BBFF 2026 WINNERS
The 20th edition of the Byron Bay International Film Festival has come to a close. This year's festival was a major success and featured a program packed full of excellent films, Q&As, and special events!
Festival director J’aimee Skippon-Volke said “Our awards are created to celebrate the true spirit of independent filmmaking.” As part of that tradition of celebrating and uplifting independent filmmakers this year's pool of feature film winners was drawn from films yet to find an Australian distributor. These awards represent BBFF’s efforts to bring greater oportunies and audiences to independent films and filmmakers.
This year's festival winners are:
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
She In Storms
YOUNG AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR
Jake James Whitford - The Squaters and The Fairy Princess
BEST SCREENPLAY
Hell’s Gate
Byron Bay International Screenplay Contest Finalists Use COVID-19 Downtime to Capture Hearts and Minds with Deeply Immersive Scripts
While the red carpet wasn’t rolled out this year due to COVID-19, it failed to dampen the enthusiasm of talented screenwriters around the globe. Read on to discover the diverse group of 2021 Byron Bay International Screenplay Contest finalists and their deeply moving scripts.

