2023 NOMINEES
The following list is are the nominees for the 2023 FilmQuest Awards. The award winners, including the coveted FilmQuest Cthulhu Trophy, will be listed in full after the Closing Night Awards Ceremony on November 4th, 2023 at Velour Live Music Gallery in Downtown Provo, Utah. The 2023 FilmQuest Nominees are, as usual, filled with many more deserving films than can possibly win or be nominated. To the nominees, congratulations!
The following nominees were culled from a process that began with a record breaking 1,600 submissions for the 2023 festival. Each Feature Film category, unless otherwise noted, has 5 to 8 nominees. Each Short Film & Other category, unless otherwise noted, has 10 nominees. A “secret” nominee in most categories will be announced at the Awards Ceremony. These “secret nominees” often became the winner of their categories, and is our patented twist on the awards process, a unique and fun activity that many have come to enjoy. All “Virtual Exclusive” films are also eligible for awards, and several winners have emerged from this group as well.
Nomination laurels for the 2023 season can be found on our site here and via FilmFreeway here.
Congratulations to all the 2023 Award Nominees, and start spreading the word today! Use hashtags #filmquest #prepareforfantastic #filmquest2021 #thebestofthebest #filmquestawards as you promote online!
# Indicates award is a plaque’d award
*** Short Film Nominees will be announced the week of October 1st, 2023 ***
2023 NOMINEES
BEST FEATURE FILM
All You Need is Blood
Double Blind
Frogman
Hippo
Irati
New Life
The Deep Dark
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
(No secret nominee)
A Disturbance in the Force
Citizen Sleuth
BEST FOUND FOOTAGE FEATURE
(No secret nominee)
Frogman
Zombie Strain
BEST COMEDY SHORT
Bounce House
Dog Breath
Farmer Ed
Hide Your Crazy
Murder Camp
Shoes Off
String
The 44th Chamber of Shaolin
Up on the Housetop
BEST FANTASTIC SHORT
[subtext]
A Cotton Moon
Accidental Stars
Before I Go
The Loop: Undeniable
They Call It… Red Cemetary!
They Grow Up So Fast
Volition
Waving
BEST FANTASY SHORT
Elixir
Evenveil
I Could Just Die… and That Would Be All Right
Juggernaut
S P I D E R L I L Y
The Ringmaster
The Sin-Eater
Things Visible and Invisible
Villain
BEST FOREIGN SHORT
Bookworm
Cafe Cicatriz
Facies
La Nueva
LIV
Quiet
Shallots and Garlic
Sincopat
The Black Box
BEST HORROR SHORT
Come Home
D I G
Get Away
Hitched
Maryla
My Scary Indian Wedding
Oddities
Pruning
The Queue
BEST MICRO SHORT
Alicia
Alone
Fun, Gus!
Lupe Q and the Galactic Corn Cake
Sempre Avanti
The Princess and the Formaldehyde Specimen
Toggle
Tooth
We Forgot About the Zombies
BEST MIDNIGHT SHORT
Dead Enders
Fck’n Nuts
Fudgie Freddie
Nosepicker
Ride Baby Ride
Septichexen
The Perfect Place to Cry
Too Slow
Wesley Loses His Penis
BEST SCI-FI SHORT
Autopilot
Dark Cell
Ensouled
Entrainment
Escape Attempt
Lost in the Sky
Recollector
Remote
T-Minus
BEST STUDENT SHORT
A Dire Strait
Booba
Jeong-Dong
Requiem
The Management
The Spirit Became Flesh
The Third Ear
Trapped
Voyager
BEST UTAH SHORT
An Arrangment of Skin
Box Boy
Saborrrr!
