Three jurors select winners of the Best Animated, Best Comedy, Best Documentary, and Best Live Action categories. Winners of the Best Animated, Best Documentary, and Best Live Action awards will qualify for consideration in the equivalent Short Films categories of the annual Academy Awards® (CIFF is working towards qualifying for the Comedy category as well!) The Programmers’ Choice Award is determined by the CIFF Short Films Programming Team.

The winners will each receive a $1,000 cash prize and be announced during the live shorts program taking place on the last day of the in-person festival.