‘Out of Plain Sight,’ ‘O Horizon’ and ‘Road of Fire’ Among 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival Winners

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) has announced the winners of their 40th annual film awards. All three short award recipients are now eligible for the 2026 Academy Awards.

“It’s an undeniable pleasure to celebrate such a diverse and wonderful array of winning films,” said SBIFF director of programming Claudia Puig. “We have been so excited to showcase storytelling from 60 countries around the world in our slate of 185 films at SBIFF. The jury winners this year exemplify the best of creative independent filmmaking, covering subjects ranging from immigration, pay equity, environmental dangers, unwanted pregnancy,  neuroscience and hempcrete construction.”

The 2025 SBIFF Awards ceremony took place on Feb. 15 at the El Encanto in Santa Barbara. The winning films were chosen by jury members Margaret Lazarus, Max Barbakow, Estrella Araiza, Shawn Patterson, Jeff Christian, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Gregory Nava, Andres Castillo, and Jeff Arch. 

See the full list of winners below:

Audience Choice Award: “Out of Plain Sight,” Daniel Straub, Rosanna Xia

Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema: “O Horizon,” Madeleine Rotzler

Jeffrey C. Barbakow Award for Best International Feature Film: “Yen and Ai-Lee,” Tom Shu-yu Lin

Best Documentary: “Roads of Fire,”  Nathaniel Lezra

Nueva Vision Award for Spain/Latin America Cinema: “Glimmers,” Pilar Palomero 

Best Animated Short Film Award: “The Three Sisters,” Timur Kognov 

Best Documentary Short Film Award: “The Green Buffalo,” Joel Caldwell 

Best Live-Action Short Film Award: “Bitter Chocolate,” Sahar Sotoodeh 

Social Justice Award sponsored by the Fund for Santa Barbara: “Separated,” Errol Morris

ADL Stand Up Award sponsored by the ADL “Lilly,” Rachel Feldman

ASC Award for Cinematography sponsored by The American Society of Cinematographers: “Color Book,” David Fortune