Boomtown Film and Music Fest 2026 Winners

Thank you to everyone who helped make the 2026 Boomtown Film and Music Festival a success.  With that being said, the winners are…

2026 BOOMTOWN FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL COMPETITION WINNERS

• SPECIAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
  • O’Brien Stanley
• NARRATIVE FEATURE
  • 1st Place – Nowhere Fast
    • Directed by Shaheer Naqvi
  • 2nd Place – In a Good Way
    • Directed by Joshua Allen LaBure and Zach Gutierrez
  • 3rd Place – A Break in the Rain
    • Directed by Don Scardino
• DOCUMENTARY
  • 1st Place – The Melody Maids Movie
    • Directed by Kai Jai Conner and Doug Forrest
  • 2nd Place – Nash the Slash Rises Again!
    • Directed by Tim Kowalski
  • 3rd Place – Crab Yarns
    • Directed by Alexander Snider
• TEXAS PROUD
  • 1st Place – The Triple Three
    • Directed by Larry Wright
  • 2nd Place – Wake
    • Directed by Andrew Patrick Torrez
  • 3rd Place – Sweet Boy
    • Directed by Shannon Chance
• NARRATIVE SHORT
  • 1st Place – The Pearl Comb
    • Directed by Ali Cook
  • 2nd Place – Blue Evening
    • Directed by Jett Jansen Fernandez
  • 3rd Place – Long Time, No See
    • Directed by Donald Saunderson
• SCREENPLAY
  • 1st Place – Graveyard Songs
    • Directed by Christopher Paul Allen
  • 2nd Place – Precursor
    • Directed by Steve Brown
  • 3rd Place – The Guitarist
    • Directed by Scott Silvester
• ANIMATED FILM
  • 1st Place – Freedom
    • Directed by Arjan Brentjes
  • 2nd Place – The Ballad of Tony Strombolli
    • Directed by Dominick Green
  • 3rd Place – Stand Alone
    • Directed by Soyeon Kim
• STUDENT FILM
  • 1st Place – The Sax
    • Directed by Naomi Fryer
  • 2nd Place – To Write the Ending
    • Directed by Shaler Keenum
  • 3rd Place – Rockwell Lake
    • Directed by Liam Dietz
• EXPERIMENTAL OR MUSIC VIDEO
  • 1st Place – Wilco – I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
    • Directed by Ryne Barnish
  • 2nd Place – Fever
    • Directed by Reagan Elkins
  • 3rd Place – Take My Life Away
    • Directed by Jacob Spooner
• 48 HR. FILM RACE
  • 1st Place – Team Team Chris Gaines’ Eyeliner – Silvertongue
  • 2nd Place – Team Red Beak Productions – Deadbeat
  • 3rd Place – Team The Robicheaux Boys – No Harm, No Fowl
    • Honorable Mention – Team Employees of the Month – An Inconvenience Called Death
    • Honorable Mention – Team Urine Trouble – Reservoir Cats
    • Audience Award – Team Red Beak Productions – Deadbeat
    • Social Media Winner – Team Harry & Gary

Lamar University also recognized the following entries in the Spindletop Storytellers student competition for the grade-school filmmakers of Southeast Texas.

• NARRATIVE
  • First Place – “PLAY DATE”
    • Made by Diana Lopez, Johana Figueroa, Jade McGuire, Edna Garcia Salazar
  • Second Place – “THE WORD”
    • Made by Emily Gomez, Melanie Barragan, Jovanny Maldonado, Alexis Davila
  • Third Place – “CENTER OF ATTENTION”
    • Made by Autumn Wyatt Mayer, Marilyn Osorio, Freddy Estupinan, Natalia Torres
  • Honorable Mention – “END OF DAY”
    • Made by Claire Eastman
• DOCUMENTARY
  • First Place – “EAGLES ONLINE”
    • Made by Javier Garcia, Diego Carrillo, Mitxel Chavez, Giovani Munguia
• PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
  • First Place – “DON’T TEXT AND DRIVE”
    • Made by Adreanna Huerta
  • Second Place – “CHILD ABUSE”
    • Made by Jimena Davila Aguilar, Keyla Nunez, Nathalie Velasquez Erazo, Pamela Estupinan
  • Third Place – “THE SOLUTION TO POLLUTION”
    • Made by Kaylie Maldonado Oceguera, Angel Francisco Mendoza, Giovani Munguia, Bryan Valdovinos