LAcon V Worldcon Film Festival Announces 2026 Award Winners

ANAHEIM, CA, UNITED STATES, August 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The LAcon Worldcon Film Festival is proud to announce the award-winning films of our 2026 festival.

The film festival, held as part of LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention takes place from August 27–31, 2026, at the Anaheim Convention Center. This year’s festival saw an extraordinary turnout, receiving in excess of 100 submissions from filmmakers representing more than 25 countries. The winning films highlight the very best in international science fiction, fantasy, horror, animation, and independent filmmaking.

“I’m very proud of the films we’ve selected for the LAcon Film Festival. They prove that speculative fiction is alive and well in the international independent film world.” film festival director Shawn Marier said. “One of the highlights for me is getting to show speculative fiction films from around the globe.”

This is the second annual Worldcon Film Festival after the 2025 World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle held a highly successful pilot project. Films are selected for the festival by a jury of filmmakers and fans, including Tina Anderson, Kathy Bond, Ching-In Chen, Abie Ekenezar, Kin Ferate, Chris Garcia, David Haas, Kevin Lawrence, Arendse Lund, Sarah Scrivano, Mark Sebring, and David Haas.

2026 Festival Winners

Best Feature (Over 45 minutes)
Film: Dead Media
Director: Joseph Scrimshaw | Country: United States
Screening: Friday, August 28 at 6:00 PM

Best Featurette (15–45 minutes)
Film: Pocket Change
Directors: Tanner Mobley & Heston Roewe | Country: United States
Screening: Saturday, August 29 at 11:00 AM

Best Short (Under 15 minutes)
Film: Battle of LA
Director: Patrick Pizzolorusso | Country: United States
Screening: Saturday, August 29 at 3:00 PM

Best Science Fiction
Film: One Minute Problem
Director: Nicolás Delgado de la Cámara | Country: United States
Screening: Sunday, August 30 at 5:00 PM

Best Fantasy
Film: The Screenwriter
Director: Mark Petrasso | Country: Italy
Screening: Thursday, August 27 at 1:00 PM

Best Horror
Film: Bug
Director: Filip Momirovski | Country: North Macedonia
Screening: Sunday, August 30 at 1:00 PM

Best Animated
Film: The Black Smoke of Prediction...
Director: Damir dado Šuša | Country: Croatia
Screening: Saturday, August 29 at 5:00 PM

Best Student Film
Film: My Name is Ringo
Director: Jon Peter Lewis | School: University of Southern California (USC) | Country: United States
Screening: Friday, August 28 at 1:00 PM


About LAcon V & Worldcon
LAcon V, the 2026 World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), takes place August 27–31, 2026, across the Anaheim Convention Center, Hilton Anaheim, and Anaheim Marriott hotels. LAcon V is presented by the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests (SCIFI), Inc., a California 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

"World Science Fiction Society", "WSFS", "World Science Fiction Convention", "Worldcon", and "Hugo Award" are service marks of Worldcon Intellectual Property, a California non-profit corporation managed by the Mark Protection Committee of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.

Olav N Rokne
LAcon V
+1 780-289-6528
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Bluesky
Instagram
Facebook
X

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.