The Zsigmond Vilmos International Film Festival is an international film festival dedicated to cinematography and named after the renowned Hungarian-American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, one of the most influential figures of New Hollywood cinema and Academy Award winner for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Held annually in Szeged, the festival was established with the aim of celebrating visual storytelling and cinematic research connected to the image, placing cinematography at the centre of the discussion around contemporary cinema. Through an international programme of feature films, short films, talks and masterclasses, the festival brings together filmmakers and cinematographers from around the world, and over the years has established itself as one of the European events most attentive to the dialogue between cinematic narrative and visual language.
Awards 2026
ZSIGMOND VILMOS MAIN AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
TO THE WEST, IN ZAPATA (Cuba-Spain)
DoP: David Bim
Director: David Bim
BEST FULL-LENGTH FEATURE FILM AWARD:
SILENT FRIEND (France-Germany-Hungary)
DoP: Pálos Gergely
Director: Enyedi Ildikó
BEST SHORT FEATURE FILM AWARD:
VOICES FROM THE ABYSS (Mexico)
DoP: Eliott Reguera
Director: Irving Serrano, Victor Rejón
BEST SHORT FEATURE FILM SPECIAL MENTION:
PRIMO SANGUE (Italy)
DoP: Andrea Benjamin Manenti
Director: Antonio La Camera
BEST SHORT FEATURE FILM SPECIAL MENTION:
I USED TO CALL THAT MAN HOME (Mexico)
DoP: Melissa Nocetti
Director: Melissa Nocetti
BEST SHORT FEATURE FILM SPECIAL MENTION:
FAMILY SUNDAY (Mexico)
DoP: Ángel Jara Taboada
Director: Gerardo Del Razo
BEST DOCUMENTARY AWARD:
FAKIR (Czech Republic-Poland-Slovakia)
DoP: Michaela Hošková
Director: Roman Ďuriš
BEST MUSIC VIDEO AWARD:
6363: NEM VAGYOK NORMÁLIS!!! (Hungary)
DoP: Bálint Dániel
Director: Regős Ábel
SZEGED AWARD:
KURTÁG FRAGMENTS (Hungary)
DoP: Dobos Tamás, Vízkeleti Márton, Farkas Áron
Director: Nagy Dénes
VANTAGE VISION AND SPECIAL GRIP HUNGARY AWARD:
CS.KALOTAS | K6 FEAT. GENTLY DA SPITTAH’: NOTHING CAN SAVE ME (Hungary)
DoP: Garai Gabriel
Director: Juhász Péter
CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARD:
FRAGMENTS FROM THE EAST (Spain-Turkey)
DoP: Vedat Oyan
Director: Erkan Yazici
CRITICS’ CHOICE SPECIAL MENTION:
SILENT FRIEND (France-Germany-Hungary)
DoP: Pálos Gergely
Director: Enyedi Ildikó
STUDENT JURY AWARD:
BLUE HERON (Canada-Hungary)
DoP: Maya Bankovic
Director: Sophy Romvari
STUDENT JURY SPECIAL MENTION:
TO THE WEST, IN ZAPATA (Cuba-Spain)
DoP: David Bim
Director: David Bim
ASSOCIATION OF HUNGARIAN FILM DIRECTORS (AHD) AWARD:
STARS OF LITTLE IMPORTANCE (Hungary)
DoP: Bántó Csaba
Director: Olasz Renátó
ASSOCIATION OF HUNGARIAN FILM DIRECTORS (AHD) SPECIAL MENTION:
LATER IN THE CLEARING (Hungary-Spain)
DoP: Tarkövi Márton
Director: Tarkövi Márton
HUNGARIAN CINEMATOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION (HCA) AWARD:
EARTH AND IRON (Hungary)
DoP: Kovács Claudia, Lovasi Zoltán, Tóth Zsolt
Director: Buvári Tamás
POSTHUMOUS AWARD: Dobóczi Balázs DoP
SILENT ZONE (Hungary)
Awardees of ZSIFF essay competition:
1st place: Juhász Hanni
2nd place: Kovács Eszter Apolka
3rd place: Jakabffy Dóra
Awardee of ZSIFF video competition: Kojnok Áron
The video will be uploaded to ZSIFF’s YouTube-channel.
Congratulations to all the cinematographers and filmmakers!
