Sirât Takes Home FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film at 2026 Palm Springs International Film Festival – Complete Winners List
In a potential preview of the upcoming Academy Awards, Sirât has secured the FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film at the Palm Springs International Film Festival this weekend.
On Sunday, the festival jury announced the film directed by Óliver Laxe as the winner of its 37th annual competition. The Spanish film triumphed over 43 other contenders from the International Feature Film Oscar Submissions program.
The jury stated, “At a year when the competition featured such a strong presence for stories about children and their parents, this film thrillingly captured our attention with its portrait of a father’s devotion to his son and daughter, as well as the chosen family they encounter along the way.”
They further praised the film’s techno soundtrack by Kangding Ray, noting that it “makes their quest exhilarating and enlightening,” while highlighting Laxe’s unique directorial vision, which creates an “electric sense of aliveness” as the narrative explores themes of mortality and the afterlife. “Since Palm Springs is the ultimate film buff’s party in the desert where the mountains meet the sky, we feel it’s only appropriate to award the FIPRESCI Prize to Sirât,” the jury added.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival took place from January 2 to 12. Below is the complete list of winners:
FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film
Sirât (Spain), dir. Óliver Laxe
FIPRESCI Prize for Best International First Feature Film
Happy Birthday (Egypt), dir. Sarah Goher
FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Screenplay
Sentimental Value (Norway), dir. Joachim Trier
FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actress in an International Feature Film
Nina Ye, Janel Tsai, and Shi-yuan Ma — Left-Handed Girl (Taiwan), dir. Shih-Ching Tsou
FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actor in an International Feature Film
Milan Ondrík — Father (Slovakia), dir. Tereza Nvotová
Best Documentary Award
Natchez (USA), dir. Suzannah Herbert
Special Mention: Yanuni (Austria), dir. Richard Ladkani
New Voices New Visions Award
3670 (South Korea), dir. Joonho Park
Special Mention: Deaf (Spain), dir. Eva Libertad
Ibero-American Award
Runa Simi (Peru), dir. Augusto Zegarra
Special Mention: It Would Be Night in Caracas (Mexico/Venezuela), dir. Mariana Rondón & Marité Ugás
Desert Views Award Winner
Beloved Tropic (Panama), dir. Ana Endara
Young Cineastes Award Winner
Remaining Native (USA), dir. Paige Bethmann
