Picture: Bagman (Connor Gaston & Vaughn Gaston)
- Shorts with Legs – Best Picture: Sinkpisser (Connor Wiles)
- Drawn and Quartered – Best Picture: Pre-Parenting (Yu Yu)
- Best WTF Short: The Magician (Joe Garber)
- Fantastic Pitches – First Place: Father Figure (Connor Martin, Josh Farnworth)
- Fantastic Pitches – Second Place: American Vermin (A.K. Espada, Annie Jacob, Alexandra Bock)
Header image: Girl in the Night, courtesy of Fantastic Fest.
