Four films have booked passage into the Oscar race after taking home awards at the prestigious HollyShorts festival in Los Angeles.
Trapped, a drama directed by Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz, won the Grand Prix Award. The short starring Javier Molina and Keith William Richards centers on a “high school janitor [who] runs into a series of dangerous obstacles.” Trapped also won Best Drama. Scroll for the full list of winners.
“At the end of the day, the thing that I’m most grateful for is just the film has resonated with so many people,” David Cutler-Kreutz told Deadline after winning the two honors. “The goal is that people see the film and find that it impacts them, that it makes them want to think about the world or see the world a little bit differently. That’s why I do the work, that’s why my brother does the work.”
The Cutler-Kreutz Brothers earned a 2025 Oscar nomination earlier this year for their short film A Lien. The Grand Prix Award at HollyShorts puts them back in the Oscar picture for a second consecutive year.
“It’s really amazing… To be able to bring this story to all of the folks at the Oscars is really such a gift,” Cutler-Kreutz said. “One of the things from last year going through the Oscars, just the number of people that the film touches and number of people who see the film is such an incredible stage to be able to do that.”
The award for Best Documentary went to Voices from the Abyss directed by Irving Serrano and Victor Rejón. The film shot in black and white documents the La Quebrada Cliff Divers of Acapulco, a group of divers – young and old – who leap from cliffs at an elevation of up to 135 feet, or roughly the height of a 12-story building. (Full disclosure, I served as a juror for the documentary category).
Best Live Action Short was claimed by A Son and a Father, directed by Andrés Ramírez Pulido and starring Hugo Andrés Yate and Jhojan Estiven Jimenez. Logline: “Perceived as a problem child, Kevin cannot control his temper, often erupting when taunted. He is obligated to undergo behavioral therapy, but his father refuses to accompany him and surprisingly, his stepfather takes his place.”
The prize for Best Animation went to Hurikán, directed by Jan Saska, a film set in the Czech capital. “Hurikán rushes to save his favorite beer stand from closure by fetching a new keg to impress the bartender he crushes on,” notes a description of the film. “In a wild Prague district, he faces robbers, cops, and his own thirst.”
The award for Best Director went to Lee Knight for his live action short A Friend of Dorothy, starring Miriam Margolyes. The story is based on a relationship Knight developed with a neighbor, an older widow who formed a strong bond with Knight and his husband.
“It was a unique friendship, someone who was lonely and in a way still had so much to give and no one really realized,” Knight told Deadline. “She had supported theaters for 50 years with her husband. He passed away. When she met me and my husband and realized we were actors, it gave her a new lease on life, and we took her to our opening nights. She would take us to plays on her arm going, ‘These are my boys, my boys.’”
“It’s a fictional story inspired by a real person,” Knight continued. “Miriam Margolyes, who plays the lead, I actually wrote it for her before we met. As I was writing it, I just thought, ‘Who could play this?’ And I think the inspiration of Shirley, who was my friend who passed away, and then Miriam Margolyes’ voice, it’s sort of an amalgamation of the two in a way. But it was very much written for Miriam.”
This is the 21st year for HollyShorts. The festival presented more than 425 films, culled from 7,000 submissions. Among the presenters at Sunday night’s awards presentation was director Catherine Hardwicke, actress Sharon Lawrence and actor David Dastmalchian.
These are the winners announced at the ceremony at Mann’s Chinese in Hollywood:
Grand Prize Award – Trapped – Sam Cutler-Kreutz – David Cutler-Kreutz
AAPI Award – Mushroom Dad – Michael Yuchen Lei
Best Animation – Hurikán – Jan Saska
Best Cinematography – Lo Que Desaparece – Mario Lerma and Alex Rapariz
Best Comedy – Susana – Gerardo Coello Escalante and Amandine Thomas
Best Documentary – Voices from the Abyss – Irving Serrano, Victor Rejón
Best Drama – Trapped – Sam Cutler-Kreutz – David Cutler-Kreutz
Best Editing – Say Wuff! – Fabian Podeszwa
Best Horror – Heirlooms – Dan Abramovici
Best International – The Painting & The Statue – Freddie Fox
Best Midnight Madness – Stomach Bug – Matty Crawford
Best Music Video – Earth Defender – Sil van der Woerd, Jorik Dozy and Kynan Tegar
Best Podcast – Moonburn by Robbie Hyne
Best Producer – Money Talk$ – Tony Mucci (Director and Producer), Scott Aharoni (Producer), Bryan Schmier (Producer) and David Mazouz (Producer)
Best Sci-Fi – The Second Time Around – Jack Howard
Best Special Effects – Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting – Alexander Thompson
Best Student Film – 1:10 – Sinan Taner
Best Thriller – Plastic Surgery – Guy Trevellyan
Best TV – Chasers – Erin Brown Thomas
Best Web Series – Hasaan Hates Portland – Mischa Webley
Kodak Best Shot on Film, 16MM – Ragamuffin – Kaitlyn Mikayla
Kodak Best Shot on Film, 35MM – The Singers – Sam Davis
Kodak Honorable Mention – Synthesize Me – Bear Damen
Latine Award – Cura Sana – Lucía G. Romero
LGBTQIA+ Award – Dancing in Tomorrowland – Jakob Roston
SAGindie Award – L’avance – Djiby Kebe
Social Impact Award – Rise – Jessica J. Rowlands
Best Sports Drama – Negro League Nights – Kyle Sykes
Best Sports Documentary – It’s On Like A Pot Of Neckbones – Joey Garfield
Top 10 Live Action Short Films Finalists –
A Son and a Father – Andrés Ramírez Pulido
Mercenaire – Pier-Philippe Chevigny
Ragamuffin – Kaitlyn Mikayla
Amarela – André Hayato Saito
L’avance – Djiby Kebe
Trapped – Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
One Of Them – Mostafa Vaziri
A Friend of Dorothy – Lee Knight
Rise – Jessica J. Rowlands
Script Awards –
ISA Story Award – Best Feature Screenplay – Dope Friend – Matt Ferrucci
Best Female Screenplay – The Unraveling by Samantha Mallory
Best Short Screenplay Grand Prize – Mudslide by Frederik Ehrhardt
The post HollyShorts Winners: ‘Trapped,’ ‘A Son And A Father,’ ‘Hurikán’ And ‘Voices from the Abyss’ Earn Oscar-Qualifying Awards appeared first on Deadline.
