That was our 10th Final Girls Berlin Edition!
Award winners, new merch, and more!
Well, that was our 10th edition! Our 2025 festival is over and we had a blast with you all! We’ll take a teeny tiny break and then return with our Brain Binge weekend filled with fantastic horror talks in the late spring, so stay tuned for more info on that soon!
For now, here are a few things you might like to know…
The 2025 FGB Awards Go To…
BEST FEATURE FILM ( awarded by jury members Audrey Biasucci, Sally Campbell, Niamh Sauter-Cooke)
DES TEUFELS BAD directed by Veronika Franz and Severian Fiala
JURY STATEMENT:
”In rural 18th century Austria, a claustrophobic society governed by strict social and religious norms, Agnes’s unfulfilled desire for children and her husband’s emotional distance drive her into a deep depression. With haunting imagery, powerful performances, and an atmospheric score, “Des Teufels Bad” transports us into the psychological reality of a world entirely different from our own, leading us to understand a shocking act violence in an entirely new light. In this film, hallmarks of the folk horror genre, including religious fanaticism, bloodthirsty rituals, and the sublime, are amplified by an unwavering commitment to historical authenticity."
HONORABLE MENTION
MI BESTIA directed by Camila Beltran
JURY STATEMENT:
“Mi Bestia” is an impressive feature debut from director Camila Beltrán, a coming of age film about looking and being looked at. An authentic and grounded recreation of growing up in 1990s Colombia, the film manages to touch on many different topics - Latin American satanic panic and religious dogma, the objectification of women from youth, and the feminine bond with nature - while foregrounding the emotional experience of the main character. We especially want to highlight the excellent performances and the innovative use of cinematic form.
BEST SHORT FILM ( awarded by jury members Elif Satanaya Özbay, Jenni Zylka, Sabine Ehrl
Wander to Wander directed by Nina Gantz
JURY STATEMENT:
"What does a puppet do when the puppeteer dies? The fate of three miniature characters out of an 80s children’s television show turns into a desperate survival story – including flies for dinner, growing isolation and a burning inferno. Nina Gantz's touching animation film shows impressive worldbuilding with an emotional, philosophical and sinister undertone. And never has Shakespeare been quoted so naked. The jury unanimously agreed to give the prize for the best Horror Short Film at the Final Girls Film Festival 2025 to Wander to Wonder by Nina Gantz."
HONORABLE MENTION
SHE (Snake) Directed by Renee Zhan
JURY STATEMENT:
“We unanimously agreed that Shé is a striking and beautiful film, featuring elements of stop-motion animation that wonderfully weave body horror with cultural commentary, feeling wholly unique and underrepresented. The film masterfully critiques the pressures of assimilation, showing that sometimes monsters are born from within us when we force ourselves into rigid molds of conformity. Shé is a surreal, sweet, and hauntingly poetic experience. Because of all these reasons, we have chosen Renee Zhan's short film as the honorable mention at this year's Final Girls Berlin Film Festival.”
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER
Berta directed by Lucia Forner Segarra
1st runner ups (tied): Navel Gazer directed by Shirin Mori & Gaslighter directed by Virginia Powers Hendry
2nd runner up: Bail Bail directed by Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers
Short block winners:
Nightmares - Open Your Eyes directed by Samantha Scaffidi
Revenge - Berta directed by Lucia Forner Segarra
Sensory Overload - A Fermenting Woman directed by Priscilla Galvez
Carnivalesque - She (Snake) directed by Renee Zhan
Hostile Environments - Autophagy directed by Edie Lawrence
Midnight - I Am Always Hungry directed by Sophie Ansell
Life Cycles - FIA directed by Luciana Martinez
Grief - What The Mermaid Likes directed by Jessica Puppo
Queer Horror - Tastes Like Pork directed by Dante Dammit
Capitalist Horror - Bail Bail directed by Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers
Het Horror - Gaslighter directed by Virginia Powers Hendry
Cults - Navel Gazer directed by Shirin Mori
NEW MERCH IS HERE
Available at our online shop and we do ship internationally!
We interviewed some of our audience members as well as several visiting filmmakers about the fest - from its beginnings to now. Here it is if you’d like to watch (and yes we do have a YouTube channel in case you didn’t know)!
We love hearing from you, so if you have any feedback for us, here’s our form for you to fill out. It’s quick and painless, swear!
YOUR FEEDBACK
That’s it for now, boils and ghouls! We shall return soon!