Naples International Film Festival 2025 Announces Filmmaker Awards following celebratory weekend of film

The 2025 Naples International Film Festival (NIFF) announced the filmmaker award winners during a spirited Closing Night Awards Ceremony on Sunday, October 26, rounding off a weekend of screenings and celebrations.

Isabel Hagen’s drama On a String, about a gifted violist’s struggle to find her place as a professional musician, was a two-time winner, taking both the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature (and a cash prize of $2,500) and NIFF’s Focus on the Arts Award (and $1,500). The Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature (and $2,500) went to Cindy Meehl’s Jimmy & The Demons, which follows 79-year-old sculptor and artist Jimmy Grashow over four years as he devotes himself to a towering magnum opus. For the first time, NIFF also presented a Jury Award for Best Short Film (and $1,500), which was awarded to Lee Knight’s A Friend of Dorothy.

NIFF’s trio of jurors for the 2025 edition of the juried competition included actor and filmmaker Judge Reinhold (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Beverly Hills Cop), filmmaker and Golden Globe-nominated actress Cynthia Gibb (Salvador, Fame), and Jim Brunzell III, director of festivals at Dark Star Pictures and director of the Twin Cities–based Sound Unseen Festival.

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Naples International Film Festival 2025 winners—celebrating the spirit of film in Naples, Florida with Isabel Hagen’s drama On a String, Cindy Meehl’s Jimmy & The Demons, Lee Knight’s A Friend of Dorothy

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The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature (and $1,250) went to Ricardo de Montreuil’s Mistura, while the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature (and $1,250) was presented to Jenna Naranjo Winters’ Dream Touch Believe. The Audience Award for Best Short Film (and $1,000) went to Guto Barra and Peter DiMario’s Parker & Sammy.

Additional filmmaker awards selected by the festival programmers included Wendy Lobel’s Anxiety Club receiving the Impact Award, Alexis Lloyd’s Group – The Schopenhauer Project earning the Programmers’ Choice Award and Reed Arnold’s Do Us Part taking Best First Feature honors. Kathy Meng received the Rising Star Award for her directorial work on Willow and Wu, Stevo Chang and Rachel Mathieu’s Timeless won NIFF’s Indie Spirit Award and KT Bryden’s The Little Brown Bird received the Florida Film Award. Each of these filmmakers also received a $750 cash prize.

The awards ceremony was an entertaining and emotional evening, from Reed Arnold’s self-deprecating humor as he accepted Best First Feature to Sammy Callari and Parker Seward’s joyful celebration following the announcement of their film’s win. It concluded with Cindy Meehl and Guzzy Grashow’s heartfelt remarks reflecting on the recent passing of artist and film subject Jimmy Grashow. Filmmakers expressed deep gratitude for the warmth of Naples audiences and the care shown by the NIFF team throughout the festival. The evening’s presentations rounded off a week that once again demonstrated why NIFF is frequently recognized by MovieMaker Magazine among its top film festivals.

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Naples International Film Festival 2025 winners—celebrating the spirit of film in Naples, Florida with Isabel Hagen’s drama On a String, Cindy Meehl’s Jimmy & The Demons, Lee Knight’s A Friend of Dorothy

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NIFF began with its signature Opening Night Film and Party red carpet celebration, which featured a full audience enjoying the festival’s gala program of short films in Hayes Hall on the Artis—Naples Kimberly K. Querrey and Louis A. Simpson Cultural Campus. Audiences continued to turn out in record numbers at Naples’ Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and during NIFF’s popular Screenings Under the Stars in Norris Garden on the Artis—Naples cultural campus. The festival concluded with a special presentation of The Princess Bride in Concert in Hayes Hall, with the Naples Philharmonic performing Mark Knopfler’s iconic score live under the baton of Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly—a fitting finale to NIFF’s multidisciplinary celebration of film and the arts.

(Back L to R) NIFF Festival Producer Shannon Franklin, Laurie Naranjo and Michael Naranjo (Dream Touch Believe), Lee Knight and James Dean (A Friend of Dorothy), Guzzy Grashow (Jimmy & the Demons), Stevo Chang (Timeless), Kathy Meng (Willow and Wu), Reed Arnold and Kelly Russo (Do Us Part), Artis-Naples Executive Vice President, Artistic Operations, David Filner

(Front L to R) Jenna Naranjo Winters (Dream Touch Believe), Dr. Elliot Zeisel (Group – The Schopenhauer Project), Cindy Meehl and Elizabeth Westrate (Jimmy & the Demons), Rachel Mathieu and Aubrey Rhodes (Timeless), Isabel Hagen (On a String), Ricardo de Montreuil (Mistura), Xander Black (Do Us Part), Parker Seward and Sammy Callari (Parker & Sammy) (Photo by Darron R. Silva)

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The 2025 Naples International Film Festival Award Winners:

NIFF JURY AWARDS

Best Narrative Feature – $2,500
On a String

Director: Isabel Hagen

Best Documentary Feature – $2,500
Jimmy & The Demons

Director: Cindy Meehl

Best Short Film – $1,500
A Friend of Dorothy

Director: Lee Knight

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NIFF PROGRAMMERS’ AWARDS

Focus on the Arts Award – $1,500
On a String

Director: Isabel Hagen

Impact Award – $750
Anxiety Club

Director: Wendy Lobel

Indie Spirit Award – $750
Timeless

Directors: Stevo Chang, Rachel Mathieu

Programmers’ Choice Award – $750
Group – The Schopenhauer Project

Director: Alexis Lloyd

Best First Feature – $750
Do Us Part

Director: Reed Arnold

Rising Star Award – $750Kathy Meng, director

Willow and Wu

Best Florida Film Award – $750
The Little Brown Bird

Director: KT Bryden

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NIFF AUDIENCE AWARDS

Audience Award Winner, Narrative Feature – $1,250
Mistura

Director: Ricardo de Montreuil

Audience Award Winner, Documentary Feature – $1,250
Dream Touch Believe

Director: Jenna Naranjo Winters

Audience Award Winner, Best Short Film – $1,000
Sammy & Parker

Directors: Guto Barra, Peter DiMario