On Saturday, March 29th, we held our Award Night and what a night it was! We had a blast watching all your films this year, and thank you for all your submissions!

THE BEST OF THE BEST OF KABOOM 2025 – our winners, our pride and joy – as designated by our jury and yourselves are:

Best VR – ‘Impulse: Playing with Reality’ by Barry Gene Murphy, May Abdalla

Nancy Award – ‘Pelikan Blue’ directed by László Csáki

Best Documentary – ‘Will You Come With Me?’ directed by Derya Durmaz

Best Dutch Student Short Special Mention 1 – ‘States of Matter’ directed by Marvin Hauck

Best Dutch Student Short Special Mention 2 – ‘Immature’ directed by Eddy Wu

Best Dutch Student Short – ‘Mother’s Child’ directed by Naomi Noir

Best Dutch Short  – ‘Skroll’ directed by Marten Visser

Best Student Short International Special Mention – ‘A Blue Summer’ directed by Juliette Ragot

Best Student Short – ‘The Shortest Relationship in the World’ directed by Xiaoxuan Han

Jamie Bolio Award – ‘MIMT’ directed by Ted Wiggin

Best International Short Special Mention – ‘Father’s Letters’ directed by Alexey Evstigneev

Best International Short – ‘Scars We Love’ directed by Raphaël Jouzeau

Audience Award for Best Experimental Film – ‘On Weary Wings Go’ directed by Anu-Laura Tuttelberg

Audience Award for Best Short Film – ‘Scars We Love’ directed by Raphaël Jouzeau

Audience Award for Best Kids Film – ‘Hoofs on Skates’ directed by Ignas Meilunas

Audience Award for Best Feature Film – ‘Flavors of Iraq’ directed by Léonard Cohen

Audience Award for Best Commissioned Film – ‘Group Session’ by Studio Mals, Setreset Films, Koen Berkhout, Martin van der Molen, Silas Nout

We’re keeping our fingers crossed because the winners of the Official Kaboom Competition, in the categories Best Short Film and Best Dutch Short, are automatically eligible to enter the Academy Award® Short Film competition. This is an important recognition because these two winning films will get the chance to be qualified for an Oscar®.
But that’s not all! The winners in the categories Best Short Film, Best Documentary, Best Jamie Bolio, Best VR, and Best Student Short are going to the Annie Awards. ✨

Thank you all and we can’t wait to see your submissions for 2026!