Submissions are open for 2026-2027 Edition. Entries Open 2026-2027 – https://filmfreeway.com/BuddhaFestival

The Buddha International Film Festival Announces World’s First “Best AI Filmmaker Award”

PUNE, INDIA — In a historic milestone for the global cinematic landscape, The Buddha International Film Festival (TBIFF) has officially announced the recipient of the world’s first Best AI Filmmaker Award. The prestigious honor is being conferred upon acclaimed director Goutham Kool Monkk for his groundbreaking animated short film, “Jai Kisaan – Laut Aaya Beta.”

The award recognizes excellence in the emerging field of AI-powered filmmaking, highlighting creators who successfully bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and soul-stirring human narratives. This Proud Moment Happened on the 18th April 2026 – in Pune

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BUDDHA International Film FESTIVAL – Award WINNERS 2026

SHORT FILM :

BEST SHORT FILM Award –

01. The One who plays (Khilawadi) (Shobhita Thakur)

02. Illegitimate (Director: Satish Vasant Raste | Producer: Pankaj Shankarrao Thakare)

03. AZAAN (Ashit Sharma)

04. Yun Hum Mile (Mayur Popat) 

BEST DIRECTION Award –

01. FINGER RING (Advait Dhavale)

02. Chashma (Spectacles) (Ritesh Bhaskaran)

03. Nirmalya (Aniket Chandrakant Dhavale)

04. Khwabeeda (Director: Prashant Beybaar, Vishal Tiwari)

  BEST ACTING Award – (Male)

01. Mystery on the Vegan Express (David Giardina)

02. One Last Take (Nikhil Naresh | Actor: Gaurav Singh)

03. MIND GAME (Director, Actor: OMGURU)

04. MOBEY (Director: Vrushali P Sayam | Producer, Actor: Kris Badane)

05. Sid’s Enlightenment (Director: Girish Kamble | Siddharth Girish Kamble)

 

BEST ACTING Award – (Female)

01. ANTAR ( DISTANCE ) (Director, Writer: GANESH SHIVAJI SHELAR | Producer: GAURI AVINASH RAUT, ROSHAN MANOHAR LAKHE | Actress: NEETA SHASHANK SHENDE)

02. Octopus (Director: Ha-eun Chang | Actress: See-Woo Jeong)

03. To the end of love (Director: Nils Anderson | Acting: Chantal De Laet)

BEST SCREENPLAY Award –

01. “माधो का पत्थर” Maadho’s stone (Rishi Raj Bhatt)

02. Happy Birthday (Shyam Prasad Reddy Mora)

03. The Undying Spirit Of Doctors (Director: Dr. Amol Ajit Desai, Kishor Patil | Writers: Dr. Amol Ajit Desai, Mrs. Chaitralli Amol Desai)

04. Nazariya – The Thought (Dharmendra Moolwani)

BEST WRITER AWARD :

01. ReBell (Rahul Rajendra Dhanwate | Writers: Yogesh Rahul Kamble, Nikita Kumthekar)

02. Journey (Manoj Bhumananda)

03. Timiratuni Tejakade (Ganesh Ramnath Vaidya, Somnath Vijay Thete)

04. DEVDOOT (Ganesh Bajirao Birdawade)

BEST EDITING Award –

01. Beyond Love (Director, Editor: Ashwin Alok)

02. A=AA (Goutham Kanade)

03. Sukut (Mimi Garrard)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY  Award –

01. Die Before You Die – Triggered (Rafael Maria Friebe)

02. DITTO (Director, Writer: Suresh G | DOP: Raj Kumar & Durai D.F.T.)

03. FOREST 779 (Steve Barnett)

BEST STORY AWARD –

01. Pseudo Life (Amandeep Singh, Simar)

02.Once More (Prajakta Vaze)

03.A day in the life of Rag Picker (BHASKAR RAM)

04. Seragu (Sai Nag)

BEST DIRECTOR AWARD :

01. Happy Birthday (Rishiraj Pandey)

02.The Contract (Milan R. Smith)

