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Canadian Short Screenplay Competition Announces 2026 Award Winners
The Canadian Short Screenplay Competition (CSSC) has announced the winners of its 7th edition, with honours presented during the Yorkton Film Festival in Saskatchewan, Canada. The industry-based jury (included BAFTA-winning performer Owen Teale, Producer Amy Morris, literary agent Andrew McCann-Smith (Play Media), Brenden Hubbard (Bearly There Media), Jan Miller (Pitch Consultant), Lydia Kali (Urbania), 2025 CSSC-honourable mention screenwriter Tala Moetazedi, and Emmy-nominee David Cormican), awarded top honours during the 79th Yorkton Film Festival to:
- Eyes written by Adrian Bobb received the Best in Fest Grand Prize;
- Trespassers written by Madeleine Ellis earned the second place Golden Cinema Award; while
- This Is Me written by Gabriel Luna claimed the Silver Screen Award in third place
The competition draws in entries from all around the world, showcasing a diverse range of voices, genres and ideas. Beyond the top three honourees, the 2026 edition's final placement is as follows:
(4) Subscription written by Christopher Glass
(5) Memory Care written by Michelle Tattenbaum
(6) Thumbs Up! written by Marlowe Percival
(7) Hannah and the Honeydew Shortage written by Daniela Di Salvo
(8) Under the Bed written by Anna Xiques
(9) Rabbit on the Moon written by Mei Wu
(10) Alone written by Adam Greig
(11) Bubbles written by Paddy C. Courtney
(12) Forgotten Colors written by Alejandro Jaramillo
(13) Would You Like to Tell Me What You Dreamed? written by Juan Méndez
On the sidelines of this year's festival, the CSSC and Fun Republic Pictures celebrated a milestone for the competition's own history: Something Pointless — the produced adaptation of Neil Graham's 2010 CSSC first-place winning script — screened in Yorkton as part of the festival's 79th edition and earned a nomination for Best Short Film (Comedy/Drama) at the Yorkton Film Festival's Golden Sheaf Awards.
The film, directed by Asa Bailey and starring BAFTA winner Owen Teale, Olivier Award winner Sophie Thompson, SAG Award nominee Sule Rimi, and Leo Harris, has been generating significant international attention since its world premiere at the USA Film Festival in April 2026. Accolades to date include:
- Best Short Film (United Kingdom) — iDEAL International Film Festival, India (May 2026)
- Nominated: Best Short Film — Yorkton Film Festival Golden Sheaf Awards
- Nominated: Best Short Film Made in Wales (John Hefin Award) — Carmarthen Bay Film Festival (BAFTA & BIFA qualifying)
- Nominated: Best Short Film — International Sound & Film Music Festival, Croatia (composer Andrea Bellucci also shortlisted for Best Original Score)
- 20+ additional festivals and screenings confirmed worldwide
Following a successful relaunch and hundreds of submissions in 2026, CSSC organizers have confirmed that the 8th edition of the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition is expected to open for submissions later this year on FilmFreeway, Stage32 and Short Film Depot, giving screenwriters and filmmakers across Canada and worldwide another shot at the prestigious Writers' Block Crystal Awards. Writers are encouraged to prepare their screenplays now for submission to the 2027 edition.
Updated: 06/11/2026
Additional Contest Info: Canadian Short Screenplay Competition
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!WEIGHT of the WORLD
As seniors vanish and messages appear in mirrors, a skeptical detective is drawn into a parallel world where the forgotten are reborn—and learns she might just be the last warning before humanity is rewritten.
THE FAT LADY SINGS
A Duluth private investigator, needing to pay off his bookie, agrees to payment on completion of a prominent politician’s wife’s case; now he has only three days to find an Ohio plumber that the client only met on the internet over a dozen years ago.
Dellwood
A successful but unhappy novelist reluctantly returns to his childhood town to attend a friend's funeral and reminisces about his experiences playing basketball on a city court to escape his abusive home.
Whirlabout
A New York actor returns to his decaying hometown to care for his father, only to uncover dark family secrets, confront a lifetime of abuse, and face a harrowing moral reckoning that could either destroy—or finally heal—his fractured family.
Psychotic USA
A dramedy. A razor-sharp satiric view of the laughable state of modern psychiatric treatment as seen through the lens of four patients in an asylum.
Virgin, Warrior, Priest, Hero
Over three decades, Lucy passes through innocence, violent delusion, and ultimately grace - fractured versions of a soul struggling to survive in a world that continually misreads her.
Wounds of Love and Conspiracy
After an accident cripples the woman he loves, a guilt-ridden man takes on America's scars as his own, risking everything to prevent the Kennedy assassination and earn the love she freely gives.
Rebecca Saves the Human Web
Afraid of her anger, a teenage girl in a violent future connects with the spirit of her murdered grandmother; together, they fight to keep a vast web of hate and violence from collapsing civilization.
Henry, Henry
After murdering a charismatic priest he caught abusing a child, Henry fractured into two warring personalities; they only unite to use insights of their illness to infiltrate and bring down a dangerous child-trafficking network.
The Ephod
Based on a true story, after a disturbing Bible study shatters her lifelong Catholic beliefs, Faith Alvarez is driven by a supernatural encounter to uncover the mystery of the ancient Ephod.
