FILMQUEST 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
The 2026 FilmQuest saw 2,942 films and screenplays submitted for consideration, shattering yet again our record for submissions with a 26% increase over 2025, which made selecting this year’s lineup the most difficult the festival has experienced to date. From these submissions, the jury made our Official Selections across several categories from around the world to play and compete at the 13th edition 2026 FilmQuest Festival.
Screenplay finalists were chosen by a group of professional third party judges, of which the top 20% of the un-produced screenplays in both the feature and short film categories were chosen. The Pilot Screenplay competition was also introduced, adding the top 25% of both long and short form pilots to the selections. These finalists can be seen below the film selections on this page.
A total of 38 nations are represented in the final selections from a field that saw 70 countries submit to the festival for consideration.
The 13th annual FilmQuest will take place October 23rd – 31st, 2026 at the Velour Live Music Gallery in beautiful Downtown Provo, Utah. VIP Passes are now on sale, with tickets for individual screenings and events going on sale once the schedule of events and screenings are finalized by the last week of September. A virtual cinema, with selections screening exclusively online will also be a part of the festival, will be hosted with our festival streaming platform partner EO Flix / CineLot (download the mobile app today). More information on how to access the films for the online screenings will be coming in September. The website will also be fully updated in September with information on every film and screenplay in preparation for the physical festival this Fall.
Nominations will be announced for all awards at a later date in September. Premiere statuses TBD. Selections are subject to change before the festival.
Start planning your FilmQuest experience today and prepare for Fantastic as our 13th season is going to be a can’t miss experience and event attended by filmmakers, screenwriters, actors, and press from around the world!
FEATURE FILMS
Bandit – (Regional Premiere) Indonesia
Bravado – (Regional Premiere) USA & Wales
Gaua (aka The Night) – (Regional Premiere) Spain
Godhead – (USA Premiere) USA
Godmother – (Regional Premiere) USA
Grind – (Regional Premiere) USA
Ithaqua – (Regional Premiere) Canada
Mother & Me – (North America Premiere) USA
Oddities – (Regional Premiere) USA
Rubberhead: The Life & Monsters of Steve Johnson (documentary) – (USA Premiere) USA
Sender – (Regional Premiere) USA
The Avalanche – (World Premiere) USA
The Crawling – (World Premiere) USA
The Peril at Pincer Point – (Regional Premiere) United Kingdom
The Relic: Dragon – (World Premiere) USA
The Velocipastor 2 – (Regional Premiere) USA
Whiskey Throttle – (World Premiere) USA
SHORT FILMS
COMEDY, DARK COMEDY & FANTASY/HORROR/SCI-FI COMEDY SHORTS
5secondfilms – USA
A Nightmare on Felt Street – Australia
A Hand to Hold – United Kingdom
Are We Still Married? – USA
Ash Hole – USA
Bedf*ck – USA
Bigfoot Lover – Ireland
BLOODSTEEL: Operation Kaboom – France
Brick Boy – USA
Cherubs – Switzerland
Clown Song – Canada, UK & USA
Dagnabbit! – USA
Dirtmouths – USA
Domeownation – Canada, Mexico & Spain
Fester – Canada
Final Form – USA
Frankslist – USA
Friends Like Us – Canada
Gog – USA
Grow – United Kingdom
Hand Job – USA
Headcase – Canada
Hell House – USA
House Cat – USA
I Wanna Go Home – USA
Imago – USA
In the Palm of Her Hand – USA
Intimité – USA
It Had To Be You – USA
It’s Hard Not to be Romantic About Time Travel – USA
JAW – USA
Knitting Club – Portugal
Lana vs. The Forces of Evil – USA
Lure – USA
M.R.I. (or, Michael Returns Indefinitely) – USA
