Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz’s “Trapped” has won the Grand Prize at the 2025 Hollyshorts Film Festival, qualifying it for this year’s Academy Awards competition for Best Live-Action Short.
That award is one of four Hollyshorts categories that grant the winners automatic entry into the Oscar short-film race, provided they meet the categories’ other requirements. The other Hollyshorts winners to qualify for the Oscars are Jan Saska’s “Hurikán,” which won the award as the festival’s best animated short; Andrés Ramírez Pulido’s “A Son and a Father,” which won the best live action award; and Irving Serrano and Victor Rejón’s “Voices From the Abyss,” which won the top documentary award.
Lee Knight won the best director award for “A Friend of Dorothy.”
The Hollyshorts Film Festival was established in 2005. This year, it showcased 427 films that screened in Hollywood from Aug. 7 through Aug. 16.
Here is the complete list of winners:
Oscar qualifying categories
Grand Prize: “Trapped,” Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
Best Animation: “Hurikán,” Jan Saska
Best Live Action: “A Son and a Father,” Andrés Ramírez Pulido
Best Documentary: “Voices From the Abyss,” Irving Serrano, Victor Rejón
Other categories
AAPI Award: “Mushroom Dad,” Michael Yuchen Lei
Best Cinematography: “Lo Que Desaparece,” Mario Lerma and Alex Rapariz
Best Comedy: “Susana,” Gerardo Coello Escalante and Amandine Thomas
Best Drama: “Trapped,” Sam Cutler-Kreutz – David Cutler-Kreutz
Best Director: “A Friend of Dorothy,” Lee Knight; Special Mention: “One Day This Kid,” Alexander Farah
Best Editing: Say Wuff!” Fabian Podeszwa
Best Horror: “Heirlooms,” Dan Abramovici
Best International: “The Painting & the Statue,” Freddie Fox
Best Midnight Madness: “Stomach Bug,” Matty Crawford
Best Music Video: “Earth Defender,” Sil van der Woerd, Jorik Dozy and Kynan Tegar
Best Podcast: “Moonburn,” Robbie Hyne
Best Producer: “Money Talk$”: Tony Mucci (Director and Producer), Scott Aharoni (Producer), Bryan Schmier (Producer) and David Mazouz (Producer)
Best Sci-Fi: “The Second Time Around,” Jack Howard
Best Special Effects: “Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting,” Alexander Thompson
Best Student Film: “1:10,” Sinan Taner
Best Thriller: “Plastic Surgery,” Guy Trevellyan
Best TV: “Chasers,” Erin Brown Thomas
Best Web Series: “Hasaan Hates Portland,” Mischa Webley
Kodak Best Shot on Film, 16MM: “Ragamuffin,” Kaitlyn Mikayla
Kodak Best Shot on Film, 35MM: “The Singers,” Sam Davis
Kodak Honorable Mention: “Synthesize Me,” Bear Damen
Latine Award: “Cura Sana,” Lucía G. Romero
LGBTQIA+ Award: “Dancing in Tomorrowland,” Jakob Roston
SAGindie Award: “L’avance,” Djiby Kebe
Social Impact Award: “Rise,” Jessica J. Rowlands
Best Sports Drama: “Negro League Nights,” Kyle Sykes
Best Sports Documentary: “It’s On Like a Pot of Neckbones,” Joey Garfield
Top 10 Live Action Short Films Finalists
“A Son and a Father,” Andrés Ramírez Pulido
“Mercenaire,” Pier-Philippe Chevigny
“Ragamuffin,” Kaitlyn Mikayla
“Amarela,” André Hayato Saito
“L’avance,” Djiby Kebe
“Trapped,” Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
“One Of Them,” Mostafa Vaziri
“A Friend of Dorothy,” Lee Knight
“Rise,” Jessica J. Rowlands
Script Awards
ISA Story Award – Best Feature Screenplay: “Dope Friend,” Matt Ferrucci
Best Female Screenplay: “The Unraveling,” Samantha Mallory
Best Short Screenplay Grand Prize – “Mudslide,” Frederik Ehrhardt
