Awards · nominees 17 October · gala 7 November 2026
Your ticket
is a vote.
Two sets of awards, counted separately and presented together at the awards gala on 7 November. The nominees are announced on 17 October. One is decided by the people watching: every ticket carries a vote. The other is decided by an invited jury, and by nothing else.
Decided by the audience — six awards
The Audience Awards
Every ticket carries one vote. Counted from the people who bought a seat and pressed play.
Decided by the jury
The 4U Grand Trophy and the honours
An invited international jury watches all seventy-five films and scores each one. No ticket, and no number of tickets, moves these.
— Decided by the audience
The Audience Awards
Six awards that no jury touches. They are counted from the people who bought a seat and pressed play — one ticket, one vote.
Every ticket, one vote
One film for €4.99, a strand from €15, or every film for €39. Each ticket came with one vote, placed by its holder on one film or spread across the programme.
Voted while watching
Holders could move their votes as often as they liked until the screening closed on 5 October, Berlin time.
Results on 7 November
Presented at the awards gala on 7 November, alongside the jury’s, and published here the same night.
Audience Award
Feature
The most-voted feature film.
Audience Award
Documentary
The most-voted documentary, feature length or short.
Audience Award
Short
The most-voted short film.
Audience Award
New Forms
The most-voted music video, AI or animated work.
Audience Choice — Top 10
The ten most-voted films of the whole edition, whatever strand they came from.
Audience Reach Laurel
Any film watched by one hundred people earns it — not a ranking, and no limit on how many films can. A laurel a filmmaker can go and get.
Counted from distinct viewers who actually started the film, never from tickets bought. A ticket nobody opens counts for nothing.
— The festival’s highest honour
The 4U Grand Trophy
One film, from the whole programme, that is Uncensored, Uncompromising, Unconventional and Unbound — all four at once. Chosen by the jury. Presented on stage in Berlin.
- Uncensored
- Uncompromising
- Unconventional
- Unbound
— Decided by the jury
The jury honours
Every film in the programme is eligible, and the jury may leave any honour unawarded. The craft awards are decided inside each of the four strands — Feature, Documentary, Short, New Forms — so a short film competes with short films, and a feature with features. Two honours come from a smaller circle: the Critics’ Award is chosen among the films our critics reviewed in writing, and the Founder’s Award among the films in the Premiere pack.
Vision · one award across the programme
Jury Honour
The jury’s special distinction for a singular vision.
Underground Spirit
The boldest, most defiant work of the edition.
Founder’s Award
The festival director’s personal choice among the Premiere pack films — the one that shows why BIUFF exists.
Critics’ Award
Chosen by the festival’s critics from the films they reviewed in writing.
Production Navigator
Exceptional resourcefulness in getting an independent film made.
Craft · awarded in each of the four strands
Best Screenplay
Writing that takes real risks with structure or voice.
Best Cinematography
Images only this eye could have framed.
Best Editing
Rhythm and structure built in the cut.
Other craft honours
Direction, performance, sound, music, production design and other crafts — awarded strand by strand, at the jury’s discretion.
Voices & themes · one award across the programme
Best First-Time Director
A remarkable debut behind the camera.
Best Female Director
Outstanding direction by a woman filmmaker.
LGBTQ+ Award
For a film that widens how queer lives are seen on screen.
Best Student Film
The strongest emerging student voice.
Berlin Film
A standout work rooted in Berlin.
Human Rights Award
Cinema in service of dignity and justice.
Environmental Award
Films confronting our relationship with the planet.
The jury honours are decided by the jury and by nothing else. No audience ticket, and no number of tickets, moves them.
Nominees on 17 October. Winners on 7 November.
The online screening ran from 21 September 2026 to 5 October 2026. Every ticket carried a vote.