Mantis Stream! Like and Subscribe – USA
Marv – Australia
Matches – USA
Meat – USA
Meeting Your Maker – USA
Million Dollar Man – USA
Missing Socks – USA
Money’s Tight – USA
My Private Yellowstone – South Africa
My Severed Arm – USA
Night of the Living Pumpkin – USA
No Worries – USA
No. 3 – USA
Please and Thank You – USA
Scissors – USA
Scullion – USA
Severed – USA
Shadow in the Desert – USA
Shelly – Australia
Space Chai – New Zealand
Stain – USA
Story Arcs Inc. – USA
Tasty Bones – USA
That Damn Cat – USA
The Candle – USA
The Devil’s Lettuce – USA
The Haunting of Play House – USA
The Humbug – United Kingdom
The King of the Full Moon Night – USA
The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much – USA
The Smother – USA
The Work – USA
This is a Zombie Movie – USA
‘Til Death Do Us Part – Ireland
Tina and The Fly – USA
Total Party Kill – USA
Udders! – USA
Ultra Juice – USA
Vape Glow – USA
War – USA
We’re Not Them – USA
Zits – USA
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Remembrance of Night Whispers – Canada
FANTASTIC SHORTS
Albert – Guernsey & United Kingdom
Callback – USA
It’s a Wonderful Night of the Living Dead – USA
Night Ride – Ukraine
Overlooked – USA
Shoot Day – USA
Summer Project – Japan
The Cranberry Effect – Italy
The Last Glass – USA
The Lone Piper – USA
Totem – USA
FANTASY & DARK FANTASY SHORTS
Charlie is Not a Boy – France, Hungary & USA
Oma – USA
Pack – USA
Redneck – USA
The Great Fish of the Lake – France & Switzerland
The Soulless – USA
The Veil – Brazil
To Catch A Siren – Germany, Switzerland & UK
Xolo – USA
HORROR & THRILLER SHORTS
8:38 – USA
99 Ghosts – Uruguay
Artichoke – USA
Banshee – Ireland
Breeder – USA
Bundle – United Kingdom
Camp Oleander – USA
ChokeHold – USA
Cockroach – Canada
Come In – Canada
Crib Club – USA
Crybaby – USA
Doctor Doomscroll – USA
Donation Box – USA
Family Dinner – USA
Feed the Dark – USA
Follow Me Home – USA
Four Itchy Boys – USA
God’s Future Soldiers – USA
Happy – Spain
Hermit – Spain & Venezuela
His Date – USA
Homonym – United Kingdom
How I Met My New Best Friend – USA
I Spy – United Kingdom
Infestation – USA
Inhabitant – USA
It Always Comes Back – United Kingdom
It Helps – USA
Jubilee – Australia
Kāalgaon – India & USA
Keelhaul – USA
Krew – Canada
Lily of the Valley – USA
Madam – USA
Magpie – Netherlands
Man Eating Pussy – Canada
Marge – USA
Marisol – USA
Me First – Spain
Method – USA
Milo – USA
Nail-Biter – USA
Needle – USA
Obscure Identity – USA
On Broken Glass – USA
Open Mic – Spain
Pea – USA
Playback – USA
Red Velvet – USA
Room At the Inn – USA
Sapling – United Kingdom
Secondhand – USA
Silver Anniversary – USA
Spilled Milk – USA
Stay In – USA
The Bones Exist – USA
The Dysphoria – Australia
The Immaculates – Belgium
The Shift – USA
The Witchening – USA
There is Always a Monster – Spain
Thick Skin – USA
Tor Lewa – United Kingdom
Wax – Canada
Yaoguai – USA
You’re Not Safe – USA
SCI-FI & THE BEYOND SHORTS
4 Minutes Before Forever – United Kingdom
Anomaly | TR-3B – USA
Aurora – USA
Azul – Mexico
Certain Thomas – South Korea & USA
Dormant – Russia
Filther – Norway
Focal Point – USA
Headphones – Australia
Heatwave – USA
Hivemind Deluxe – USA
Human Resource – USA
Ignis – USA
Imprint – USA
Indian in a Box – USA
Infinite Rifts – USA
Is It Okay to Pick Up a Gucci Box in the Middle of an Intersection? – USA
Karayr (Cave) – Jordan & United Arab Emirates
Last Generation – Spain
Love in All The Wrong Places – USA
Madre Mía – Mexico
NANOcell – USA
Odyssey on a Loop – Canada
Okay – USA
Reset – USA
Starpost – USA
The Afters – Ireland
The Anchoress – USA
The Catcher – Belgium
The Color – Germany
The Expiration of Darius Campbell – USA
The Hunt – France
The Manor – USA
The Me in the TV – USA
The Old Gods – Canada
To Be Human – USA
