Aontas and Middletown were named best narrative feature and best documentary feature, respectively, by San Luis Obispo International Film Festival judges during closing night ceremonies April 30.
The audience awards for narrative and documentary features went to Paper Flowers and Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion, with the Jay Duplass film The Baltimorons garnering “Best of Fest” honors from attendees. Duplass was celebrated on Sunday with the festival’s Spotlight Award.
The only overlapping winner—for both juried and audience awards—is Booked a Room for best music video.
Additional juried award winners include Sew Torn, narrative feature honorable mention; Ragamuffin, best short narrative; Tiger, best short documentary; The Long Valley, documentary short honorable mention; Hidden Creek, best Central Coast feature; Wonders of the Wolf, best CCFS documentary short; and Son-Mat, best CCFS narrative short.
Audience award winners also include Zari, best short narrative; Motorcycle Mary, best short documentary; Unearth, best Central Coast feature; The Monday Club, best CCFS documentary short; and Toledo, best CCFS narrative short.
The competition jury for the 2025 festival included producers Bernadette Beck, Ben Bryan, John Hoffman and Sophie Kissinger; filmmakers Van Alpert, Jeffrey Christian, Sofia Garza-Barba, Talha Hussaini, Marc Marriott, and Sav Rodgers; journalist Borys Kit; film distribution executive Alexandra Fredricks; film festival executives Daniel Sol and Barbara Twist; music executives Scott Augat and Amy Wright; and educators Lee Kemp and Emily Ryalls.
Winning Films Return to the Palm May 1-5
Award-winning films (with the exception of The Baltimorons) will be shown May 1-5 at the Palm Theatre. Festival volunteer vouchers and all-access passes will be accepted at the box office for the screenings, and the public can purchase tickets as well.
May 1
Middletown 4:15 p.m.
Aontas 7 p.m.
May 2
Encore Shorts #1 4 p.m. (Booked a Room, Ragamuffin, The Long Valley, Tiger, Zari, Motorcycle Mary)
Sew Torn 7 p.m.
May 3
Encore Shorts #1 1 p.m. (Booked a Room, Ragamuffin, The Long Valley, Tiger, Zari, Motorcycle Mary)
Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion 4 p.m.
Paper Flowers 7 p.m.
May 4
Encore Shorts #2 1:30 p.m. (Toledo, Wonders of the Wolf, Son-Mat, The Monday Club)
Hidden Creek 4:15 p.m.
Unearth 7 p.m.
May 5
Aontas 4:15 p.m.
Middletown 7 p.m