AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR TORONTO AFTER DARK 2025!
Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2025 is thrilled to announce the Award Winners of its 18th Annual Edition. As is tradition at the festival, the Toronto After Dark’s Jury is comprised of the fans themselves. The audience is polled after every screening, and their scores are tabulated to produce a ranked list of favourites. Additionally, the festival’s 200 passholders are also tasked with awarding this year’s slate of horror, action and cult cinema with unique accolades!
And so without further ado, we are thrilled to announce that SILVER SCREAMERS, Sean Cisterna’s crowd-pleasing Canadian documentary about senior citizens embarking on a horror film production, was selected by Toronto After Dark fans as the recipient of the newly christened Adam Lopez Audience Award, named in memory of the festival’s founder and festival director. Runner-ups were Johannes Roberts’ PRIMATE and Jalmari Helander’s SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE respectively, and both of those films also topped the festival’s passholder’s poll.
PRIMATE was recognized by festival passholders as the festival’s Best Horror Film, and the thriller was celebrated for its Special Effects and Sound Design. Its murderous chimpanzee Ben also received Best Monster and Best Kill (the gory bedroom jaw removal setpiece, where Ben subsequently tries put his victim’s jaw back in place “like a piece of Lego”).
SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE was recognized as the festival’s Best Action Film, with special appreciation for its Cinematography, and Stephen Lang’s memorably villainous performance. The Finnish action film also tied Tina Romero’s QUEENS OF THE DEAD as the film that Toronto After Dark fans most wanted to see a sequel to. Romero’s infectiously entertaining zombie-comedy was also awarded Best Ensemble Cast, Best Costume Design and Best Music.
TADFF Awards alumni Gabriele Mainetti (Freaks Vs. The Reich, TADFF’22 Audience Award winner) also received substantial appreciation with his action-romance THE FORBIDDEN CITY, and was awarded Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Action Choreography and Best Lead Performance for the incredible Yaxi Liu. THE FORBIDDEN CITY was also selected by the festival’s volunteers as their top film, earning it a recipient of the 2025 Harvey Lalonde Volunteers Choice Award.
Read on for the complete list of all the winners from Toronto After Dark 2025, including the Short Film Award winners.
2025 FEATURE FILM AWARD WINNERS
THE 2025 ADAM LOPEZ AUDIENCE AWARD
SILVER SCREAMERS | Dir. Sean Cisterna
1ST RUNNER UP: PRIMATE | Dir. Johannes Roberts
2ND RUNNER UP: SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE | Dir. Jalmari Helandar
Winners are selected by an e-mailed audience exit poll and award is given to the film that recieved the highest audience score.
Sean Cisterna with his SILVER SCREAMERS subjects!
The Toronto After Dark 2025 passholders further awarded these accolades to the following films:
PRIMATE (5 Awards)
Best Horror Film
Best Special Effects
Best Sound Design
Best Monster (Ben the Chimpanzee)
Best Kill (Bedroom Jaw Removal)
SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE (5 Awards)
Best Action Film
Best Cinematography
Best Supporting Performance (Stephen Lang)
Best Film To Watch in a Crowd
Film Most Want To See A Sequel To (tie)
QUEENS OF THE DEAD (4 Awards)
Best Soundtrack
Best Costume Design
Best Ensemble Cast
Film Most Want To See A Sequel To (tie)
THE FORBIDDEN CITY (4 Awards)
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Lead Performance (Yaxi Liu)
Best Action Choreography
REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND (1 Award)
Best Editing
ON GALLOWS HILL (1 Award)
Best Title Sequence
2025 SHORT FILM AWARD WINNERS
BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM
GOLD: SOMETHING BAD THAT HAPPENED IN MY PAST | Dir. Mike Mildon
SILVER: MEAT CRAYON | Dir. Richard Rotter
BRONZE: MANGITTATURJUK - THE GNAWER OF ROCKS | Dir. Louise Flaherty
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM
GOLD: CLOWN SONG (USA) | D. Brady Dowad
SILVER: PIMPLE (Portugal) | Dir. Fernando Alle
BRONZE: MELTED DOLL (France) Dir. Marion Le Corroller
2025 HARVEY LALONDE VOLUNTEERS CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
THE FORBIDDEN CITY | Dir. Gabriele Mainetti
This award is selected by the festival volunteers, named in honor and memory of a legendary founding Toronto After Dark volunteer.