03.THAEN MITTAI (AKASH VENKATESAN)

04. A=AA (Goutham Kanade)

BEST PRODUCER AWARD :

01. Amar Chitra Kathe (Director: Sagar A B | Producer: Yaduraju J S)

02. Cheekh (Producer: Anand Topo, Rahit Khan )

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DOCUMENTARY :

BEST DOCUMENTARY –

01. Raah-e-Nanak (Rose Gill)

02. Seekers (Director, Writer: Gio Israel | Producer: Santiago Paladines, Seth Teicher)

03. Via Dolorosa: The Path of Sorrows (طريق الآلام) (Director, Writer: Amira Khalil Hanania | Producer: Saad Rafiq Arouri)

04. Not Refugees: Ukrainians in Canadian Legal Limbo (Director: Serge Velbovets | Producer: Maria Valenta)

05. “THE HANDS OF LIFE” Ancient healing secrets (Fabio Floris)

BEST DIRECTION –

01. Only YUDANA (Ami Mochizuki)

02. The Joy of Curiosity (Kum-Kum Bhavnani)

03. Floating through the Meltdown (Shihyun Wang)

04. Awakening Mind Part 3 “Liberation” (Director: Daniel Schmidt, Leif Heimbold)

05. When the Caged Bird Sings (Director: Aditya Sanjay Sane | Key Cast: Dr. Shamshuddin Tamboli)

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT –

01. Thai Space Oddity: A Beat Nomad’s Odyssey (Jeffrey A Brick)

02. What We Carried (Carolina Pereira)

03. Neev Se Nayi Udaan Tak (Pratyush Tyagi)

04. Divine Pain (Karan K Vazirani)

05. la vida monástica (The Monastic life)  (Matías Nadal )

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ANIMATED SHORT FILM

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM –

01. JAI KISAAN (Goutham Kool Monkk)

02. Innocent Prisnor (Makrand Lakshmikant Joshi)

03. Nachiketa and the Lord of Death (Hannah Holland | Writer, Producer: Gayle Embrey, Hannah Holland)

BEST DIRECTION –

01. Desi Oon (Director: Suresh Eriyat | Producer: Nilima Eriyat)

02. The City of Fishing Glow: The Return of the Goddess  | 渔光之城：神女归来 (Chi Zhang)

03. Delightful Droid (Andy Broadaway, Sakura Viotto)

BEST SCREENPLAY –

01. In Half (Jorge Morais Valle)

02. A Kimbap Love Song (Anaëlle ANDRE, Clémence TULOUP)

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BEST EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILM –

01. PILLIN (Raj Murkute)  

02. Circle of Thoughts (Director: Bhuvaneswari Anandan | Writer: Keshav Prasad, Bhuvaneswari Anandan)

03. ASTRAM – Chapter 1 (Mahamkali Vinay Kumar)

04.Khadija bint Khuwaylid (Fleur Howle)

BEST DIRECTION AWARD :

01. The Plan (Elvis Dsouza)

02. Colors of Silence (Narine Gevorgyan)

03. YOU GOTTA DANCE  (BRiAN BiLLiONAiRE)

04. Still Life (KIMVI)

05. Anatta (SONG WANG)

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BEST MUSIC VIDEO –

01. Journey at Present (filhàl) (Rishi Gupta | Writer: Nakul Gupta, Rishi Gupta)

02. Reflection (Jinesh Kunj)

03. YOU GOTTA DANCE  (BRiAN BiLLiONAiRE)

BEST DIRECTOR AWARD –

01. Bhoom Shankara (Director: Mahesh Raj | Music: Anil Krishna)

02. The Tao (Sharron Rose)

03. Dream (John Leslie Hulcombe)

BEST MUSIC AWARD –

01. Authentically Me (Joanna Pearl)

02.Nature and Nature (Director: Chae-won Yun)

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BEST WEB / TV SERIES –

01. This is me! (Nneka Abebe)

02. Powerful Turn (Charlotte Johnson)

03. Breathing Underwater  (Gabriella White)

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BEST SCREENPLAY (Screenplay Category Feature)

