Honorees
Filmmaker on the Edge
Ari Aster
Ari Aster is an acclaimed director, screenwriter and producer. His most recent film, Eddington, starring Pedro Pascal, Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone, recently premiered in competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. After graduating from the AFI Conservatory in 2010, Aster first garnered shock and acclaim with the short film The Strange Thing about the Johnsons (2011). He then moved on to write and direct a string of bold, visionary feature films known for blending unsettling horror spectacle with the dark humor of his unique cinematic voice. Those films, produced and distributed by A24, include Hereditary (2018)— at the time A24’s highest grossing release and nominated for Best First Feature at that year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards—Midsommar (2019), and Beau is Afraid (2023).
Excellence in Acting
Murray Bartlett
Murray Bartlett is an award-winning actor, nabbing the 2022 Emmy Award® for Outstanding Actor in a Limited Series for his acclaimed performance as hotel manager “Armond” in the first season of HBO’s The White Lotus. He has also won a Critics’ Choice Award and has been nominated for a SAG award and Independent Spirit Award. In 2023 he pulled off the rare feat of receiving multiple Emmy nominations in a single year for his performances in Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales and HBO’s The Last of Us. Murray’s multiple other credits include the scene stealing role of “Vinnie Green” in Apple TV+’s Physical, Michael “Mouse” Tolliver in Netflix’s Tales of the City, and “Dom” in HBO’s Looking.
Next Wave Award
River Gallo
River Gallo (they/them) is a GLAAD Award-winning filmmaker, actor, writer, model, and intersex rights activist whose groundbreaking work is redefining queer representation in cinema.
Gallo wrote, produced, and starred in PONYBOI, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and won NewFest’s Grand Jury Award. Their performance as a young intersex sex worker on the run from the mob earned them the Best Performance Award at the Torino Film Festival. Marking a historic first, PONYBOI is the first narrative feature film created by and starring an intersex person in an intersex role.
Eva Victor
Eva Victor (they/she) is a writer-director and actor whose fearless, character-forward comedic sensibility has cemented them as an undeniable triple threat to watch. Their feature directorial debut SORRY, BABY premiered to high acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, which Victor also wrote and stars in alongside Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges, was produced by Barry Jenkins, and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, with the jury praising its “stunning honesty [and] moving sense of humor.” A24 will release the film in the fall.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Every year, PIFF audiences are encouraged to vote for their favorite feature films at the festival. Paper ballots are distributed at the theaters with a rating system of 1-4 (with 4 being the best) and collected after the screenings. We then tally the votes and present our Audience Awards at the conclusion of the festival. Watch a film and then cast your vote!
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
JOHN SCHLESINGER AWARDS
Each year, PIFF recognizes two first-time feature film directors whose work commemorates the legacy of one of our finest American directors. John Schlesinger (1926-2003) gave us such exemplary works as Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man, The Day of the Locust, and Sunday Bloody Sunday. When asked to give advice to first-time directors, Schlesinger responded, “Never take ‘no’ for an answer. It’s a long business getting something off the ground and it takes great determination.”
Award for Best Director of a Narrative Film
Award for Best Director of a Documentary Film
JURIED SHORTS AWARDS
The Provincetown International Film Festival is very proud to be an Academy-qualifying film festival in 3 short film categories: Narrative, Documentary, and Queer Short. Films awarded by our jury in those categories may qualify to enter the Academy Awards® race for the concurrent season.
The Provincetown International Film Festival offers 5 juried shorts awards: Best Narrative Short Film, Best Documentary Short Film, Best Animated Short Film, Best Queer Short Film, and Best New England Short Film.