Verona International Film Festival Unveils Award Winners of 2026 Edition!

The Verona International Film Festival concluded its 11th edition this week at the Multisala Rivoli, located right in the heart of the historical city center. The festival team would like to thank all guests for their enthusiasm. A big thank you also to all filmmakers for sending in their work. Out of over a thousand of submissions, 20 wonderful films from Italy and around the world made it to the final selection for 2026.

 

Kris De Meester, festival director “The Verona International Film Festival was a remarkable success. We were sold out every night, and unfortunately even had to disappoint dozens of people who could no longer enter the theatre — for which we sincerely apologize. More importantly, it was an incredibly emotional and meaningful edition. Many of the films addressed difficult and deeply human subjects, including suicide and sexual violence, and the audience engaged with them with remarkable openness and attention. That engagement continued in a series of thoughtful, in-depth Q&As, creating exactly the kind of meaningful dialogue that a film festival should inspire.”

 

Verona International Film Festival is pleased to share with you today the jury results for this year's awards:

 

Best Narrative Feature Film

Life on Mercury (Ireland, Romania) by Mathieu Constantin

 

Best Documentary Feature Film 

Lo Spazio Vuoto (Italy) by Stefano P. Testa, Alberto Ceresoli

 

Best Narrative Short Film

Another February (Denmark) by Tobias Ervolder

 

Best Documentary Short Film

Bambine Mie - My Little Girls (Italy) by Letizia Zatti

 

Best Experimental Film

The Taming of Soft Machines (Finland) by Christian Luoma

 

Best Animated Film

We remain standing (Italy) by Alessandro Rak

 

New Voice

To the embers (France) by Morgane Ambre

 

Best Italian Film 

Pizza Flash (Italy) by Luca Guanci

 

Audience Choice Award 

Charlotte Salomon’s Letter (United States) by Dana Plays

 

Congratulations!

 

ABOUT VERONA IFF

A film festival focussing on the complexity of human relationships set in Shakespeare's city of love Verona, Italy. Does it get any better than this? The Verona International Film Festival welcomes films about “relationships” in its broadest, most relative sense of the word. The festival presents films which revolve around relationships in all their different forms whether spiritual, physical, interpersonal, familial, and humanitarian and can even touch upon relationships between nations and political parties. Films can tackle the complexity, ever-changing dynamics, adversity, and multi-faceted aspects pertaining to these different types of relationships.