01. Parlay (Brian Spatz)

02. Terra-Who am I (Donna Tiberio)

03. The Sun sets in Bengal (Desirée Malinowski)

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  BEST SCREENPLAY (Screenplay Category Short)  

01. Legend of the Bronx (Daniel L. Phillips)

02. The Multiplicity (Max Jordan)

03. Three Bacchanalias: Titian, Poussin, Velázquez (Kostiantyn Mishchenko)

04. The People from Maxey Creek: The Purple Sword (Rain Story)

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BEST FILM SYNOPSIS / TREATMENT AWARD :

01. Off The Axis (Priscila Martz)

02. Human rights true story (Fujio Torikai)

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BEST SMARTPHONE SHORT –

01. Jane and the Rose (Evyh Cerhus)

02. Let It Rain (Ravikiran Kalbag | Production: Violet Ensemble)

03. The Friendship (Director: Girish Sangle | Producer: Chandramohan Narayan Hangekar)

BEST DIRECTION AWARD :

01. What We Carried (Carolina Pereira)

02. AAJ MAIN BOLA (Omkar Ravindra Chitnis)

03. Shirt (Director, Writer: Prafulla Kharkar)

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BEST TRAILER / TEASER AWARD-

01. Corona (Lolo Martín)

02. Honeymoonay Namah (Nishant Bhardwaj)

03. IS NOT A JOKE (Captain DeniL Choong Lin Loong)

04. I Know What You Do When I Go to School  by Siona Talekar (Linda Foster radke)

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BEST STORY AWARD-

01. Becoming SonShine (Adelita Smith)

02. FOREST 779 (Steve Barnett)

03. A Gift of Love (Tony Cointreau)

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BEST PAINTING –

01. Gulmohor (Sagar Patil)

02. Ice and Stone (Artist: Marianna Kovalskikh | Creative Producer: Lyubov Cherenkova)

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BEST PHOTOGRAPHY : 

01. Drowning in Dreams (CR Sherman)

02. The Buddha, Serenity in Stone (Arman Ovla)

03. Empty Room (Huang Weipeng)

04. London (Lazar Karov)

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BEST AD FILM AWARD :

01. Her Nest In The Hills (Pratyush Tyagi | Olive Hat Productions)

02. Mind The World | Pune Design Festival (Director: Suresh Eriyat | Producer: Nilima Eriyat) 

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BEST VIRTUAL REALITY / 360°  VIDEO :

01. 《Deepcore：When Cave Breath》 (Zhen Yu)

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BEST MULTIMEDIA FILM :

01. WITCHES OF EVERLAND (Daniel Ralph Zerbst)

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BEST FEATURE FILM AWARD-

Best Feature Film-

01.  My boyfriend, a mannequin (Director: DMITRY NIKOLENKO | Writer: Aygul Utyaganova | Producer: Arseny Ovchinnikov)

02. A Pregnant Widow (Director: Unni KR | Writer: Rajesh Thillenkeri)

03. Reborn Eagle (David Dai)

Best Direction –

01. Paradox (Anand TM)

02. BLUE WHALE IN THE POND (MILIND KISHOR UKEY)

03. Mahamahim Didiji Murmu (Director, Writer: pumposh kamalakant mishra | Producer: prabha kamalakant mishra)

Best Screenplay –

01.  Kaara Ek Pratha (KAARA… A CUSTOM) (SUNIL BADONI)

02. Jay Bheem Panthar: Ek Sangharsh (Director: Nishant Natharam Dhapse | Producer: Bhadant Shilbodhi Thero)

03. My World So Warm because of You (Liu Xiaofei))

Best Writer Award :

01. The Check Post (Director, Producer: MAHESH KONSAM | Writer: DOREN NAOREM)

02. SUDHAGAD 07 (Dilip Jakkappa Rayannavar, Vidyasagar Adhyapak, Sushma Shitole, Deepak Digambar Angewar, Shivkanta Sutar)

03. Bhav Bhagwan Che (Anish Kumar)

Best Acting Award :

