Woodstock Film Festival 2026 Announces Maverick Award Winners

The 27th annual Woodstock Film Festival has revealed its 2026 Maverick Award winners, handing top honors to a slate of independent documentaries, narratives, and shorts. The festival also announced a major leadership transition, with Jessica Edwards taking over as executive director from co-founder Meira Blaustein.

Jessica Edwards was named the new executive director of the Woodstock Film Festival. She is a filmmaker, distribution consultant, and former publicist who lives in the Hudson Valley. Edwards succeeds Meira Blaustein, who served as executive director for more than 26 years after co-founding the event in 2000. At a Sunday awards brunch held for the first time at Oz Farm in Saugerties, New York, Blaustein received a special Honorary Maverick Award. Claude Dal Farra is the President of the Board of the Woodstock Film Festival.

Jessica Edwards said: "To call this a dream job would be an understatement."

The festival's top competitive prizes were spread across multiple categories. The winners are positioned as strong contenders in the upcoming awards season.

Honorable mentions highlight strong contenders

Several films received honorable mentions, signaling depth in this year's selection. Josephine, directed by Beth de Araújo, earned an honorable mention for Best Feature Narrative. One Last Order, directed by Sam Soko and Lauren Defilippo, received one for Best Short Documentary. Virgin Fandango by Marcy Page was honored in Best Animation, and The Great Experiment by Stephen Maing and Eric Daniel Metzgar got a mention for Best Cinematography. Our Dark Horse won the NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing a Documentary Film, while Re/Pair received an honorable mention in that category. Rehearsals for a Revolution also received an honorable mention for Best Editing, Documentary Award, edited by Arash Ashtiani.

Leadership transition marks a new era

The Maverick Awards ceremony doubled as a celebration of the festival's legacy and its future. Meira Blaustein's departure marks the end of an era. Her visionary leadership was recognized with the honorary award. The baton now passes to Jessica Edwards, whose background spans filmmaking and distribution. The change in leadership coincides with a shift in the awards ceremony itself, which was held as a Sunday brunch for the first time in the festival's history.

Winners gain momentum toward awards season

Key winners are now looking ahead to theatrical releases and Oscar campaigns. The Gigantic Pictures Award for Best Feature Narrative came with a $5,000 cash prize. The Gray Schwartz Ultra Indie Award included a $2,000 cash prize. The winner of the Laurent Rejto Award receives a digital color grading package valued at $80,000 for their next film, including Look Development, a full online conform, and Full 4k Digital Intermediate Color Grading.

Rehearsals for a Revolution is set for an Oscar-qualifying release in December followed by a wider theatrical rollout in January. The film is released by Sony Pictures Classics. They're Here, a 25-minute short, will also screen at Doc NYC. Mouse, which stars Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo and features Katherine Mallen Kupferer, is due in theaters in November. Wicker stars Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård. Both Rehearsals for a Revolution and Mouse are expected to make the Oscar shortlists later this year. Rehearsals for a Revolution is set for an Oscar-qualifying release in December followed by a wider theatrical rollout in January.