On November 1, the nominees for the renamed 2026 Indie World Cinema Awards were announced on YouTube. Choosing from a whopping 175 new films since November 1, 2025, it was too hard to select only 10 great indie and world films in the Best Film category. So this year, the number has been increased to 12 nominees!!!

Last year, we introduced the new Best Screenplay award and this year, with the popularity of the subgenre growing more and more, a new award will be announced this year. That award will be the Best Public Domain Horror Film award.

This year, as part of the Hall of Fame tribute, we will have a special tribute to one of this year’s inductees, “Kreepazoid Kelly” Barlow, who passed away in September after a valiant fight against cancer.

Troma-tic and modern-day horror icon Debbie Rochon and actor/filmmaker/podcast host/cinephile Julia Marchese will receive the Film Geekdom Awards, following the late greats Tony Todd in 2024 and Michael Mahal in 2025.

Leeanne Bauer will receive the 2026 Breakout Star award for her roles both in front of and behind the camera in the recently released Blackout, Last Hit, and Dracula Untold, all three released earlier this year.

The first two inductees of the 2027 Indie World Cinema Hall of Fame will also be announced, but that is being saved, as always, for the ceremony.

Here’s a breakdown of the nominees and those who were chosen for the Hall of Fame, Film Geekdom, and Breakout Star Awards:

Best Film of 2026

• Edie Arnold is a Loser
• Frankie, Maniac Woman
• The Creeps
• Over/Under
• Babystar
• The Squirrel
• Pinocchio Unstrung
• Girl in the Night
• The Curse of Modigliani
• Isla Monstro

Best Horror Film of 2026

• Frankie, Maniac Woman
• Mother of Flies
• Big Baby
• Whistle
• Match
• Pinocchio Unstrung

Best Action Film of 2026

• Prey of Wrath
• Beast
• Lion Fist
• The Shepherd Code: Lapierre
• One Last Shot
• Trouble Man

Best Comedy of 2026

• The Creeps
• Kung Fu Deadly
• Edie Arnold is a Loser
• Operation Taco Gary’s
• Bride of the Year
• Holy Days

Best Drama of 2026

• Babystar
• The Birthday Party
• The Curse of Modigliani
• Over/Under
• Basic Psych
• All is Fine in ‘89

Best Documentary of 2026

• Birita
• No Place for Football
• Behind the Lines
• What’s the Story, Wishbone?
• Vision Quest
• We Are Pat

Best Family Film of 2026

• Casey Makes a Mixtape
• The Land of Sometimes
• Mary Christmas
• Holy Days
• Squatch
• Before the Ice Melts

Best LGBTQ Film of 2026

• Lesbian Space Princess
• Cherri
• Bigfoot Woods
• Queens of the Dead
• Touch Me
• Bouchra

Best Western Film of 2026

• Frontier Crucible
• Casa Grande
• High Ground
• The Deputy
• A Prayer for the Dying
• Angel and the Badman

Best Foreign Language Film of 2026

• Valley of the Shadow of Death (Hong Kong)
• Girl in the Night (Slovenia)
• Cherri (Cuba/Guatemala/Spain)
• Babystar (Germany)
• The Squirrel (Finland)
• China Sea (Estonia/China)

Best WTF Film of 2026

• Sorority of the Damned
• Darbie’s Scream House
• Hold the Fort
• Mulva: Demon Ass Kicker
• Wereshark
• Bad Karaoke

Best Sci-Fi Film of 2026

• Touch Me
• Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead
• Speed Train
• The Hitchhiker Effect
• Lesbian Space Princess
• Legend of the White Dragon

Best Short Film of 2026

• Room 4 Rent
• Sundays with Dad
• Nightmare in Little Saigon
• The Way Things Used 2 B
• Remain Calm
• S’More of the Worlds

NEW! Best Public Domain Horror Film of 2026

• Betty’s Revenge
• Aladdin
• Pinocchio Unstrung
• Bambi: The Reckoning
• Popeye Returns
• Wicked of Oz

