SXSW 2025 Audience Awards: Fantasy Life, The Accountant 2, and Remaining Native Take Top Honors
Curtsey Of SXSW
The 32nd annual SXSW Film & TV Festival has officially revealed its Audience Award winners, celebrating the films, series, and experiences that resonated most with attendees. This year’s top prizes went to Matthew Shear’s directorial debut Fantasy Life, Ben Affleck’s highly anticipated sequel The Accountant 2, and Paige Bethmann’s powerful documentary Remaining Native.
These audience-driven awards follow last week’s juried selections, which named Amy Wang’s Slanted the Best Narrative Feature. With packed screenings and enthusiastic receptions, this year’s lineup showcased a dynamic mix of indie gems, high-profile projects, and groundbreaking storytelling.
Shear’s Fantasy Life—which also earned Amanda Peet a Special Jury Prize for Performance—won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature. The film follows a man recovering from a panic attack who unexpectedly finds himself babysitting for his psychiatrist’s granddaughters while falling for their mother.
The Accountant 2, directed by Gavin O’Connor, took home the top honor in the Headliners section. The sequel reunites Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal nearly a decade after the original thriller, much to the delight of fans.
On the documentary side, Remaining Native captivated audiences with its story of a determined high school runner on the Yerington Paiute reservation. The film had already earned a Special Jury Prize, reinforcing its status as a standout in this year’s competition.
Other major winners included Jay Duplass’ The Baltimorons, Matt Johnson’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, and Deaf President Now!, a festival favorite chronicling the historic 1988 student protests at Gallaudet University.
Below is the full list of SXSW 2025 Audience Award winners:
Feature Film Program
Headliner
Audience Award Winner: The Accountant 2
Director: Gavin O’Connor | Producers: Ben Affleck, Lynette Howell Taylor, Mark Williams | Screenwriter: Bill Dubuque
Narrative Feature Competition
Audience Award Winner: Fantasy Life
Director/Screenwriter: Matthew Shear | Producers: Charlie Alderman, Chris Dodds, Phil Keefe, Amanda Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater
Documentary Feature Competition
Audience Award Winner: Remaining Native
Director: Paige Bethmann | Producers: Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich
Narrative Spotlight
Audience Award Winner: The Baltimorons
Director: Jay Duplass | Producers: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Shuli Harel, David Bonnett Jr., Michael Strassner, Drew Langer | Screenwriters: Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner
Documentary Spotlight
Audience Award Winner: Luv Ya, Bum!
Directors: Sam Wainwright Douglas, David Hartstein | Producers: Paul Jensen, Vance Howard | Screenwriter: Andrew Miller
Midnighter
Audience Award Winner: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Director: Matt Johnson | Producers: Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson | Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol
Visions
Audience Award Winner: Ghost Boy
Director: Rodney Ascher | Producers: Elika Portnoy, Ryan Bartecki, Gary Levinsohn, Billy Hines
Global
Audience Award Winner: Corina
Director: Urzula Barba Hopfner | Producers: Carlos Hernández, Iván López-Barba, Urzula Barba | Screenwriters: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Samuel Sosa
24 Beats Per Second
Audience Award Winner: Selena y Los Dinos
Director: Isabel Castro | Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, David Blackman, Simran A. Singh
Festival Favorite
Audience Award Winner: Deaf President Now!
Directors: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim | Producers: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Amanda Rohlke, Jonathan King, Michael Harte
Short Film Program
Narrative Short Competition
Audience Award Winner: Ben’s Sister
Director/Screenwriter: Emma Weinswig | Producers: Will Noyce, Emma Weinswig, Shane Bagwell, Chelsea Eisen
Documentary Short Competition
Audience Award Winner: Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Directors: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud | Producers: Juan Arredondo, Jon Alpert, Christof Putzel, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen, Jeff Newton, Mami Kuwano Renaud, Naomi Mizoguchi, Tami Alpert
Animated Short Competition
Audience Award Winner: Retirement Plan
Director: John Kelly | Screenwriters: John Kelly, Tara Lawall | Producers: Julie Murnaghan, Andrew Freedman
Midnight Short Competition
Audience Award Winner: Lurk
Directors: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan | Screenwriter: Josh Wallace Kerrigan | Producers: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Devin Das, Greg Cohen, John Nodorft
Texas Short Competition
Audience Award Winner: Sweetbriar
Director/Screenwriter: Danny Rivera | Producer: MK Goss
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Music Video Competition
Audience Award Winner: A$AP Rocky – ‘Tailor Swif’
Directors/Screenwriters: Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia
TV Program
TV Premiere
Audience Award Winner: Spy High
Director: Jody McVeigh-Schultz | Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Aliza Rosen, Jody McVeigh-Schultz, David Wendell
TV Spotlight
Audience Award Winner: Mix Tape
Director: Lucy Gaffy | Producers: Aoife O’Sullivan, Tristan Orpen Lynch, Angie Fielder, Polly Staniford | Screenwriter: Jo Spain
Independent TV Pilot Competition
Audience Award Winner: Bulldozer
Showrunner/Screenwriter: Joanna Leeds | Director: Andrew Leeds | Producers: Joanna Leeds, Andrew Leeds, Rhett Reese, Caleb Reese, Michael Day
XR Experience
XR Experience Competition
Audience Award Winner: Face Jumping
Directors: Danny Cannizzaro, Samantha Gorman | Producers: Yuxin Gao, J Noland | Screenwriter: Samantha Gorman
XR Experience Spotlight
Audience Award Winner: Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul
Directors: Scott Berman, Ryan Hartsell | Producer/Screenwriter: Scott Berman
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