We are happy to announce that we have officially selected 13 winners for the 17th JOSIAH MEDIA FESTIVAL! These winners hail from five countries and are split into 1st, 2nd and 3rd place among four film categories: Narrative, Documentary, Experimental and Animation. These winners will all win a cash prize of $250, $200 or $150, respectively.

We cordially extend our invitation for your participation in our awards celebration on February 17th at urban15.org/live-stream. Come watch these 13 winning films alongside acceptance videos from the talented filmmakers!

17th JOSIAH MEDIA AWARDS WINNERS

NARRATIVE
1st Place: “Sterling” Dir. Gunnar Sizemore, 18 y/o, Los Angeles, CA.
2nd Place: “The Thing” Dir. Arad Navizi, 20 y/o, Tehran, Iran.
3rd Place: “Savonnette” Dir. Quentin Pladeau, 16 y/o, Montpellier, France.

EXPERIMENTAL
1st Place: “Filter” Dir. Mehrshad Keshavarz, 21 y/o, Karaj, Iran.
2nd Place: “Interview” Dir. Arshia Motallebi, 21 y/o, Tehran, Iran.
3rd Place: “In Repetito Religare” Dir. Audrey Collard & Valentin Sismann, 21 y/o, Villemomble, Fr.

DOCUMENTARY
1st Place: “This is Not Medicine!” Dir. Angel Diaz & Caitlin Olive, 20 y/o, San Antonio, TX
2nd Place: “The Town That Time Forgot” Dir. Lauren Mule, 20 y/o, Tallahassee, FL.
3rd Place: “One Day of Life” Dir. Maria Leschenko, 14 y/o, Kyiv, Ukraine.

ANIMATION
1st Place: “Stray” Dir. Keyl Sparks, 21 y/o, Placentia, CA
2nd Place: “Bubby and Son” Dir. Gwenaelle Du-Thumm, 20 y/o, Princeton, NJ
3rd Place “□□□□□” Dir. Tong-min Li, 21 y/o, Taipei, Taiwan

DEBRA VARNER AWARD FOR INNOVATION
“Death in Silent” Dir. Faezeh Kiani, 21 y/o, Shiraz, Iran