URBAN-15 invites you to the 2025 Josiah Media Festival Awards Ceremony! This livestream event begins Monday, February 16th at 7pm CST and will highlight the top three films in each of the Josiah Media Festival’s four categories; Narrative, Documentary, Animation and Experimental. Also highlighted in this livestream will be the award winning film of this year’s “Debra Varner Award for Innovation”, a special award granted to just one film per year that stands above and beyond in its creative storytelling and vision.

Join us at urban15.org/live-stream for a special opportunity to watch these 13 winning films, listen to post-film interviews with the filmmakers, and learn more about URBAN-15’s creative opportunities, including how to submit your own film to the 2026 Josiah Media Festival!

Narrative Category Winners:

1st Place: “Overload” by Mosayeb Hanaei from Tehran, Iran

2nd Place: “I’m Giving Birth” by Medeya Vlastopulo from Moscow, Russia

3rd Place: “A Waltz on the Moon” by Francisco de Assis Parcerias from Porto, Portugal

Documentary Category Winners:

1st Place: “Beyond the Down” by Gabriel Corasini from São Paulo, Brazil

2nd Place: “Second Chance” by India Anne Mitchell from Petaluma, California

3rd Place: “Changing Tides” by Renn Smith from Mill Valley, California

Animation Category Winners:

1st Place: “The Cleaner” by Mykola Shkoda, fromKyiv, Ukraine

2nd Place: “Sunrise Falling” by Alexander Salomon from Los Angeles, California

3rd Place: “The River” by The Animation Incubator in Bucharest, Romania

Experimental Category Winners:

1st Place: “Frozen” by Ryan Zreik from Prosper, Texas

2nd Place: “The Door” by Paulina Wozniak from Poznan, Poland

3rd Place: “Snow” by Ruoyi Dong from Calgary, Canada

Debra Varner Award Winner:

“Nibbling of the Night” by by Gabi Bania from Warsaw, Poland