Hollywood, CA (The Hollywood Times) 8/19/26 – The competition at the 22nd annual HollyShorts Film Festival is getting closer to its final chapter.
HollyShorts has announced its 2026 award nominees and finalists, recognizing outstanding work across live action, animation, documentary, drama, comedy, cinematography, performance, horror, international filmmaking and more.
And here at The Hollywood Times, we have an extra reason to be excited.
Among this impressive group are four films we selected for coverage before the nominations were announced: Meeting Your Maker, Saba, The Kalgan Horse, and See You, Soon.
All four caught our attention for very different reasons, and now all four have earned a place among HollyShorts’ 2026 award contenders.
Four Films We Were Already Watching
Meeting Your Maker
Top 10 Live Action Short Film Finalist
Gregory JM Kasunich’s Meeting Your Maker is one of only 10 films named to HollyShorts’ Top 10 Live Action Short Film Finalists.
When I reviewed the film for The Hollywood Times, I was immediately drawn to the wonderfully strange premise and the way Kasunich combines dark comedy, puppetry and a surprisingly relatable existential crisis.
The film takes something completely unexpected, a puppet questioning his life, identity and purpose, and somehow makes it feel very human.
Now Meeting Your Maker has advanced into one of HollyShorts’ most closely watched competitions.
Saba
Best Animation
Liron Topaz’s beautiful and deeply personal Saba has been nominated for Best Animation.
The Hollywood Times has followed Saba throughout its festival journey, including its appearances at Palm Springs International ShortFest, River Valley Film Festival and now HollyShorts.
Inspired by Topaz’s relationship with his grandfather, “saba” means grandfather in Hebrew, the animated short explores grief, memory, love and the emotional connection between generations.
Its nomination feels particularly fitting for a film that shows how animation can tell an intimate and emotionally powerful story without ever losing its visual imagination.
The Kalgan Horse
Best Cinematography
Zichen Zhao’s The Kalgan Horse has earned a nomination for Best Cinematography.
I first became interested in the film through its festival journey and its beautifully observed coming-of-age story.
The film’s landscapes, imagery and quiet visual storytelling are essential to the experience, so seeing HollyShorts recognize it specifically for cinematography feels especially appropriate.
The Kalgan Horse is the kind of film that reminds audiences how much can be communicated through images, atmosphere and small moments rather than dialogue alone.
See You, Soon
Best Student Film
Jay Pendarvis Jr.’s See You, Soon has been nominated for Best Student Film, another particularly rewarding nomination for The Hollywood Times because we have followed this film through more than one festival.
We first covered it during Palm Springs International ShortFest and later revisited the film as it headed to HollyShorts.
Starring Asante Blackk and Isaiah John, See You, Soon explores grief, brotherhood, memory and the difficult process of learning how to live with loss.
It is a deeply emotional story about what happens when people try to carry grief alone — and what can happen when they finally allow someone else in.
Seeing the film now recognized among HollyShorts’ Best Student Film nominees is another exciting chapter in its festival journey.
TOP 10 LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM FINALISTS
Callback
Echoes
FAUX BIJOUX
I Am the Prize
Life Goes On
Meeting Your Maker
Never Give Up
Pale Sun
Talk Me
VULTURES
2026 AWARD NOMINEES
BEST ANIMATION
Apart
Captives
Gauze
Saba
With Tapes and Toasts in the Car
BEST DOCUMENTARY
I Got My Brother
The Chimney Sweeper
The Second Life of Freddie Nole
The Time My Grandmother Was Held Hostage by Bank Robbers
When the Revolution Doesn’t Come
BEST DRAMA
Copy, Save
For Niko
Gobstopper
BEST COMEDY
Callback
Disc
The Oracle
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Hyena
Shutterspeed
The Kalgan Horse
BEST EDITING
A Crime Across Four Landscapes
How Brief
Hyena
BEST HORROR
Banshee
Benny’s Second Birthday
Thick Skin
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Betty St. Clair
King of the Iron Will
La Lucha de Lucia
BEST STUNTS
Floor
kaya (ᜃᜌ)
The Impression
BEST INTERNATIONAL
FAUX BIJOUX
Souvenir
VULTURES
BEST MIDNIGHT MADNESS
MORTY
Thanks to Meet You!
