Atlanta’s 39th annual Out On Film festival has announced its 2026 Audience, Jury and Screenplay Award winners, capping an 11-day celebration of LGBTQ+ cinema under this year’s theme, “The World We’re Making.” Presented by GILEAD, festival screenings, Q&As, and panels centered around the historic Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.
Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s lauded “La Bola Negra,” which follows three generations of men across pivotal moments in Spanish history whose lives are intimately connected through desire, pain, and love, won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. “La Bola Negra” is Spain’s submission for the 2027 Oscars® in the Best International Feature Film category and considered a strong contender in many other categories.
“Receiving the Audience Award at Out On Film means everything to us. Even from afar, we heard about the festival’s incredible energy. Knowing the Atlanta queer community turned out and felt connected to our film is the best gift we as filmmakers could ask for. Thank you for embracing ‘La Bola Negra’ so warmly and we hope that audiences will come out to see it in theaters very soon—long live the magic of shared cinema!” — Los Javis (Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi)
The runner-up was Nicholas Molencupp’s made-in-Atlanta comedy “In Between,” which made its world premiere at the festival.
“Love Patrick: Nothing Is Impossible,” directed by the Horne Brothers, has been named the Audience Award winner for Best Documentary Feature, just nipping Elizabeth Wolff and Liz Garbus’ Billie Jean King documentary “Give Me The Ball!” “Love Patrick: Nothing is Impossible” is about former Atlantan Patrick Kelly and examines how a joyful, southern, black designer reshaped fashion while confronting race, identity, and mortality.
Atlanta’s Malik Brown’s “Undecided” won the Feature Screenplay, while “THREE BURNED BODIES” by Erik Jasaň, Terézia Čikoš, and Javaria Waseem took home the award for Best Short Screenplay.
Allan Deberton’s “Gugu’s World,” which follows a queer teenager navigating friendship, desire, and self‑discovery in a small coastal town in northeastern Brazil, dominated the Jury Awards with three wins, including Best Narrative Feature. It is Brazil’s submission for the 2027 Oscars® in the Best International Feature Film category.
The Jury Award for Best Drama Short went to Desdemona Chiang’s “See You Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow,” in which an aspiring stand-up comedian delays her career aspirations to do the greater work of caring for her 99-year-old grandmother in her final years. This category is Out On Film’s Oscar® qualifying category.
This year, the festival offered a diverse selection that included 38 features (26 narrative films and 12 documentaries, four of which are streaming-only films); an episode of the STARZ TV series “Tip Toe,”; 108 shorts films three music videos; and five episodics for a total of 155 films. In all, Out On Film hosted 10 world premieres, five international premieres, 11 U.S. premieres and more than 20 regional premieres as part of the 2026 festival.
“Each year, our audiences and jurors are faced with the difficult and rewarding task of choosing among an extraordinary range of LGBTQ+ films and this year was no exception,” said Out On Film Festival Director Jim Farmer. “The films recognized this year represent the very best of queer storytelling — bold, beautifully crafted, emotionally resonant and often deeply personal. From powerful documentaries and compelling narratives to the incredible work being done in short films, these filmmakers reminded us once again of the breadth and vitality of LGBTQ+ cinema.”
“This year’s theme, The World We’re Making, became especially meaningful as we watched these films connect with audiences throughout the festival,” said Out On Film Executive Director Cindy L. Abel. “The winners announced today reflect storytellers who are questioning, imagining and building a world where LGBTQ+ lives and experiences are not only represented, but understood, celebrated and embraced. I am deeply grateful to every filmmaker who shared their work with us, to our jurors and volunteers, and most of all to the audiences who showed up with such curiosity, passion and joy. Together, they made this 39th Out On Film a powerful reminder that the world we want to see really is something we can create — story by story, frame by frame.”
