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| Nightborn Photo: Fantasia International Film Festival |
Finnish chiller Nightborn has won the coveted Cheval Noir award for Best Film at this year's
Best Director went to Kasper Kalle for folkloric Faroese love story No Rest For The Wicked, with star Pilou Asbæk receiving the other Outstanding Performance award. "Like the captain of a sailing vessel, the director is the creative force that unites the crew, bringing all the creative elements and storytelling emotion together on the screen, and one film did that big time for both audiences and the jury," said the jury of Kalle. Of Asbæk they said "Genre cinema has always been drawn to mysterious strangers, but few arrivals have felt as quietly transformative as this one. Through effortless magnetism, and extraordinary emotional precision, this actor crafts a character who belongs as much to the sea as the shore. Every movement, every silence, every knot tied and glance exchanged reveals a soul shaped by freedom, isolation, and the courage to embrace his own identity." Alongside the rest of the Cheval Noir awards, several other sets of awards were announced. Cannes hit Blaise won the Satoshi Kon Award for Animation, while the New Flesh award celebrating new talent went to Thunderlips' Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant. The Quebec Association of Film Critics gave its award to Brazilian toilet monster comedy Bowels Of Hell. Those awards in full: 2026 Cheval Noir Awards
2026 New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature
- New Flesh Award for Best First Feature: Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant (New Zealand), dirs. Thunderlips
- Special Mention of the Jury - Best Performance: Dilnaz Kurmangali and Ayan Utepburgen, Sicko (Kazakhstan), dir. Aitore Zholdaskali
2026 International Short Film Competition
- Best Film: Mancave (Norway), dir. Fredrik S Hana
- Best Director: Yu Chih Chieh, The Last Jiangshi (China/Hong Kong/Taiwan)
- Best Screenplay: Kyu-eun Park and Min-hyuk Lee, Wish You Were Dead (South Korea), dir. Lee Min-hyuk
- Best Cinematography: Jung Da Bin, Tropic (South Korea), dir. Park Jung-yoon
- Best Editing: Dirtmouths (USA), dir. Breehn Burns
- Best Score: The Last Jiangshi (China/Hong Kong/Taiwan), dir. Yu Chih Chieh
- Outstanding Performance: Ensemble, Pile On (China), dir. Hu Lu
- Outstanding Performance: Jon Jon Briones, Veterano (USA), dir. Patrick Epino
- Special Mention of the Jury: Manhole (Singapore), dir. Jake Low
2026 Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation
- Satoshi Kon Award for Best Animated Feature: Blaise (France), dirs. Jean-Paul Guigue and Dimitri Planchon
- Special Mention of the Jury: Cherry And Virgin (Japan), dir. Masanao Kawajiri
- Satoshi Kon Award for Best Short Film – Gold: Jeem 1983 (Lebanon), dir. Jorj Abou Mhaya
- Satoshi Kon Award for Best Short Film – Silver: Fingerbang (South Korea), dir. Kim Yeon-woo
- Satoshi Kon Award for Best Short Film – Bronze: The End Of The End (US/South Korea), dir. Junar Kim
2026 Northern Excellence Award for Canadian Filmmaking
- Northern Excellence Award for Canadian Filmmaking: Black Zombie (Canada/Haiti), dir. Maya Annik Bedward
- Special Mention of the Jury: Insectasy (Canada), dir. Angus Silver
2026 Quebec Association of Film Critics (AQCC) Award
- AQCC Award: Bowels Of Hell (Brazil), dirs. Gurcius Gewdner and Gustavo Vinagre
- Special Mention of the Jury: Levitating (Indonesia/Singapore/France/Taiwan), dir. Wregas Bhanuteja
2026 Poulain Noir Awards
- Best Short Film – Gold: When The Tide Comes (UK), dir. Fêt-Nat Bailly/
- Best Short Film – Silver: Il N'y A Qu'un Poisson Dans l'Eau (France), dirs. Hector de Ghaisne de Bourmont, Florent Delay, Ilona Laouchez, Gabrielle Montané, Julia Ragot, and André Yu
- Best Short Film – Bronze: Esquisses Sur Glace (France/Belgium), dir. Marion Auvin
- Special Mention of the Jury: Foools (US/Canada), dirs. Seo Kim and Steve Manale
- Special Mention of the Jury: Poisson N uage (Belgium/France), dir. Noé Garcia
