Key West, FL – Saturday night, The 14th Annual Key West Film Festival celebrated filmmakers and special guests in a joyful Awards Ceremony at The Studios of Key West. Congratulations to the KWFF 2025 Golden Key and Golden Conch Award Winners below.
GOLDEN KEY AWARDS
Excellence in Costume Design – DEBORAH L. SCOTT
Artistic Excellence – SIR BILLY CONNOLLY
Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking – ONDI TIMONER
Timoner was also presented with replacements of two previous award that she won in the festival, which were lost after her house burned down in the Altadena fires.
GOLDEN CONCH AWARDS
The 11th Annual Key West Film Festival Critics Award is a juried prize selected by the attending critics, Bilge Ebiri (New York Magazine/ Vulture.com), Addie Morfoot (Variety), David Rooney (The Hollywood Reporter).
The Golden Conch for Best Florida Feature was a juried prize voted on by Chad Newman, Film Commissioner for the Florida Keys and Key West; Liz Young, Director of the Keys Arts Council; and Jed Dodds, Executive Director of the The Studios of Key West
AUDIENCE AWARDS:
Best Narrative Feature Film – HAMNET – Chloe Zhao
Critics Award – THE SECRET AGENT – Kleber Mendonca Filho
Best Foreign Language Film – SENTIMENTAL VALUE – Joachim Trier
Best LGBTQIA+ Feature Film – I WAS BORN THIS WAY – Daniel Junge & Sam Pollard
Best Documentary Feature Film – ASK E. JEAN – Ivy Meeropol
Best Florida Feature Film – THE PYTHON HUNT – Xander Robin
Best World Comedy Short Film – BDAY PRIVATE DICK – Dante Ariola
Best World Documentary Short Film – ALL THE WALLS CAME DOWN – Ondi Timoner
Best World Dramatic Short Film – (tie) LITTLE REBEL CINEMA CLUB – Khozy Rizal / THE SINGERS – Sam Davis
Best Florida Filmmaker Short Film – GOLDEN YEARS – Tim Ritter
The Kimberly Peirce Scholarship for Student Filmmakers Presented by The King Family Foundation
Best World Student Filmmaker Short Film – WRESTLE- OFF – Sabatino Ciatti
Best Florida Student Short Film – PRÉLUDE – Paolo Cesti
