WINNERS: Feb. 2026 Toronto FEMALE Feedback Festival

A showcase of the best Female Films from around the world today!

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:
Best Short Film: FILM AIN
Best Story: FENCE
Best Performances: WET SPECIMEN
Best Direction: THE HOPSCOTCH
Best Micro-Short Film: HAND IN HAND

HAND IN HAND, 2min., Turkey
 Directed by Melihat Özdoğan Ağgül
People who left their countries due to the climate crisis in the world come together. They overcome their differences, join hands and rebuild the world.

https://www.instagram.com/melihat_ozdogan_aggul/

THE HOPSCOTCH, 16min., Egypt
 Directed by Shaymaa Tafish
Ahlam, a woman in her thirties, has long been labeled a bearer of bad luck after the deaths of her father and brother during a game of hopscotch. Haunted by failed relationships, she seeks a way to break the so-called curse. But as she explores paths to healing, she uncovers deeper truths about the silent burdens women carry. In the end, she questions: is the game truly cursed, or is society’s judgment the real misfortune?

FILM AIN, 10min., Egypt
 Directed by Esraa Mohamed Sabry
The short film “Ain” presents a sensitive human experience centered on a young girl who is passionate about photography, despite her mother’s rejection and insistence on keeping her away from this hobby. As the events unfold, the film takes us into a flashback in which the girl revisits the images she captured with her innocent lens, surprising the viewer by revealing that her small camera was able to document aspects of our social problems that we often overlook or choose to ignore.

https://www.instagram.com/esraamsabry

FENCE, 13min., Iraq
 Directed by Sakar Othman Hassan
In 1988 by “Saddam Hussein’s” order, the Anfal campaign in kurdistan’ region, involved eight distinct phases, during which 4,500 villages were destroyed and 182,000 kurdish citizens were missing.

https://instagram.com/sakar_osman_

WET SPECIMEN, 11min., USA
 Directed by Ann Marie Martin
A nun is sent to assist in an evaluation of a little girl whose father insists be admitted into a mental asylum.

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By femalefilmfestival

The irony of this festival is that its goal is to not be around in 5 years time. To eventually not be relevant because there is zero need to have a festival geared for female talent and female stories because the stories presented in Hollywood and around the world are a balanced showcase of the human experience from both sexes. Our goal is to achieve a lot of success and then fold into oblivion simply because there is no need for this festival. This festival was created by the FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival as a simple reaction to a strong need to showcase female talent from around the world in a more profound way. When putting together the weekly festival, the administration noticed a lack of a female presence in the stories being shown at the festival. A classic example and analogy to the frustration is how the festival noticed that even the smaller roles in a screenplay were written for a man to play. There was zero reason for this in many stories. How a police officer, or a political campaign manager, for example with 3-4 lines in a screenplay was a "HE" character. Why? And these are the screenplays written by the winners! The talented one who have obtained agents and have began/beginning their careers as a writer.

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