The winners of the Short Film and Short Script Competitions at the 3rd Koker International Short Film Festival have been revealed. The festival’s top honor, the Golden Cherry Award, was presented to the Chinese film No One Knows I Disappeared.
The 3rd Koker International Short Film Festival concluded with its awards ceremony. Formerly known as the Abbas Kiarostami Short Film Festival, the event took place from July 1 to 3, 2026, at Klick Kino in Berlin, Germany.
This year’s Short Film Competition received 486 submissions from 53 countries, with 21 films selected for the International Competition. The international jury was chaired by Niki Karimi and included Damjan Kozole, Soheila Golestani, Nader Saeivar, Behrooz Karamizade, Linda Olte, and Filippo Trojano.
Golden Cherry Award Goes to China
The festival’s highest honor, the Golden Cherry Award, was presented to No One Knows I Disappeared, directed by Hanxiong Bo.
The Silver Cherry Award went to Bye Bye Garbage, directed by Bahman Ark and Bahram Ark of Iran.
The Bronze Cherry Award was presented to Pirateland, directed by Stavros Petropoulos. The jury also presented Special Mentions to Giacometti by Amirreza Mansouri and Renato’s Car by Andrea Orsenigo.
Short Script Competition Winners Revealed
The Gholamhossein Farnoud Award for Best Short Script was presented to The Spectator, written by Komeil Soheili. White Night, written by Bahar Khoshnam, received the Second Prize, while Our Farm, written by Adrik Arzoomanian, was awarded Third Prize.
Bringing together international short film screenings, competitions, and industry events over three days, the Koker International Short Film Festival once again reaffirmed its commitment to supporting independent filmmaking and emerging voices from around the world.
The festival takes its name from the village of Koker in northern Iran, where Abbas
Kiarostami filmed his celebrated Koker Trilogy. Previously known as the Abbas Kiarostami
International Short Film Festival, the event was first launched under that name and
successfully held for two consecutive editions, both of which were met with significant
international attention and a strong reception from filmmakers and industry professionals
worldwide. The festival has since evolved into its current identity while maintaining its
artistic and philosophical roots in Kiarostami’s cinema.