01.  Mahamahim Didiji Murmu (Director, Writer: pumposh kamalakant mishra | Producer: prabha kamalakant mishra | Actress: Sampa Mandal)

02.  A Pregnant Widow (Director: Unni KR | Actress: Twinkle Joby)

03. Alive Story (Director: Makena Nkosi | Actress: Temika Akosua )

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International Jury Prize –

01. Stupid August (Padraig Trehy)

02. CANTATA FOR 108 POLISH MARTYRS OF WORLD WAR II (Marek Wojtasik)

03. Heller Tag (Bright Day) (Director: André Nitzschke | Writer: Gabi Blauert, André Nitzschke)

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Award Worthy Film Prize :

01. Sitore Xemaka Rati ( The Winter Rain) (Director: Dipankar Kashyap)

02. Breathing Underwater  (Gabriella White)

03. Corona (Lolo Martín)

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Best Foreign Language Film Award :

01. Buddha’s 45 year mission (Surapong wetsuwanmanee) (Thailand)

02. this is a film (Director: tae ha yoo | Producer: T.J JUNG) (Republic of Korea)

03. Kamzakhila (Aroop Dwivedi) (Republic of Zagrothabia)

Buddha Global Leadership Prize  (in Film-Making) :

01. Samadhi Part 4 “Sadhana” (Daniel Schmidt)

02. The Divine Grace Of Renewal (Jinesh Kunj)

03. FINGER RING (Advait Dhavale)

04. Jhankar – the melody of resonance (Director: Hem Chandra Borah | Writer, Producer: Dr. Jayanti Chutia)

Special Jury Awards :

Best Feature Film :

01. hacia lo invisible (towards the invisible)  (luz maria mansilla perez)

02. Honeymoonay Namah (Director: Nishant Bhardwaj | Producer: Lalit Kohli, Akshay Bafila, Akshay Desai)

03. Land of the Mustaches (Writer, Producer: Rutanya Alda | Director: Leon Joosen)

Best Short Film :

01. KUDAI VALLAL (UMBRELLA PHILANTHROPIST) (NAWIN SEETHARAMAN)

02. Clarity (Bryce Mackie)

03. Himahin Golok -The Sphere of Freedom (Dr Mainu Devi)

Best Documentary :

01. Sanitised Republic (Director: Afiya Khalid, Rizwan Rahman | Producer, Editor: Niteesh Saini)

02. Charak Puja, Extreme Devotion (THIERRY POMMIER)

03. NINJA BEEF (Director: SHUN J SAKO Jr | Producer: TOMY MANGO-MAN MISAWA)

Best Director :

01. After You! (Daisy Wilson)

02. VJ GANG (Kankipati Deepankar)

03. Roads Less Travelled (Shourya Kumar Lal)

Best Debut Director :

01. Blue lily (Gautam Raveendran Nair)

02. Churul The Untold (Vijo Jose)

03. Dharau (Manish Suresh Shinde)

04. Tathagat (Manav Dev Pandhi)

05. When we die again (Director: Mudassar Mazhar khan | Producer: Anandita )

Best Producer :

01. Prabhat Pheri (Mahendra Shrivas | Producer: Eesha Agrawal, Ankeet Mishra)

02. Jigar Ni Jeet (Producer: Bharat Jain | Director: VISHNU THAKOR)

03. Sivappu Kayiru / Red Rope (Director: Sasikumar S | Producer: Sevenraj R)

04. My boyfriend, a mannequin (Director: DMITRY NIKOLENKO | Writer: Aygul Utyaganova | Producer: Arseny Ovchinnikov)

Best Writer :

01. My boyfriend, a mannequin (Director: DMITRY NIKOLENKO | Writer: Aygul Utyaganova | Producer: Arseny Ovchinnikov)

02. ASHA (Chirag G Appaiah)

03. Kuch Rishtey, Kuuch Yaadein… (Shibu Sable, Jaideo R Hemady)

Best Script :

01. Nirmalya (Aniket Chandrakant Dhavale)

02. Churul The Untold (Vijo Jose)

03. The World of The Outsiders: A Lord is Born (Durga Raju Myakala)

Best Actor / Actress :

