Tosh Basco
untitled hand dance (series)
2021
Pigment on paper
11.75" x 8.25"
Courtesy of the artist and Company Gallery, New York

Best Animated Short

Tosh Basco (born 1988, California) rose to prominence in the San Francisco drag scene during the 2010s. Best known for her movement-based performances under the name boychild, Basco’s photography and drawing accompany her performance practice. Viewed as a whole, her work attempts to enfold language, becoming and representation together within spaces where these are typically understood as discrete entities. Basco is co-founder of the collaborative entity Moved by the Motion with Wu Tsang, which remains a vital aspect of her work.

Brendan Fernandes
Noise See: I
2026
Digital print
20" x 14"
Printer’s proof, 1/1
Courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago

The Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director

Brendan Fernandes (born 1979, Nairobi, Kenya) is a Canadian Chicago-based artist working at the intersection of dance and visual art. His practice explores race, queer culture, migration and protest through performance, sculpture, photography and installation. A graduate of the Whitney Independent Study Program, Fernandes has presented work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and National Gallery of Canada. He has received a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Residency, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant, the Platform Award and the Creative Voice Award from Arts Alliance Illinois.

Soull and Dynasty Ogun
Pathway Of Surrender
2026
Brass, labradorite
5.3" x 2.5" x 0.2"

Best Narrative Short

Soull and Dynasty Ogun are identical twins born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1984. Inspired by their rich lineage of Nigerian and West Indian Dominican descent, mixed with their New York City upbringing, they have always had a passion for transmuting the many cultures surrounding them to bring forth unique, otherworldly designs from a young age. Both Soull and Dynasty are autodidactic artisans in their respective fields. Soull focuses within the realm of metalwork and jewelry, while Dynasty specializes in the world of textiles, fibers, accessories and garments.

Bony Ramirez
CRABPOT: #2
2023
Ceramic pot, porcelain lid, spray paint, seashells, screws
18" x 16" x 16"
Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, New York and Los Angeles
Photo by Genevieve Hanson

Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature

Bony Ramirez (born 1996, Tenares, Dominican Republic) is an artist based in Jersey City, New Jersey. His work blends Caribbean imagery with references to Renaissance portraiture, Catholic iconography and children’s illustrations. He has exhibited at Bradley Ertaskiran, The Newark Museum of Art and Jeffrey Deitch. His work is held in the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, The Newark Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Pérez Art Museum Miami and several others. Ramirez’s recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition at Green-Wood Cemetery and the group exhibition “Let Us Gather in a Flourishing Way” at Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

Kiki Smith
Vesper
2026
Watercolor on Prague Losiny handmade paper
11.5" x 8"
Monoprint / open edition varié

Best Documentary Feature

Kiki Smith (American, born 1954, Nuremberg, Germany) is recognized for her multidisciplinary practice, through which she explores embodiment and the natural world. The body, mortality, regeneration and gender, as well as the interconnection of spirituality and the natural world are observed through her own personal lens. Her expansive work manifests in sculpture, glassmaking, printmaking, watercolor, photography and textile, among other art-making forms. Drawn to the cogency of repetition in narratives and symbolic representations, much of Smith’s work is inspired by contemporary and historical visual culture.

Tavares Strachan
New Beginning
2024
Oil, enamel, pigment, acrylic, mat board, powder-coated steel frame
16" x 2"
Courtesy of the artist
Photo by Miho Suzuki

Student Visionary Award

Tavares Strachan (born 1979, Nassau, Bahamas) is a conceptual artist whose work bridges art, science, history and cultural critique. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Fine Arts from Yale University. In 2022, he received the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. Recent solo exhibitions include “You Belong Here” at Prospect New Orleans, “The Immeasurable Daydream” at the Biennale de Lyon, “Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere” at the Hayward Gallery and “Tavares Strachan: The Day Tomorrow Began” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Hank Willis Thomas
You Be Me
2022
Lenticular print
40" x 30" (unframed)
Edition 1 of 5 plus 1 artist's proof

Best International Narrative Feature

Hank Willis Thomas is a conceptual artist exploring perspective, identity, commodity, media and popular culture. Collaborative projects include “In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth),“ “Question Bridge: Black Males” and “For Freedoms.” His practice encompasses permanent artworks such as The Embrace in Boston and Unity at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University and a Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts from California College of the Arts, as well as honorary doctorates. Thomas received the 2022 U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts.

Carrie Mae Weems
Scenes & Takes (Great Expectations)
2016
Archival pigment print
22" x 30"
Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
© Carrie Mae Weems

Nora Ephron Award

Carrie Mae Weems (born 1953, Portland, Oregon) lives and works in Syracuse, New York. Recent exhibitions include “Carrie Mae Weems: The Heart of the Matter” at Gallerie d’Italia, Torino, and “Carrie Mae Weems: Painting the Town” at the Rijksmuseum. Weems received the National Medal of Arts, the Hasselblad Award, a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work is in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art and Tate Modern, among others.

Joshua Woods
Nightfall through the window
2025
C-print in window frame
24" x 19"

Best Documentary Short

Joshua Woods (born 1986, Harlem, New York) is a photographer and visual artist. Working across photography, fashion, film and printmaking, his practice explores Black life through memory, ritual and everyday culture. He first gained recognition for a self-funded photographic journal of Senegal published in The New Yorker. Woods has produced work for Vogue, The New York Times’ T Magazine, CHANEL and Gucci. In 2025, he collaborated with The Metropolitan Museum of Art to create public portraits in conjunction with the exhibition “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” His ongoing Harlem project traces personal and communal histories, examining transformation, preservation and belonging.

Jason Bard Yarmosky
10.16.24
2024
Color pencil on paper
18" x 24"

Best New Narrative Director

Jason Bard Yarmosky (born 1987, New York) is an American artist known for his paintings and drawings exploring aging and time through portraiture. His pieces are in the collections of Schiaparelli at 21 Place Vendôme and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, among others. His work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, San Antonio Museum of Art and Addison Gallery of American Art. He has had solo exhibitions at Guild Hall of East Hampton, Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue windows, the Huntington Museum of Art and the Zillman Art Museum University of Maine.