Audience Award Voted by Spectators and Most Viewed Award Announced

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA), Asia's largest international short film festival recognized by the U.S. Academy Awards, has successfully concluded its 2026 festival with the closing of its online Grand Theater on June 30th. The Audience Award, chosen by audience votes from the Tokyo venue which opened on May 25th and the online Grand Theater which ran until June 30th, and the Most Viewed Award for the most-watched short film on the online Grand Theater have been decided.

The "Audience Award (Audience Prize)," selected from the Live Action, Non-Fiction, and Animation categories based on passionate audience support, features five works that highlight the diversity and emotional human drama unique to short films: the Argentine tragicomedy "Zara's Chaotic Life," about a listless woman tormented by the curse of fame; the Indian film "Uzuki," a delicate portrayal of inner awakening; the Japanese thriller "shady," depicting the tense escape of young people involved in illicit part-time jobs; the Chinese documentary "Break Free," focusing on the present struggles of a former gang member as a father and dancer; and the Australian-British animation "Trading Cards," which depicts the experience of obsessive-compulsive disorder through tarot cards.

The "Most Viewed Award (Most Watched Prize)," which garnered the most access and attention during the online streaming period, was awarded to the Japanese film "Otto no Ashi." This unique human suspense depicts the cold relationship between a husband who has an abnormal love for a mannequin's legs and his wife. Its intense worldview and unpredictable development captivated many viewers.

Each award-winning film is scheduled to be screened at the international short film festival in the fall. https://www.shortshorts.org/2026/awards/

Audience Award Live Action Category International

"Zara's Chaotic Life" Director: Brian Kazez / 20:06 / Argentina, France, Spain, USA / Comedy / 2024

Zara, listless and working at an electronics store. Through an unfortunate incident with a famous actor, she suddenly becomes a celebrity, but her fame and fortune eventually become a curse. The glory that comes with a meteoric rise is soon to fall.

Audience Award Live Action Category Asia International

"Uzuki" Director: Vaidaangi Sharma / 20:11 / India / Drama / 2025

On the morning of her birthday, a teenage girl unexpectedly discovers pleasure. This event shakes the world of unspoken desires hidden within a seemingly conservative Indian family, leading her and her mother down an unexpected path.

Audience Award Live Action Category Japan

"shady" Director: Hi-taka Yamada / 16:35 / Japan / Thriller / 2025

Masashi and Hikaru are in a ruin, carrying out a burglary as part of a "dark part-time job" with a group of four, but the crime fails. They try to contact their boss, Takeda, by phone for help, but he is unreachable. Lost their support, the two have fled to the ruins. Meanwhile, Hikaru proposes a certain plan to Masashi.

Audience Award Non-Fiction Category

"Break Free" Directors: Simeon Hu & Charles Xiuzhi Dong / 16:24 / China, USA / Non-Fiction / 2025

Huizhou, China. B-Boy Fist6, a former gang member and now a breakdancer with 400 students and a young son. Will he continue to train the next generation, or will he pursue his own dream of competing on the world stage, risking everything? He faces a major decision.

Audience Award Animation Category

"Trading Cards"

Director: Radheya Jegatheva / 14:59 / Australia, UK / Animation / 2026

A mysterious man travels to the past to confront his younger self. It seems like a journey tracing back nostalgic days spent engrossed in trading cards. This dark fantasy depicts identity, mental health, and the fading innocence of childhood, quietly portraying life with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Most Viewed Award

"Otto no Ashi"

Director: Kimi Yawata / 24:32 / Japan / Thriller / 2026

The husband named the mannequin's legs "Kazumi." His affection for "Kazumi" becomes abnormal and eventually begins to surpass his wife's existence. The "anomaly" brought into their cold marital life exposes the relationship between the two in this human suspense.

[Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia]

In 1999, actor Tetsuya Bessho, also a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), founded the American Short Shorts Film Festival with the desire to introduce "short films," which he encountered in the United States, to Japan as a new visual genre. In 2001, the name was changed to "Short Shorts Film Festival (SSFF)," and in 2004, it was certified as an official film festival of the U.S. Academy Awards.

In the same year, "Short Shorts Film Festival Asia (SSFF ASIA, co-hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government)" was established with the aim of disseminating new visual culture from Asia and nurturing emerging young filmmakers. Currently, the film festival is held under the general name "SSFF & ASIA."

To commemorate the festival's 20th anniversary in 2018, the Grand Prix winner's award was named the "George Lucas Award" after director George Lucas. In January 2019, "Short Shorts Film Festival in Hollywood" was held as a 20th-anniversary event. Furthermore, from the 2019 festival, four outstanding works from the Live Action categories (International, Asia International, Japan) and the Non-Fiction category, and from 2022, five works including the outstanding work in the Animation category, gained the right to be nominated as candidates for the short film category of the following year's Academy Awards. SSFF & ASIA will continue to support young creators through the film festival.

[Official Website] https://www.shortshorts.org