Tranquil – Canada
Tria Fata – France
Vector – USA
Visitors – USA
UTAH SHORTS
After Us – USA
Can I Put You On Hold – USA
Fiesta No Mas – USA
For Better or Hearse – USA
Frostburn – USA
Gumbeef – USA
Helltapes – USA
Honey Business (animation) – USA
I’ll Be Right Back – USA
Intramus – USA
Morbid Sight – USA
Relict (BYU / student film) – USA
The Sweater – USA
The Vessel – USA
Vampires Suck I.T. – USA
Winds Howling: A Witcher Fan Film – USA
STUDENT FILMS
COMEDY & DARK COMEDY STUDENT FILMS
Baby Fever (Chapman) – USA
Lights Camera Carnage (Loyola Marymount) – USA
The Sorrow of Young Charlotte (National Film and Television School) – United Kingdom
FANTASTIC STUDENT FILMS
Empty Lands (USC) – Egypt & USA
Gummy Bear (AFI) – USA
FANTASY STUDENT FILMS
Did It Ever Happen? (Mercer Island High School) – USA
Kemet (ARTFX) – France
Petals (AFI) – USA
The Fabric of Darkness (Lodz Film School) – Poland
The Nymph (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg) – Germany
HORROR & THRILLER STUDENT FILMS
Beware the Wolves (AFI) – USA
Carousel (NYU) – USA
In My Blood (NYU) – USA
Newcomer (USC) – USA
Night Feeds (AFI) – USA
Pandora (London Film School) – United Kingdom
Shedding (AFI) – USA
SCI-FI & THE BEYOND STUDENT FILMS
A Darker Place: Cases from the D.C.A. (Chapman) – USA
Europa (USC) – USA
If Tomorrow Ever Comes (Loyola Marymount) – USA
ANIMATED FILMS
Ape Shit – USA
Återsådd – Sweden
Bliss – Canada
Blood Moon – USA
BottomFeeder – USA
Death’s Peak – United Kingdom
Deathguard: Career Counselor – USA
Dolly Baby: Rhythym & Flesh – Canada
Dormilón – USA
Down the Chimney – USA
Edward – USA
Eight Uncomfortable Robots – USA
Ghosts in the Fog – Mexico & USA
Grylu Sker: An Icelandic Ghost Story – Iceland & USA
Hell – USA
Look Out – USA
Meteoric – Ireland
Miseros Morsu – Mexico
My Name is Ringo – USA
Run From It – Canada
Season’s Greetings – USA
Tarnished Seed – USA
The Cloud Herder – Ireland
The Whistle – USA
Untasted – New Zealand
White Box – China & USA
MUSIC VIDEOS
Animals (Mowth) – USA
Anthrax’s The Edge of Perfection (Anthrax) – USA
Dreamwalker (Anita Aysola) – Iceland & USA
Fingers Crossed (The Moth & The Flame) – USA
Gold Star, Good Citizen (Die Shiny) – USA
Hole (Faetooth) – USA
Last Night – USA
Lightning Scar (Bronco Forte) – USA
Monty (Yvette Young & Novo Amor) – United Kingdom
Size Two (Vanity) – USA
The Core – France
The Kill 2 (Lex Amarni) – United Kingdom
The Misfits / The Rebels (Carpenter Brut) – France & USA
The Worms (The Creeping Things) – USA
Thunder Strike (FLG & Corella) – United Kingdom
(T)ouch! (Vanity) – USA
Trophia (Kataria) – USA
Untitled Jeff Hilliard Video – USA
SCREENPLAYS
All un-produced screenplay finalists chosen by a team of third party judges. Finalists are the Top 20% of un-produced screenplays in the short and feature categories. Finalists are the top 25% between the short form and long form categories. Winners and Top 20 (Features), Top 5 (Shorts), and Top 3 (Pilots) will be announced at the festival. Semi-Finalists and Quarter-Finalists from the competition are currently listed on the website elsewhere.
SCREENPLAY FINALISTS – FEATURES (Top 20%)
A Savage Landscape by Guy Pooles
Accelerate by Alan Mah Baxter
All About Mia by Charlie Osler
All Nazis Die by Nathan Shapiro
Alma’s Will by Kelly Karam & Jeffrey Howe
Amos Lockhart and the Forgotten Valley by Tom Rivers
Annotations by Malva Hornfelt
Beneath the Dust by Brady Skye
Bite Back by Antonio Negret
Bitter Harvest by Jack Warner
Blood$ucker by Kayne Gorney
Bloody Marys by Zack Ogle
Bouncer by Alastair Orr
Boys’ Club by Troy DeWinne
Claymore by Dutch Godshalk
Controllers by Adam Azimov, Isaac Cravit & Ellen Wong
Domdad by Christopher Bencomo
Easy Going by Van Tran Nguyen & Alex Derwick
Eggs: From Cluck to Calamity by Brad Kaaya Sr.
