EXCLUSIVE: Dances With Films: LA, the independent-focused film festival, has wrapped its 29th edition with the presentation of awards.
Bandit, directed by Brian L. “BLT” Tan, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature. Wafda Saifan Lubis, Roy Sungkono, T. Rifnu Wikana, and Claresta Taufan star in the action-thriller from Indonesia and the U.S. Logline: “With nothing left to lose, two desperate friends steal an abandoned G-Wagon for a quick score. What they didn’t count on? A corpse in the trunk — and the people who put it there.”
Dances With Films: LA hosted the world premiere of Bandit. Tan’s previous directing credits include Murder Below Deck (2024) and the 2025 Indonesian TV series Theo & Ruza.
An Honorable Mention in the Best Narrative Feature category went to Angeleno, directed by Jay Diaz.
‘The Last Place on Earth‘
Indonesia Nature Film Society
Earning the festival’s Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature was The Last Place on Earth, directed by David Booth Gardner. The film is described as “a journey into Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem – where tigers, elephants, rhinos, and orangutans still roam free – that follows a group of wildlife activists who risk everything to save this untouched wilderness from illegal deforestation.”
Gardner, Nanang Sujana, and Shayne McGrath produced The Last Place on Earth, which held its world premiere at Dances With Films: LA.
‘To Kill a Nazi’
Dances With Films: LA
Two films earned Honorable Mentions in the Best Documentary Feature category: Boaz Dvir’s To Kill a Nazi (narrated by Jason Alexander), and Jon Bolerjack’s Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, about the late comic book master and efforts to cash in on his likeness and legacy.
‘Godpower‘
Dances With Films: LA
Godpower, directed by Geoff Browne, took the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Short. Honorable Mentions in that category went to Cornerman, directed by Sam Findlay, and Dropping Off, directed by Will Mayo and Ian Scott McGregor.
The Grand Jury prizes are determined by previous winners of the festival. DWF also presents Industry Choice Awards, which are selected by “industry powerhouse executives like Steve Wegner (Alcon Entertainment) and JC Spink (BinderSpink),” according to the festival website. The Industry Choice Awards are chosen from among all films in the festival, including features and shorts in all sections.
‘The Expiration of Darius Campbell’
Dances With Films: LA
The Industry Choice Award (under 40’) went to The Expiration of Darius Campbell, written and directed by Charlie Roth. David Hemphill, Tony Nevada, and Paula Rhodes star in the comedic short. Logline: “In a retro-futuristic ‘Revitalization Suite,’ a woman pays for her dead husband to be resurrected for thirty seconds so she can confront him about his infidelity and get the closure she needs.”
The Industry Choice Award (over 40’) went to the aforementioned documentary Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, directed by Jon Bolerjack. The film is investigative in nature.
‘Stan Lee: The Final Chapter’
Dances With Films: LA
“A story of mistreatment and duplicity, this is the tale of how comic book legend Stan Lee landed in the middle of a scandal as dramatic as any superhero saga,” reads the Dances With Films: LA website. “The events are chronicled by filmmaker Jon Bolerjack, who became an assistant to Lee and a fixture of his inner circle. Jon gained unprecedented access and filmed everything he saw. What he uncovered was a thriving market where Lee’s signatures and memorabilia were converted into huge sums of money, while rival figures and competing interests battled for influence over Lee’s fortune and legacy. After years spent documenting these events and trying to bring the story to light, Bolerjack is ready to share this shocking and deeply heartbreaking story with the world.”
‘Littermates’
Dances With Films: LA
Littermates, directed by Scott Tinkham and Michael Woloson, won the Competition (Narrative) Feature Audience Award. The Documentary Feature Audience Award was shared by two films: My Name Is Gitta, directed by Beatrix Ryle, and Tell Me About Tomorrow, a film about late TikTok star Cooper Noriega, directed by Brad Alexander.
Dances With Films
Dances With Films: LA unfolded at the TCL Chinese 6 complex within Ovation LA in Hollywood. These are additional awards presented Sunday night:
MIDNIGHT AUDIENCE AWARD
PHYSICAL TOUCH
Director: Jesse Montagna; Writer: Kendra Baude; Producers: Marki Yaccino and Jesse Montagna
FUSION FEATURE AUDIENCE AWARD
FACE LOVE
Director/Writer: Gerald Fillmore; Producers: Jorge Alonzo, Victor Corales, Gerald Fillmore
DOWNBEAT AUDIENCE AWARD
MONEY
Director/Writer: Jordyn Apostolache; Producers: Moving Media, Dani Mejía
DANCES WITH KIDZ PRO AUDIENCE AWARD
I GOT NEXT
Director/Writer: Christopher Baxter; Producers: Angel Williams, Andrew Pilkington, Ramfis Myrthil, Keonia Williams, McKarah Dreyfous and Christopher Baxter
SERIES AUDIENCE AWARD
PEOPLE OF THE WEST
Directors: Christopher Nataanii Cegielski, Phillip Montgomery, Josh Baker
Writers: Maya Rose Dittloff, Bradley Jackson, Marilyn Thomas, Diego D. Moreno, Kris L. Crenwelge
Producers: Brad Munoa, Nico Magee, Joseph Eardly, Edward Hambleton, Rachel Wasserman, Amanda Erickson and Gemma Jordan
COMPETITION (NARRATIVE) SHORTS AUDIENCE AWARD
YOU COULD’VE BEEN A NURSE
Director/Writer: Meg Mateo; Producers: Jaymar Cabebe and Dianne Que
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS AUDIENCE AWARD
DUAL WIELDER
Director: Julia Boyd; Producers: Julia Boyd, Marissa Paiva, Barrett Thomas, Meredith Stein
FUSION SHORT AUDIENCE AWARD
PLASTIC PASTURES
Director/Writer: Darren Rubin; Producer: Dariush Ghaffari
