Kansas City FilmFest International announces 2025 winners from features, shorts, and homegrown cinema

For twenty-nine years, Kansas City FilmFest International has brought audiences, films, and filmmakers together to celebrate the power of storytelling through the cinematic arts. Hitting last weekend—alongside KC’s Panic Fest up at Screenland Armour—the famous cinema collective event featured categories full of features, shorts, and even screenplays.

A number of categories include a winner that we’ve compiled here, along with a few of the loglines that feature local stories we can’t wait to learn more about.

Best Heartland Narrative Short
DON’T HANG UP
Directed by Diamond Batiste
In rural Hayti, Missouri, matriarch Elizabeth Holiday confronts her past when an unexpected call from her former student, Jeremy, disrupts her routine. As they navigate their shared history and the challenges of their community, they’re forced to confront harsh realities, igniting a journey of reconciliation and redemption.

Best Narrative Short
SALLY GET THE POTATOES
Directed by Danicah Waldo
It’s a few days before Christmas and six-year-old Sally longs for someone to play with. Unfortunately her family is too preoccupied with their own troubles to pay her any attention. After being sent on an impossible mission to collect the potatoes from the pantry, Sally accidentally embarks on an unexpected hidden ride in her wealthy family’s rolling laundry cart. Behind the closed doors of each bedroom, Sally learns the secrets her family has been keeping from her, and from each other.

Best Heartland High School Student Short
BLEACH BOY
Directed by John Young and Asyiah Montes

Best Heartland College Student Short
ROOM 10
Directed by Kaleb Fobair and Sophie Ivens

Fred G. Andrews Emerging Filmmaker Award
FROM ME TO YOU
Directed by Vy Nguyen

Rick Cowan Award for Best Cinematic Heartland Film Locations
[Two films tied for this award]
LIMBO
Directed by Joshua Guillaume
PARABLE
Directed by Ritchey Cable

Best Heartland Documentary Short
MIKE AND BILLY’S AMERICAN PIE
Directed by Erin P.S. Zimmerman

Best Documentary Short
EDEL RODRIQUEZ: FREEDOM IS A VERB
Directed by Mecky Creus and Adrienne Hall

Best Heartland Documentary Feature
THE EMPATHIZER
Directed by Fred Le and Bret Hamilton

Best Documentary Feature
REBEL WITH A CLAUSE
Directed by Brandt Johnson
One fall day in 2018, Ellen Jovin set up a folding table on a Manhattan sidewalk with a homemade sign that said “Grammar Table.” Right away, passersby began excitedly asking questions, telling stories, and filing complaints. What happened next is the stuff of grammar legend. Ellen and her filmmaker husband, Brandt Johnson, took the table on the road, visiting all 50 states as Brandt shot the grammar action. Media outlets across the country celebrated the adventures of the Grammar Table in over 100 print, radio, and television stories. People from every imaginable background visited the table to share a laugh, settle disputes, and talk about their grammar insecurities. These conversations took place in small towns and big cities, by bookstores and coffee shops, on beaches and mountainsides. But this story transcends grammar. It’s the story of an epic quest to bring us all closer together. In a time of extreme social and political division, the Grammar Table is a place of unity and connection. The conversations at the table help answer the question “How can we all get along?” Come for the grammar. Stay for the humanity.

Best Feature Screenplay
OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE
Written by Ivy Vale, Rick Reil

Best Heartland Narrative Feature
THE MILITIA
Directed by Dylan King Welter

Best World Cinema Narrative Feature
WHERE THERE IS LOVE THERE IS NO DARKNESS
Directed by Stevan Lee Mraovitch
Where There is Love, There is No Darkness follows Seydou, a young migrant from Senegal working as a food delivery driver in Paris. Struggling to survive in a city that barely acknowledges his existence, he faces an exploitative system while trying to support his family back home. Amid the loneliness and injustice, he forms an unexpected bond with Albert, a reclusive Parisian widower. Through their friendship, Seydou finds moments of grace, highlighting the resilience of invisible workers who sustain urban life. This deeply humanistic film explores endurance, faith, and the power of human connection.

Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film
Natalie Polo in MY LITTLE MOON, directed by Ali Atshani

Best Narrative Feature
MISSISSIPPI SCHOLAR
Directed by Marcus Bleecker