The 34th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival
Award Winners
The 34th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) proudly congratulates our 2026 award winners — visionary filmmakers, bold storytellers, fearless artists, and creative disruptors whose work moved audiences, sparked dialogue, and elevated the global Black experience.
Each year, PAFF honors projects that reflect the depth, complexity, and brilliance of the African diaspora. From powerful narratives and groundbreaking documentaries to innovative shorts and emerging voices, our award recipients represent the very best in cinematic and artistic achievement.
These winners didn’t just tell stories.
They shifted perspective.
They challenged convention.
They left a mark.
Jury Awards
Best Animated Short
Two Black Boys in Paradise (UK)
Directed by Baz Sells
Best Feature Documentary
Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story (UK, US)
Directed by Yemi Bamiro
Best First Feature Documentary
Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul (Canada, Jamaica, US)
Directed by Graeme Mathieson
Best First Feature Narrative
Montmartre (France, US)
Directed by Leon Hendrix III
Best Feature Narrative
Billie (Germany)
Directed by Sheri Hagen
Best Short Narrative
The Black Bart of Taco King #17* (US)
Directed by Rickey Larke
Best Short Documentary
Exodus (Panama, US)
Directed by Nimco Sheikhaden
Audience Favorite Awards
Audience Award Feature Documentary
A Better Way: James Lawson, Architect of Nonviolence (US)
Directed by Karen Hayes
Audience Award Feature Narrative
Montmartre (France, US)
Directed by Leon Hendrix III
Audience Award Short Narrative
Spilled Milk (US)
Directed by Jared Leaf
Programmers' Awards
Programmers’ Award Short Documentary
The Price of Resistance: Sala Udin, An American Agitator (US)
Directed by Annette Banks & Ty Cooper
Programmers’ Award Feature Documentary
Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds (Brazil, Nigeria)
Directed by Raynald Leconte
Programmers’ Award Short Narrative
Legally Black (US)
Directed by Abai Peace
Programmers’ Award Feature Narrative
Radio Sky (US)
Directed by Carlitos Do Souto
Ja'Net Dubois Founders Awards
Ja’Net DuBois Founders Award Short Documentary
When the Sky Turned Orange (US)
Directed by B.P. Edwards
Ja’Net DuBois Founders Award Feature Documentary
Trespass (US)
Directed by Kim Watson
Ja’Net DuBois Founders Award Short Narrative
Complicated Grief (Ghana, Switzerland)
Directed by Julius Amedume
Ja’Net DuBois Founders Award Feature Narrative
Muganga, The One Who Treats (Gabon)
Directed by Marie-Hélène Roux