Film Winners
CEFF 2026 Award Winning Films will be announced live at the festival on Saturday, February 21 at 6:30pm and posted here on Sunday, February 22. Stay tuned!
Congratulations to all of the CEFF 2026 Award Winning Films!
Save the Farm, Save the Future
Directed by Chad Weber
What the River Knows
Directed by Diego Riley and Will Buckley
Global Warning
Directed by Garry Keane
Chirp Talker
Directed by Audrey He-Qing Cheng
Trade Secret
Directed by Abraham Joffe
Past CEFF Award Winners
2025 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: Echos of the Sound: The Story of Hugo and the Southern Residents (Directed by Emma Stafki and Annie Stafki)
Best Short Film: Return of the Grizzly (Directed by Maaike Middleton)
Best Feature Film: The Snake and the Whale (Directed by John Carlos Frey)
Spirit of Activism: Takayna – The Heart of lutruwita / Tasmania (Directed by Matthew Newton)
Best of the Fest: Bring Them Home (Directed by Ivan MacDonald, Ivy MacDonald and Daniel Glick)
2024 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: Venus Ascending: Gender Equality & Water (Directed by Asher Elias Anantham)
Best Short Film: Groundwork – A Family Journey Into Regenerative Cotton (Directed by Lindsey Hagen)
Best Feature Film: Covenant of the Salmon People (Directed by Shane Thomas Anderson)
Spirit of Activism: Fracking the System: Colorado’s Oil and Gas Wars (Directed by Brian Hedden)
Best of the Fest: Flyways: The Untold Journey of Migratory Shorebirds (Directed by Randall Wood)
2023 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: Right here. Right Now. (Directed by Taylor Saulsbury)
Best Short Film: Voices of the Grand Canyon (Directed by Deidra Peaches)
Best Feature Film: The Last Seed (Directed by Andrea Gema)
Spirit of Activism: Finite: The Climate of Change (Directed by Rich Felgate)
Best of the Fest: A Rally for Rangers (Directed by Eric Daft)
2022 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: Soil Care is Climate Repair (Directed by Alex, Athena and Anni Hanna)
Best Short Film: Mapping Survival (Directed by Nacho Corbella)
Best Feature Film: The Roar of the Maranon (Directed by Bruno Monteferri)
Spirit of Activism: Triple F*** (Directed by Simona Theoharova)
Best of the Fest: YOUTH v GOV (Directed by Christi Cooper)
2021 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: Never Too Small (Directed by Mason Mirabile)
Best Short Film: Stay Wild (Directed by Lizzy Fowler)
Best Feature Film: Peng Yu Sai (Directed by Nitye Sood and Malaika Vaz)
Spirit of Activism: Necessity: Oil, Water and Climate Resistance (Directed by Jan Haaken, Samantha Praus)
Best of the Fest: Kiss the Ground (Directed by Josh Tickell and Rebecca Tickell)
Audience Favorite Feature Film: High Country (Directed by Conor Hagen)
Audience Favorite Short Film:Your Friend, Ranger Doug (Directed by Claire Jantzen, Sara Rose Nell)
2020 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: Soil (Directed by Kylan Jin, Ryan Zhang, Catherine Zhang)
Best Short Film: Maasai Olympics: The Hunt for Medals, Not Lions (Directed by James Suter)
Best Feature Film: The Nature Makers (Directed by Scott Saunders)
Spirit of Activism: Guarding the Forest (Directed by Max Baring, Karla Mendes)
Best of the Fest: Under Thin Ice (Directed by Denis Blaquière)
2019 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: The Ocean: Our Foundation (Directed by Amia Datts-Voluntad, Natalia Polinskey, Chloe Chin, Ka’imi Kaleleiki)
Best Short Film: Our Last Trash (Directed by Joanne Yue)
Best Feature Film: The Butterfly Trees (Directed by Kay Milam)
Spirit of Activism: Spears From All Sides (Directed by Christopher Walker)
Best of the Fest: From Seed to Seed (Directed by Katharina Stieffenhofer)
2018 CEFF Winning Films
Best Short Film: The Salmon Forest (Directed by Ben Hamilton)
Best Feature Film: A River’s Last Chance (Directed by Shane Anderson)
Spirit of Activism: Walk on the Mountain (Directed by Madeleine Van Dam and Onika Richards)
Best of the Fest: How We Grow (Directed by Tomas Zuccareno and Haley Thompson)
2017 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: Temple of the Ghost Owl (Directed by Justin Myhre)
Best Short Film: A Ghost in the Making (Directed by Morgan Heim and Neil Losin)
Best Feature Film: A Plastic Ocean (Directed by Craig Leeson)
Spirit of Activism: Poisoning Paradise (Directed by Keely Shaye Brosnan and Teresa Tico)
Best of the Fest: American Psychosis (Directed by Amanda Zackem)
2016 CEFF Winning Films
Best Youth Film: Distress Call (Directed by Brooklyn Goosby, Lexi Justus, Sean Fleetham and Taylor Redman)
Best Short Film: Stung By Climate (Directed by Nils Aucante)
Best Feature Film: A Quest for Meaning (Directed by Marc de la Menardiere and Nathanael Coste)
Spirit of Activism: The End of the Line (Directed by Sellus Wilder)
Best of the Fest: Time Capsule (Directed by Chris Summerfield)