Edinburgh International Film Festival announces winners of this year’s Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence and The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence Competition
The winner of the Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence is Abdolreza Kahani’s Mortician
Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has announced the winners of its prize for feature filmmaking and its prize for short filmmaking.
The awards were presented at a special ceremony at Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh by Jason Connery on behalf of The Connery Foundation and by legendary film editor Thelma Schoonmaker.
The winner of this year’s The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence, decided on by an audience vote and funded by The Connery Foundation is Abdolreza Kahani’s Mortician. Ten feature-length World Premieres were presented at EIFF as part of the competition with the winning filmmaker being awarded £50,000 to support their future projects.
In Mortician, a reclusive mortician faces an unusual request from a dissident singer in hiding, their bond providing the beating heart of this disarmingly elegant film. Combining a distinctive, lo-fi visual style, naturalistic performances and familiar wit and humanity, Director Abdolreza Kahani’s film is both utterly distinctive and affecting.
Mortician sees director Abdolreza Kahani return to EIFF following his film A Shrine screening as part of last year’s Festival. Mortician is presented as part of Spotlight Canada 2025, supported by The High Commission of Canada and The Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation.
The other films in competition films were:
Blue Film (Dir. Elliot Tuttle)
Powered by extraordinary performances, a tight script and an elegant visual style, this unusual thriller makes for a shocking and highly compelling cinematic experience.
Concessions (Dir. Mas Bouzidi)
Propelled by a witty and weirdly lyrical script, great performances and some unexpected cameos, this is a fresh, funny and robust ode to cinema in a time of uncertainty over its future.
In Transit (Dir. Jaclyn Bethany)
An elegant, subtle drama with a chilly edge, this is a restrained and emotionally intelligent exploration of selfish desires, hidden motivations and what it really takes to know yourself.
Low Rider (Dir. Campbell X)
Powered by finely drawn characters and a freewheeling narrative, this is a vivid and visually striking queer road movie that has a strong message of self-empowerment at its core
Best Boy (Dir. Jesse Noah Klein)
A bold, original and blackly comic satire that fearlessly skewers social constructs, the nuclear family and toxic masculinity.
Novak (Dir. Harry Lagoussis)
An offbeat, intriguing exploration of idol worship, consumerism and non-conformity in the modern world, this is dark, unpredictable and humorous in equal measure.
On The Sea (Dir. Helen Walsh)
The humdrum contentment and daily routine of a married mussel farmer are thrown into chaos by the arrival of a mysterious stranger in novellist and filmmaker Helen Walsh’s beautiful, erotic love story set on the Welsh coast.
Once You Shall Be One Of Those Who Lived Long Ago (Dirs. Alexander Rynéus and Per Bifrost)
An affecting, gorgeously crafted documentary about the remaining people in Malmberget in north Sweden, a small town slowly collapsing into the mines beneath it.
Two Neighbors (Dir. Ondine Viñao)
A wealthy socialite (Cherry) and a struggling writer (Chalotra) are thrown together at a debauched party in this remarkable satire of greed and excess with a supernatural twist in the tale.
The winner of The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence Competition is Joanna Vymeris’s Mother Goose. The short film competition winner was also decided on by an audience vote and is awarded £15,000 to support their future projects.
After the death of her husband, Janet decides to distract herself by rearing a goose, which is to be the centrepiece of her Christmas dinner. However, as she grows ever more isolated from her daughter, Janet’s need to nurture the goose becomes an obsession: one which will cost her dearly. A modern day Grimm’s fairy-tale about grief, isolation and a goose.
The other shorts in the competition are:
Love Me, Hold Me, Always (Dir. Hardey Speight)
Forced into homelessness after her release from prison, Chrissie searches for love in the margins of society.
Stray (Dir. Morven Christie)
From nightclub to wilderness, a young girl seeks shelter from a world that feels hostile.
Blondi (Dir. Jack Salvadori)
Can a dog still be man’s best friend if that man is the Führer?
The Golden Squacco Heron (Dir. Edward Smyth)
Two childhood friends search for the fabled golden Squacco Heron.
Fowl Play (Dir. Anabelle LeMieux)
A mother’s quest for a Thanksgiving turkey spirals into chaos.
Backstroke (Sırtüstü) (Dir. Asya Günen)
Burdened by pressure and isolation, a young swimmer finds freedom by reclaiming the water for herself.
She Said So (Dir. Madeline Clayton)
A persuasive teenage girl orchestrates a sleepover that tests her best friend’s sexual boundaries.
Jodie (Dir. Seb Tabe)
Jodie faces a moral dilemma as she contends with the harmful male influences in her life.
Your body in my room (Tu cuerpo en mi habitación) (Dir. Axel Cheb Terrab)
Knowing they will never see each other again, two former lovers are acutely aware of the passing of time.
EIFF Director, Paul Ridd has said: “As the 2025 Edinburgh International Film Festival draws to a close I am once again moved and humbled by the hard work and astonishing effort that everyone has put into making this Festival stimulating, entertaining and fun.
“I am so grateful to all the organisations, teams and individuals who put their hearts and souls into this. These past seven days are testament to our collective belief in the power of film to provoke, to stimulate and to inspire empathy.
“Our two competition winners showcase outstanding work from their respective filmmakers and teams, proving that with formal dexterity, humanity and grace, cinema is alive and kicking.
“I am hugely inspired by all the filmmakers in Competition and beyond as well as all our special guests, who have worked so brilliantly with us to platform their work on the big screen and have been so generous with their time with audiences and with industry who we know very well are hungry for something fresh and exciting. I cannot wait for 2026!”
EIFF 2025 is supported by Screen Scotland and the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, EventScotland part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, and the industry programme is backed by EXPO funding from the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland.
Edinburgh International Film Festival ran from Thursday 14 to Wednesday 20 August.