Glo by Lauren Kent
Goldy by Gregory Funaro
Good Luck, Babe! by Egidio Concas
Grandmothered by Eric Rich
Harmony by Ashley George
Harmony Lane by Alison Weaverdyck
Heather Would Never by Emelie Claxton
Hidebehind by Matthew Wilkins
Hija by Avishai Weinberger, Rosa Salazar, & Toby Louie
His Father’s House by Kenneth Lawrence & Travis Delaney
I Got You by Peter Ricq
Jordan and the Sphere by Ross Howard Martin
Meadowville by Phillip Clark Davis
Moon Terminal by Anthony Ferraro
My Dream Lover by Matthew Kollar & Kazimiera Syzperski
Necrotica by Wesley Drent
Nightbreak Canyon by Jennifer Trudrung
One Less Egg to Fry by Dennis J. Manning
Oracle by Alec Gibbons
Road Kill by Ashley Wilson & Rebecca Wilson
Scallywags by Jason McCullough
Society of the Moon by Jack Warner
Something Inside Me by Aaron Pagniano
Somnus by Steven Raney
The Boy Who Found Infinity by Richard Fenwick
The Dark Room by Matthew Troy
The Executioner’s Wife by Gary Reimer
The Feral Seventh by Stacey Spivey
The Great Storm by Lorenda Kirves Wyant
The Hallows by Layne Marie Williams & Cambell O’hare
The Lambing by Jillian Corsie
The Last Call by Henry Winnik
The Reach by Tsung-Long Wu
The Scythe by Terrance M. Thibodeaux
The Storm in Her by Erin Copen Howard
The Tiki by Matthew Christian Nancarrow
They All Died Happy by W. Alex Reeves
They’re Watching Us Dance by Joseph Gietl
Thrash by Kieran Shea & David Osorio
Treasure Trap by Jack Warner
Universe 25 by Kelly Tappan & David Tappan
Unstrung by Jerold Wallace
What We Carry by Michael H. Moore
White Meat by David Dylan Thomas
Wollstonecraft by Kerri Lee Romeo
Yarnface by Kirene Bolsen-Long & Ellizabeth Long
PILOT SCREENPLAY FINALISTS – LONG FORM (Top 15)
Algorithm by Zac Taylor
An Unfound Door by Michael Mortimer
Cultivation by Stevie Nelson
Dance Around the Dying by Jeffrey Howe
Ed & Valentine by Melanie Civetta
First Echo by C.S. Luis
Medusa by Nathan Shapiro
Myths of Lumdaria: The Catalyst by Stephonika W. Kaye
Precursor by Steve Brown
Savage by David Schlow
Soul Masters by Jonathan Maryles
Stranded by Amy Kay DuBoff
The League of Secret Inventors by Patience Ray
The Monsters We See in the Dark by Steven K Jackley
Unbury Me by Alyssa Katalyna
SCREENPLAY FINALISTS – SHORTS (Top 20%)
A Couple of Lifetimes by August Joaquim Soto
A Thousand Tiny Cuts by Anna Long
Blood Sugar by Travis Long
Burning by Kay Qiao & Gerard Howard
Cannibal Christmas by Michael Clifton
Chokehold by Spooky Madison
Comfort Food by Kristen Semedo
Dead Water by Kevin Machate
EVAluation by Marian Siwiak & Marlena Siwiak
Evenfall Gardens by Dana Slotkin Wall
Freddy Nall by Presley Paras
Hazel by Julie Sharbutt
Keep Him Comfortable by Justin Kohlas
Let It Grow by Alastair Train
Mister Wolf by MK McGehee
Moorehouse by Ryan Harman
Moribund by KC Mussman
Night Shift by John Osment
No One Took Her Seriously and Now They’re All Dead by Brandon Mercer
Nothing Changes by Tyler Beveridge
Of Iron & Ink by Sara Al Thani
Ravenous by Jake Allgeier
Retrograde by Michael H. Moore
Right in the Face by Sean Kenealy
Root Cause by Isabella Theophanous-Maddison
Sam/Sam by Troy DeWinne & David Bornstein
Signal by Shannon Denise Evans
Spirits by Kelsey Bollig
Still Loading by Emily Faris
Suprise! by Jack Warner
Synnoia by J.H. Allely
The Current by Michael Ferrara
The Elevator Pitch: Or How I got Stuck in an Elevator with the Incomparable Doug Jones by Kieran Shea
The Surface Calls by Matthew Kravchuk
Until God Listens by Paul Frank
Where They Wait by Walter Mirkšs & Shane Nolan
PILOT SCREENPLAY FINALISTS – SHORT FORM (Top 10)
Chubbies by Jeremy Ray Buchard
Greg’s Dojo by Jeremy Ray Buchard
Hunted by Craig Urquhart
In the Year 3000 by JJ Pollack
Maw of America by Liz Anderson
Meat Cute by Kate Bridal
New Pork by Sebastian Kennedy & Zach Dulmage
Nina by Ryan Jafri & Heather McDonald
Razor: The Rock and Roll Werewolf by John Connor Cook
Santiago by Kerri L. Hill
Congratulations to all the 2026 FilmQuest Official Selections!