FOLCS International Short Film Competition 2025 (12th Annual Awards Night)
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The Forum on Life, Culture, and Society (FOLCS) recently hosted the 12th Annual Awards Night for our International Short Film Competition at the iconic Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space—a landmark for arts and culture in New York City. It was an unforgettable evening celebrating storytelling that challenges, enlightens, and inspires.
BEST SHORT
CLAIMANT
Director: Nadereh Sadat Serki
Country: Iran
A father seeking justice for his assaulted daughter finds himself entangled in a twisted legal battle with her rapist, a manipulative lawyer.
2nd PLACE
& Audience Favorite Award
KALAMAZOO GALS
Director: David Massar
Country: United States
A music journalist discovers a hidden WWII-era photo and uncovers the untold story of the women who built Gibson’s iconic guitars—and their fight for recognition in music history.
3rd PLACE
WHAT DESIGN CAN DO
Director: Mary McDonagh Murphy
Country: United States
A brief look at how affordable, science-driven design in the U.S., UK, and Africa boosts well-being, education, and community—proving that good design is vital for a healthier, more connected world.
Best Screenplay
AMRITSAR JUNCTION
Director: Aditya Jhambale
Country: India
During the 1947 Partition of India, a Sikh railway worker and his family are uprooted from their ancestral home in Punjab, confronting the brutal upheaval of violence, displacement, and mass migration. As the newly drawn border cleaves through their homeland, they must navigate the chaos of one of history’s largest forced migrations, with the railway—once a symbol of imperial order—now a lifeline through a landscape of trauma and loss.
Best Young Filmmaker
INDAI APAI DARAH
Director: Kynan Tegar
Country: Indonasia
A young Dayak girl in Borneo inherits her people’s sacred story as she witnesses their struggle to protect ancestral forests from destruction.
About the FOLCS International Short Film Competition:
Since 2011, the Forum on Life, Culture & Society has invited independent and aspiring filmmakers from around the globe to share their creative visual stories through its annual International Short Film Competition. This competition encourages entrants to explore the relationship between law, justice, and society, by creating original short films on a legal and/or human rights theme. From documentaries to dramas, animations to comedies, the competition is open to all film genres that express the struggles and injustices that humanity faces, and the noble pursuit and moral imperative of justice. Through this competition, FOLCS hopes to empower filmmakers to use their art to examine and define what “justice” truly means.