Best Director

• Danishka Esterhazy, Match
• Diana Ringo, The Curse of Modigliani
• Pierre Tsigaridis, Frankie, Maniac Woman
• Joe Davison, Sorority of the Damned
• Markus Lehmusruusu, The Squirrel
• Luka Marcetic, Girl in the Night

Best New Director (Feature Film)

• Chris Marrs Piliero, Appofeniacs
• Bishop Ali Stevens, Blood in Baton Rouge
• Matt Sukkar, The Deputy
• Jeff Primm, 213 Bones
• Dara Van Dusen, A Prayer for the Dying
• Nat Boltt, Holy Days

Best Lead Female Performance

• Dina Silva, Frankie, Maniac Woman
• Jessa Jupiter Flux, Darbie’s Scream House
• Deborah Twiss, A Beautiful Distraction
• Lara Wolf, Girl in the Night
• Tatiana Neva, Prey of Wrath
• Susan Priver, Sunset Strip Killers

Best Lead Male Performance

• Ethan Daniel Corbett, Astrolatry
• Scott Adkins, One Last Shot
• Joe Davison, Sorority of the Damned
• Michael Cerveris, Basic Psych
• Shane McCormick, Trapped
• Urban Kuntaric, Girl in the Night

Best Supporting Female Performance

• Diana Ringo, The Curse of Modigliani
• Toby Poser, Mother of Flies
• Deborah Twiss, The Dummy Detective
• Debbie Rochon, Mulva: Demon Ass Kicker
• Jessa Jupiter Flux, OnlyFangs
• Ana Xaden, Darbie’s Scream House

Best Supporting Male Performance

• C. Thomas Howell, One Mile: Chapter Two
• Kane Kosugi, One Last Shot
• Bren Foster, Beast
• Jacques Adriaanse, Match
• Dean Cameron, 213 Bones
• Jian Huang, China Sea

Best Special FX

• Todd Masters, Pinocchio: Unstrung
• Andy Fowler, Wounds
• Trey Lindsey, Mother of Flies
• Dina Silva and Pierre Tsigaridis, Frankie, Maniac Woman
• Jaco Snyman, Match
• Joe Castro, Sunset Strip Killers

Best Action/Stunts

• Joey Min and Stephanie Pham, Trouble Man
• Lee Huang, Kung Fu Deadly
• Tim Man and Dan Sryles, One Last Shot
• Benny Tjandra, Prey of Wrath
• Mike Möller, Lion Fist
• Bren Foster, Beast

Best Cinematography

• Jeff Billings, Sunset Strip Killers
• Pierre Tsigaridis, Frankie, Maniac Woman
• Edwin Gonzalez, Medias Res
• Kerry van Lillienfeld, Match
• Blake Calhoun, Casey Makes a Mixtape
• Diana Ringo, The Curse of Modigliani

Best Editing

• Diana Ringo, The Curse of Modigliani
• David Gordon, Astrolatry
• Spela Murunc, Girl in the Night
• Florian Miosge, The Squirrel
• J. Xavier Velasco, The Deputy
• Edwin Gonzalez, Medias Res

Best Screenplay

• Megan Rico, Edie Arnold is a Loser
• Pierre Tsigaridis and Dina Silva, Frankie Maniac Woman
• Luka Marcetic, Girl in the Night
• Matthew Lupis, All is Fine in ‘89
• Diana Ringo, The Curse of Modigliani
• Markus Lehmusruusu, The Squirrel

2026 Indie World Cinema Hall of Fame

• Kimberly Cole Zemke
• Monique Parent
• Lynn Lowry
• Rhonda Shear
• “Kreepazoid Kelly” Barlow
• Donald Farmer
• Patrick Kilpatrick
• James Cullen Bressack
• Sam Firstenberg
• Rock Demers

2026 Breakout Star

• LeeAnne Bauer

2026 Film Geekdom Awards

• Julia Marchese
• Debbie Rochon

The Indie World Cinema Awards will air on December 15 at 8pm EST/5pm PST exclusively on the Indie World Cinema YouTube channel!!! I will personally be there for the live chat, so hope to see you there!!!