SXSW 2025 Audience Awards: Fantasy Life, The Accountant 2, and Remaining Native Take Top Honors

The 32nd annual SXSW Film & TV Festival has officially revealed its Audience Award winners, celebrating the films, series, and experiences that resonated most with attendees. This year’s top prizes went to Matthew Shear’s directorial debut Fantasy Life, Ben Affleck’s highly anticipated sequel The Accountant 2, and Paige Bethmann’s powerful documentary Remaining Native.

These audience-driven awards follow last week’s juried selections, which named Amy Wang’s Slanted the Best Narrative Feature. With packed screenings and enthusiastic receptions, this year’s lineup showcased a dynamic mix of indie gems, high-profile projects, and groundbreaking storytelling.

Shear’s Fantasy Life—which also earned Amanda Peet a Special Jury Prize for Performance—won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature. The film follows a man recovering from a panic attack who unexpectedly finds himself babysitting for his psychiatrist’s granddaughters while falling for their mother.

The Accountant 2, directed by Gavin O’Connor, took home the top honor in the Headliners section. The sequel reunites Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal nearly a decade after the original thriller, much to the delight of fans.

On the documentary side, Remaining Native captivated audiences with its story of a determined high school runner on the Yerington Paiute reservation. The film had already earned a Special Jury Prize, reinforcing its status as a standout in this year’s competition.

Other major winners included Jay Duplass’ The Baltimorons, Matt Johnson’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, and Deaf President Now!, a festival favorite chronicling the historic 1988 student protests at Gallaudet University.

Below is the full list of SXSW 2025 Audience Award winners:

Feature Film Program

Headliner

Audience Award Winner: The Accountant 2

Director: Gavin O’Connor | Producers: Ben Affleck, Lynette Howell Taylor, Mark Williams | Screenwriter: Bill Dubuque

Narrative Feature Competition

Audience Award Winner: Fantasy Life

Director/Screenwriter: Matthew Shear | Producers: Charlie Alderman, Chris Dodds, Phil Keefe, Amanda Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater

Documentary Feature Competition

Audience Award Winner: Remaining Native

Director: Paige Bethmann | Producers: Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich

Narrative Spotlight

Audience Award Winner: The Baltimorons

Director: Jay Duplass | Producers: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Shuli Harel, David Bonnett Jr., Michael Strassner, Drew Langer | Screenwriters: Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner

Documentary Spotlight

Audience Award Winner: Luv Ya, Bum!

Directors: Sam Wainwright Douglas, David Hartstein | Producers: Paul Jensen, Vance Howard | Screenwriter: Andrew Miller

Midnighter

Audience Award Winner: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Director: Matt Johnson | Producers: Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson | Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol

Visions

Audience Award Winner: Ghost Boy

Director: Rodney Ascher | Producers: Elika Portnoy, Ryan Bartecki, Gary Levinsohn, Billy Hines

Global

Audience Award Winner: Corina

Director: Urzula Barba Hopfner | Producers: Carlos Hernández, Iván López-Barba, Urzula Barba | Screenwriters: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Samuel Sosa

24 Beats Per Second

Audience Award Winner: Selena y Los Dinos

Director: Isabel Castro | Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, David Blackman, Simran A. Singh

Festival Favorite

Audience Award Winner: Deaf President Now!

Directors: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim | Producers: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Amanda Rohlke, Jonathan King, Michael Harte

Short Film Program

Narrative Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Ben’s Sister

Director/Screenwriter: Emma Weinswig | Producers: Will Noyce, Emma Weinswig, Shane Bagwell, Chelsea Eisen

Documentary Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud

Directors: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud | Producers: Juan Arredondo, Jon Alpert, Christof Putzel, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen, Jeff Newton, Mami Kuwano Renaud, Naomi Mizoguchi, Tami Alpert

Animated Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Retirement Plan

Director: John Kelly | Screenwriters: John Kelly, Tara Lawall | Producers: Julie Murnaghan, Andrew Freedman

Midnight Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Lurk

Directors: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan | Screenwriter: Josh Wallace Kerrigan | Producers: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Devin Das, Greg Cohen, John Nodorft

Texas Short Competition

Audience Award Winner: Sweetbriar

Director/Screenwriter: Danny Rivera | Producer: MK Goss

POPULAR ON THE CINEMA GROUP

Music Video Competition

Audience Award Winner: A$AP Rocky – ‘Tailor Swif’

Directors/Screenwriters: Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia

TV Program

TV Premiere

Audience Award Winner: Spy High

Director: Jody McVeigh-Schultz | Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Aliza Rosen, Jody McVeigh-Schultz, David Wendell

TV Spotlight

Audience Award Winner: Mix Tape

Director: Lucy Gaffy | Producers: Aoife O’Sullivan, Tristan Orpen Lynch, Angie Fielder, Polly Staniford | Screenwriter: Jo Spain

Independent TV Pilot Competition

Audience Award Winner: Bulldozer

Showrunner/Screenwriter: Joanna Leeds | Director: Andrew Leeds | Producers: Joanna Leeds, Andrew Leeds, Rhett Reese, Caleb Reese, Michael Day

XR Experience

XR Experience Competition

Audience Award Winner: Face Jumping

Directors: Danny Cannizzaro, Samantha Gorman | Producers: Yuxin Gao, J Noland | Screenwriter: Samantha Gorman

XR Experience Spotlight

Audience Award Winner: Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul

Directors: Scott Berman, Ryan Hartsell | Producer/Screenwriter: Scott Berman