01. Blue lily (Director: Gautam Raveendran Nair | Actress: Shruthi Rajanikanth)

02. MR PERFECT WIFE (Abhishek Pratap Singh Gehlwar)

Best Editor :

01. Moonridge Manor (Chris Chichester)

02. No Lies (Director: Jijo Sengupta | Editors: Jijo Sengupta, Arjun Vishwakarma)

Best Cinematographer :

01. “THE HANDS OF LIFE” Ancient healing secrets (Fabio Floris)

02. Seon Actually  (SoYoung Lee)

03. Jigar Ni Jeet (Director: VISHNU THAKOR | DOP: Arvindsinh Puvar)

Best Picture :

01. The Rich Kid (Director: A.L. Pruitt | Writer: Thomas A. Willoughby)

02. To the end of love (Director: Nils Anderson)

03. SUDHAGAD 07 (Director: Dilip Jakkappa Rayannavar | Producer: Govind Bansal)

Best Music :

01. Quantum Qi:The Taoist Art of Nurturing Life (Music Director: Sharron Rose)

02. Ram Aaye (DJ VaibhaV Thakar )

03. White Amber (Jinesh Kunj)

Best Sound :

01. The Family Photo (Director: John Norris Ray, Maria Victoria Sanchez)

02. NADIR (Eco del Ser)

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Best Supporting Actor / Actress :

01. My boyfriend, a mannequin (Director: DMITRY NIKOLENKO | Writer: Aygul Utyaganova | Producer: Arseny Ovchinnikov | Actor: Denis Nikitin )

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Best Actor in a Negative Role (Villain):

01. The Path To Enigma (Director: Max Gladkov | Actor: Semen Litvinov)

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Best Filmmaker :

01. An Ever After Drama (Michelle Lynn)

02. OM, the miracle app (Director, Writer: Karma Tshering) 

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Best Short Film of the Fest Award:

01. A KNIFE IN THE MOONLIGHT (Manoj Koloth)

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Best Feature Film of the Fest Award :

01. Joothan (Director, Writer: Pushpendra Albe)

02. Gaav Bolavato [The Village Calls] (Director: Vinod Manikrao | Writer: Sachin patil | Producer: Prashant Madhukar Narode, Ganesh Ingole, )

03. Kaara Ek Pratha (KAARA… A CUSTOM) (SUNIL BADONI)

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Best Documentary of the Fest Award :

01. Still She Rides (Anya Kothari, Anya Ramani)

02. “Chota Bheem” The Snared King of Bandhavgadh (Anshuman Sharma)

03. My Silk Road (Zhao Pu Yang)

04. MORGAN WOOD “EVERYTHING ALWAYS HAPPENS SO MUCH” (Director: Richard Gonzales | Writer: Morgan Wood )

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Best Film of the Fest Award :

01. My boyfriend, a mannequin (Director: DMITRY NIKOLENKO | Writer: Aygul Utyaganova | Producer: Arseny Ovchinnikov)

02. Bill W Conscious Contact (Director: Kevin Hanlon | Producer: Jay Stinnett)

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Honorable Mention Award :

01. Dusra Mauka (Director, Writer: Abhishek Kumar Pandey)

02. Ants’ eyes (BAI XIN)

03. The Rich Kid (Director: A.L. Pruitt | Writer: Thomas A. Willoughby)

04. The Babel (Duanze Ma)

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BEST DIRECTOR AWARD :

01. My Silk Road (Zhao Pu Yang)

02. The Joy of Curiosity (Kum-Kum Bhavnani)

03. Seekers (Director, Writer: Gio Israel | Producer: Santiago Paladines, Seth Teicher)

04. “THE HANDS OF LIFE” Ancient healing secrets (Fabio Floris)

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Best AI Film Director Award :

01. Paradox (AI Filmmaker: Anand TM, Alby Joy)

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BEST AI Filmmaker Award :

01.Jai Kisaan (Goutham Kool Monkk)

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