Sneak Over
The Last Embrace
To Err
Tower Theatre
Whisper
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Drifter
Forlorn
In the Heat
Lands of Steel
Lord
Middle Watch
No. 8 Reporting
Regular Rabbit
The Voice in the Hollow
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
All I Need (The Burning Hell)
Ashes in the Wind (System Syn)
Dead Dreams Falling
Finger Bang Your Day (Jeff Hilliard)
Heart of Vengeance (Crooks)
Hunter (Affentanz)
Kill for Your Love (Labrinth)
Make You Wanna Cry (The Glare)
Old Flames (Abigail Lapell)
BEST WEB SERIES
(No secret nominee)
24/7
Bento Banana
Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story
Hit Man: Secrets of Lies
Pear
Tales from the Dark Web: Moira Hill
BEST FOUND FOOTAGE SHORT
(No secret nominee)
Angel Hare
Haunted by Nikola Tesla
Salvage
Spiral to the Center
Thin Skinned
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
(No secret nominee)
Justice for Batman
The Strom Chaser
THE MINERVA AWARD
(Awarded to a female filmmaker/duo/group whose work embodies the advancement of the voice and empowerment of the female filmmaker in genre cinema today. Must have been a film directed, written, and/or produced by the same female filmmaker.) (No Secret Nominee)
A Little Help – Christine Celozzi
Autopilot – Jennifer Zhang
F’ckn Nuts – Sam Fox
I Could Just Die… and That Would Be All Right – A.K. Espada
Kill Your Lover – Alix Austin
No Overnight Parking – Meg Swertlow
Pruning – Lola Blanc
Ride Baby Ride – Sofie Somoroff
Storm – Lena Tsodykovskaya
Ten of Swords – Faye Jackson
The Ringmaster – Maya Albanese
Velma – Scarlet Moreno
Victim No #6 – Nancy Menagh
Violet Butterfield – Brooke H. Cellars
Where the Witch Lives – Mariel Sharp
BEST DIRECTOR – FEATURE
All You Need is Blood – Cooper Roberts
Double Blind – Ian Hunt-Duffy
Hippo – Mark H. Rapaport
Irati – Paul Urkijo Alijo
New Life – John Rosman
The Deep Dark – Mathieu Turi
The Wait – F. Javier Guiterrez
BEST SCREENPLAY – FEATURE
American Meltdown – Andrew Adams
How to Kill Monsters – Paul Butler & Stewart Sparke
Hundreds of Beavers – Mike Cheslik & Ryland Brickson Cole Tews
Irati – Paul Urkijo Alijo, Jon Muñoz Otaegui & Juan Luis Landa
Me, Myself & The Void – Timothy Hautekiet & Nik Oldershaw
The Hyperborean – Tony Burgess
The Last Movie Ever Made – Nathan Blackwell
BEST ACTOR – FEATURE
All You Need is Blood – Logan Riley Bruner
Frogman – Nathan Tymoshuk
He Never Left – Colin Cunningham
Hippo – Kimball Farley
Kill Your Lover – Shane Quigley Murphy
Me, Myself & The Void – Jack De Sena
The Wait – Víctor Clavijo
BEST ACTRESS – FEATURE
American Meltdown – Jacki Von Preysing
Black Mold – Agnes Albright
Double Blind – Millie Brady
Hippo – Lilla Kizlinger
Kill Your Lover – Paige Gilmour
My Mother’s Eyes – Akane Ono
New Life – Sonya Walger
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – FEATURE
All You Need is Blood – Eddie Griffin
Black Mold – Jeremy Holm
He Never Left – David E. McMahon
Hippo – Jesse Pimentel
Me, Myself & The Void – Chris W. Smith
The Deep Dark – Samuel Le Bihan
Zombie Strain – William Mann
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – FEATURE
All You Need is Blood – Mena Suvari
He Never Left – Jessica Staples
Hippo – Eliza Roberts
Irati – Edurne Azkarate
Me, Myself & The Void – Kelly Marie Tran
My Mother’s Eyes – Mone Shitara
New Life – Hayley Erin
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST – FEATURE
Double Blind
How to Kill Monsters
The Deep Dark
The Hyperborean
The Last Movie Ever Made
The Wait
Zombie Strain
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – FEATURE
All You Need is Blood
American Meltdown
Black Mold
Double Blind
Hippo
Irati
The Wait
BEST EDITING – FEATURE
A Disturbance in the Force
Citizen Sleuth
Frogman
Hundreds of Beavers
Me, Myself & The Void
My Mother’s Eyes
The Hyperborean
BEST SOUND – FEATURE
Double Blind
Frogman
How to Kill Monsters
Hundreds of Beavers
My Mother’s Eyes
New Life
The Deep Dark
BEST SCORE – FEATURE
Citizen Sleuth
He Never Left
Hippo
Irati
