Mexico City, December 2025 — The Sinister Horror Film Festival held the on-site activities of its second edition on December 13 and 14, 2025, at Cinemanía Plaza Loreto, continuing to build its identity as a filmmaker-centered genre festival with a clear curatorial vision. Building upon the strong foundations of its inaugural year, the 2025 edition not only met expectations but showed clear growth over its inaugural year, reaffirming Sinister’s commitment to horror, dark fantasy, and all forms of unsettling cinema.

Over the course of two intense days, the festival welcomed an extraordinary selection of works from across the globe, with official selections representing Mexico, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Canada, Portugal, Panama, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Germany, Ecuador, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Switzerland, France, China, and Sweden. This wide geographical reach reflected the festival’s expanding international presence and growing appeal among genre storytellers.

More than a showcase, the second edition of Sinister Horror Film Festival reaffirmed its philosophy as a festival that places creators at the center, recognizing and valuing the voices behind the films. With a carefully curated program, engaged audiences, and a strong sense of community, Sinister continues to position itself as an appealing space for filmmakers working within horror and adjacent genres, where artistic risk, craftsmanship, and originality are not only welcomed but celebrated.

Official Winners

Following a brief holiday break after the festival screenings, the awards were officially announced during the Sinister Awards Ceremony on January 26, 2026.

The following honors reflect the diversity of voices, formats, and creative disciplines represented at the festival, recognizing outstanding achievements across its official selection.

Best Picture Awards

Best Horror Film — Sinister Award
Archai — Eugenio Villani

Best Horror Short Film — Sinister Award
Moral Hazard — Luuk Audenaerde

Direction

Best Director – Feature Film
Severed Road — Benjamin L. Brown

Best Director – Short Film
Rear Road — Roberto Montalbo

Screenwriting

Best Original Screenplay – Feature Film
The Behemoth — Kai Edmund Bogatzki

Best Original Screenplay – Short Film
The Voiceless Man — Julian Stern

Best Screenplay – Unproduced Feature
The Evil Order — Salvador Ochoa Lemus

Best Screenplay – Unproduced Short
Dog Eat Man — Ho-Seung Son & Ri Yang

Acting

Best Actress – Feature Film
Stalker Jane — Halo Kitsch

Best Actor – Feature Film
Why, If

Best Actress – Short Film
The Stranded — Claudia Trujillo

Best Actor – Short Film
The Black Silence — Liam Bull

Technical & Creative Excellence

Best Cinematography
The Beneath — Ruben van Weelden

Best Film Editing
The Black Silence

Best Production Design
Dagon

Best Costume Design
Brand New Cadillac — Sophia Tatum

Best Makeup FX – Feature Film
The Behemoth — Philipp Rathgeber

Best Makeup FX – Short Film
En el nombre de… — Juan Manuel Méndez N. & Carmen Cervantes

Best Monster Design
The Clayman

Best Visual Effects
The Clayman — Bryan Wesley Lewandowski

Music & Sound

Best Original Score – Feature Film
Why, If

Best Original Score – Short Film
Pimple

Best Sound Design
Bath Bomb

Specialized Awards

Best Horror Photography
Hail The Queen — Rachel Bramall

Best Horror Scene
Fatal Harmony — Nick Noyes

Best Short Animation
Dagon — Paolo Gaudio

Best Music Video
Walk With Me Through The Fire: The Curse of K.K. Hammond — K.K. Hammond

Audience Award

Audience Award Winner
Speira — José Cruz Carrasco

Honorable Mentions

The following projects received Honorable Mentions for their artistic merit and contribution to the festival’s lineup:

• Ad Meata — Dir. Carlo Settembrini (Italy)
• And… Do You Know Where Your Cat Is? — Angel Roberto Esponda Hernández (Mexico)
• Bath Bomb — Dir. Colin G. Cooper (Canada)
• Bokeh — Dir. Ivan Salcedo (United States)
• Carousel — Dir. Christopher Kosakowski (United States)
• Cassandra Insköld’s Last Word — Dir. Dan Asenlund (Sweden)
• Dawn Fades – Drugs — Dir. Danial J. Smith (United States)
• Fred — Dir. Ernesto Gutiérrez (Costa Rica)
• Goodnight Sweetheart — Dir. Kathrin Told (Austria)
• Infiniteness of Nostalgia — Dir. Alejandro Nájera (Mexico)
• Like No Place — Dir. Dominic Czarnota (United States)
• Mater Tenebrarum – Gehenna — Dir. Gabriel Alcón (Spain)
• Pulchra — Dir. Fernando Rosales (Mexico)
• The Barn — Dir. Michael Carlo Allen (Italy)
• The Boy and Pitaya — Dir. Da Yu Hong (Taiwan)
• Umbra — Dir. Pablo Otero (Spain)
• Unravelling — Dir. Aimie Willemse (United Kingdom)
• Veiled in Shadows — Dir. Sami Ylönen (Finland)
• Wicca – Jezabel — Dir. Alan Godina (Mexico)

A Festival on the Rise

With its second edition, the Sinister Horror Film Festival has confirmed what filmmakers and audiences alike are already beginning to recognize: Sinister is gradually establishing itself within the global horror ecosystem. By combining international participation with a strong focus on its filmmakers, Sinister continues to cultivate a space where diverse dark visions can be shared and discovered.

As the festival looks ahead, the success of its 2025 edition stands as a clear statement—the festival continues to move forward with a clear sense of direction.