The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Archbishop Harold Holmes
The Macks – Dually of Man x The Modern Grape
Weval — Open Up That Door
BEST PERFORMANCE
Down the Length
I Am the Prize
Katya
BEST PRODUCER
Bobby
Last Stand at Butte City
Laundreams
SAGINDIE AWARD
Them That’s Not
FarEye
Woman Land
SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD
AMERICA
EXTREMIST
Water Cooler
BEST SCI-FI
EUROPA
Imprint
Infinite Rifts
BEST STUDENT FILM
Crisis Actor
Pankaja
See You, Soon
HOLLYSHORTS × FILMIO STUDIOS
HollyShorts and Filmio Studios have also revealed the Top 10 finalists for the Audience Short Film Discovery Partnership, with five winners set to share $15,000 in cash prizes.
Another Day in New York — Adam & Sean Pine
Anxiety — Vladyslav Fidryk
Christmas Angels — Remington Hoffman
DOMINO SPRINGS — Dan Hertzog
From Way Up Here — Celeste Chaney
Girl | Dad — Lianzi Fields
Jes and Lora — Patrick Coleman Duncan
Naughty Maids — Rommel Rojas
Size Queen — Kenny Fierro
The POP — Eric J. Rodriguez
KODAK AWARDS
KODAK BEST SHOT ON FILM — 35MM
It Comes in Waves
Kink
Signal
KODAK BEST SHOT ON FILM — 16MM
El Tiguere
FAUX BIJOUX
Gobstopper
MORE 2026 NOMINEES
BEST TV
Do I Know You From Somewhere?
Savage
Too Romantic
BEST EFFECTS
Europa
Oneiros
The Color
BEST WEB SERIES
Birth is for P*ssies
Love Bomb Squad
Why Do You Hate Me
MADE IN LA AWARD
Presented by First Entertainment Credit Union
Aaron and His Dad Try To Find Closure & Lucy Celebrates Andie’s Birthday at Universal Citywalk Hollywood
Christmas Angels
Spill the Frijoles
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Beatport x Miller Mix: Georgia
Reflections Under the Electric Sky
Shut the fuck up, when WE speak
BEST SPORTS
The Colosseum
Miles of Life
Set Pace
Zina
BEST PODCAST
abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast
Don’t Worry, No One’s Listening
TWO THOUSAND AND LATE
And the Winners Are…
Almost here.
The 22nd Annual HollyShorts Awards Gala takes place Sunday, August 23, bringing 11 days of screenings, filmmaker gatherings and celebrations in Hollywood to a close.
Until then, there are still films to see, filmmakers to meet and plenty more HollyShorts to experience.
For The Hollywood Times, we will be keeping an especially close eye on four names when the winners are announced:
Meeting Your Maker — Top 10 Live Action Short Film Finalist
Meeting Your Maker Finds Heart and Humor in an Existential Puppet Crisis – Hollywood Times
Saba — Best Animation
Saba Soars Into HollyShorts 2026 with a Poignant Exploration of Grief, Love and Memory – Hollywood Times
The Kalgan Horse — Best Cinematography
The Kalgan Horse Brings a Powerful Coming-of-Age Story to HollyShorts 2026 – Hollywood Times
See You, Soon — Best Student Film
See You, Soon Brings a Powerful Story of Grief and Brotherhood to HollyShorts 2026 – Hollywood Times
Four very different films. Four stories we believed were worth telling. And now, four films receiving recognition among the 2026 HollyShorts award nominees and finalists.
Congratulations to them, and to all of this year’s nominees and finalists.
We’ll be watching on Sunday.
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