Me, Myself & The Void
My Mother’s Eyes
The Wait
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN / ART DIRECTION – FEATURE
Double Blind
How to Kill Monsters
Hundreds of Beavers
The Deep Dark
The Last Movie Ever Made
The Wait
The Wheel of Heaven
BEST COSTUMES – FEATURE
Irati
The Deep Dark
The Last Movie Ever Made
The Wait
The Wheel of Heaven
BEST VISUAL FX – FEATURE
How to Kill Monsters
Hundreds of Beavers
Irati
Kill Your Lover
The Hyperborean
BEST MAKEUP FX – FEATURE
All You Need is Blood
Black Mold
Frogman
How to Kill Monsters
Irati
New Life
The Deep Dark
BEST DIRECTOR – SHORT
A Dire Straight – Liang-Chun Lin
Come Home – Mike Pecci
Escape Attempt – Alex Topaller & Dan Shapiro
Evenveil – Sam Balcomb
My Scary Indian Wedding – Ramone Menon
Pruning – Lola Blanc
Recollector – Nabil Chowdhary
T-Minus – L.M. Oliver
Terror – Giles Buchanan
BEST SCREENPLAY – SHORT
[subtext]
Bounce House
Hitched
In The Heat
Murder Camp
Oddities
String
Sucker
To Err
BEST ACTRESS – SHORT
13 Steps – Sara Fletcher
A Deer Caught in the Headlights – Amelie Onzon
A Good Scream – Fayna Sanchez
Accidental Stars – Madeleine Morrell
I Could Just Die…- Courtney Locke
Overnights – Anatasha Blakely
Pruning – Madeline Brewer
Requiem – Bella Ramsey
The Reclaimers – Erin Ownbey
BEST ACTOR – SHORT
Booba – Joseph Lopez
D I G – Sam Boxleitner
Dixieland – Tony Todd
Frequencies – Matthew Solomon
Fudgie Freddie – Brian Firenzi
Terror – Charles Sandford
The Forgotten – Judah Simard
Waving – Ralph Ineson
What Lies Within – Aiden Carere
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – SHORT
13 Steps – Suzanne Voss
Bounce House – Jade Kaiser
Farmer Ed – Samantha Nugent
Lure – Bobby Rainsbury
My Scary Indian Wedding – Lexa Gluck
Oddities – Ariela Barer
That’s Our Time – Debra Wilson
What Lies Within – Randi Lynne Weidman
Will the circle be unbroken – Whitney Palmer
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – SHORT
Lure – Douglas Russell
Martyr of a Forgotten Dream – Duke Lafoon
My Scary Indian Wedding – Patrick Rutnam
Robbie Ain’t Right No More – Jadon Cal
The Heritage – Bruce Jones
The Ringmaster – Sam Witwer
The Sin-Eater – Jack Parry-Jones
Unkind Cut – Skinner Myers
Volition – Zachary Grant
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST – SHORT*
Captive
Closing Time
Hitched
Interference
Jeong-Dong
Kiddo
Martyr of a Forgotten Dream
Murder Camp
Not Us
Remote
Shallots and Garlic
The Ghost Light
Tower Theatre
Up on the Housetop
Volition
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – SHORT
13 Steps – Matt Devino
Accidental Stars – Andrew Trost
Are You Awake? – Ian Coad
Booba
Escape Attempt
Gutter
Meadowville
Septichexen
The Last Embrace
BEST EDITING – SHORT
Are You Awake?
Come Home
Entrainment
Evenveil
For the Safety Theo
Hideous Heart
Homecoming
Meadowville
Terror
BEST SOUND – SHORT
13 Steps
Come Home
Escape Attempt
Evenveil
Hitched
Honk
Sincopat
The Reclaimers
Vestige
BEST SCORE – SHORT
Book of the Old Ways
Juggernaut
Lost in the Sky
Martyr of a Forgotten Dream
My Scary Indian Wedding
Recollector
T-Minus
Things Visible and Invisible
ZIB
BEST PRODUCTION DESGIN / ART DIRECTION – SHORT
Casual Vignettes of Gilded Vulgarity
Dark Cell
Dead Enders
Escape Attempt
Fck’n Nuts
T-Minus
The Management
Velma
Voyager
BEST COSTUMES – SHORT
Casual Vignettes of Gilded Vulgarity
Content: The Lo-Fi Man
Facies
Juggernaut
Old Time Radio: Your Move
Requiem
S P I D E R L I L Y
The Ringmaster
Velma
BEST VISUAL FX – SHORT
D I G
Dark Cell
Escape Attempt
Evenveil
Fungus
Gov.os
Hideous Heart
Lost in the Sky
We Hunt Giants
BEST MAKEUP FX – SHORT
Dead Enders
Hide Your Crazy
High Fun
I Could Just Die…
Let It Kill You
Old Time Radio: Your Move
Saint-Sacrifice
The Heritage
Toad Boy
UN-PRODUCED SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
The Top 20 Un-produced Feature Screenplay Finalists and Top 10 Un-Produced Short Screenplay Finalists will be announced at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony.
CONGRATULATIONS to ALL the 2023 FilmQuest Award Nominees!