JURY AWARDS
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Best Narrative Feature: “Gugu’s World” (directed by Allan Deberton)
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Runner-Up: “In a Whisper” (directed by Leyla Bouzid) and “Out of the Woods” (directed by Sal Bardo)
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Best Narrative DIrector: Allan Deberton, “Gugu’s World”
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Runner-Up: Leyla Bouzid, “In a Whisper”
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Best Documentary Feature: “Barbara Forever” (directed by Brydie O’Connor)
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Runner-Up: “Time Warp” (directed by Allison Berg)
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Best Performance: Teca Pereira (“Gugu’s World”)
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Runner-Up: Yuri Gomes (“Gugu’s World”) and Eya Bouteraa (“In a Whisper”)
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Best Ensemble: “In A Whisper” (directed by Leyla Bouzid)
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Runner-Up: “Dreamers” (directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor)
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Best First Film: “Dreamers” (directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor)
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Best International Film: “In a Whisper” (directed by Leyla Bouzid)
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Best Screenplay: “Out of the Woods” (by Sal Bardo)
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Runner-up: “Maspalomas” (by Jose Mari Goenaga)
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Best Documentary Short: “Southern Son Shine” (directed by Kevin Dapree Anderson)
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Runner-Up: “Come On, Boy” (directed by Sarah Fleming)
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Best Drama Short: “See You Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow” (directed by Desdemona Chiang)
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Runner-up: “Fly” (directed by Carlton Daniel) and “Next Year” (directed by Guto Barra and Peter DiMario)
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AUDIENCE AWARDS
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Best Narrative Feature: “La Bola Negra” (directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi)
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Runner-Up: “In Between” (directed by Nicholas Molencupp and Juli-Ann De Barros)
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Best Documentary Feature: “Love, Patrick: Nothing is Impossible” (directed by The Horne Brothers)
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Runner-up: “Give Me the Ball!” (directed by Elizabeth Wolff and Liz Garbus)
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Best Narrative Short: “Scissors” (directed by Hannah Alline)
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Runner-Up: “Okay?” (directed by Carrie Meyer Schrader)
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Best Documentary Short: “The Gloria Project” (directed by Kelly Burkhardt)
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Runner-Up: “One of the Girls” (directed by Alexandra Ross Chandra)
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SCREENPLAY WINNERS
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Feature Winner: “Undecided” by Malik Brown
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Short Winners: “THREE BURNED BODIES” by Erik Jasaň, Terézia Čikoš, and Javaria Waseem
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
The 2026 Rising Star Award was presented to actor/singer/director Jelani Alladin. whose short film, “Next Year,” had its world premiere at the festival and was a runner up for Best Drama Short. On TV, Alladin starred as ‘Marcus Gaines’ in the acclaimed 2023 miniseries “Fellow Travelers,” as well as ‘Will Campbell’ in “The Walking Dead: World Behind.” In film, he recently starred in “tick, tick…Boom!” and “Strangers On a Beach.” After his memorable performance as the title character in Disney’s “Hercules” at the Public’s Delacorte Theatre, Alladin made his Broadway Debut as ‘Kristoff’ in “Frozen the Musical,” which earned him a Drama Desk and Drama League nomination for his performance.
Out On Film continues to build on its national recognition. Earlier this year, “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” directed by Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh (France/USA), which qualified for Oscar® consideration through Out On Film in 2025, tied for the Academy Award® for Best Live Action Short.
Seven films awarded grants from Out On Film’s Filmmaker Fund screened, including Charlene Fisk’s “Call and Response” and Hannah Alline’s “Scissors.” Reel Resistance Fellowship (a six-month in partnership with Atlanta Pride) recipient films showcased included Carlo Velayo’s “The Center,” “When We Rise In the South.” “Meet Us At the Winecoff,” “Eight Heels and a Hard Truth,” and “Beyond The Doors of Club 708.” This project is funded in part by grants from The Community Corps, South Arts, and Larch Creative Fund, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and Georgia Council for the Arts.
