‘Keytar Bear’, ‘Crooked Halo’ and ‘Best Kept Shut’ among winners at indie streamer’s third annual celebration of student cinema
Independent streaming platform Mometu has announced this year’s award winners, selected from a competitive field of 83 selections representing 38 colleges and universities.
The 2025 festival highlighted an extraordinary range of talent, storytelling styles, and cultural perspectives, with standout films reflecting a new generation of talent. After careful review by a panel of industry professionals, winners were selected across seven categories.
The 2025 category winners are:
- Best Documentary (sponsored by OTT Studio): Keytar Bear (Kely Maloney, Suffolk University)
- Best Foreign Language Film (sponsored by Sanctuary Candle Co.): Quédate Un Rato (Alek Mendez, University of Arizona)
- Best Potential Series Pilot (sponsored by CTRL Agency): The World We Live In (Xander Maniece, University of Arizona)
- Best Black Cinema (sponsored by Emperium Studios): Crooked Halo (Ssuuna McKitty, Morehouse College)
- Best Comedy (sponsored by Foundation Distribution): Sunday Dinna (Samantha Venturo, Savannah College of Art and Design)
- Best Horror/Thriller/Sci-Fi (sponsored by ElectricNOW): Best Kept Shut (Gabriel Lopez, Ringling College of Art & Design)
- Best Drama (sponsored by Echelon Studios): HOME (Al Chang, Chapman University)
“Congratulations to all of our filmmakers and award winners on an outstanding 2025 Mometu College Film Festival,” said Bryan Louzil, Festival Founder and VP of Business Development at Mometu. “The talent on display this year was truly exceptional and these winners represent some of the strongest student work we’ve ever seen. These filmmakers are without question names to watch.”
Later this month, the winning filmmakers will head to Los Angeles for the festival’s headline event, where their work will be screened in person and compete for three coveted awards: Best Picture, Producer’s Pick, and the Audience Award, supported by an esteemed lineup of sponsors.
TCL, the global electronics leader known for its cutting-edge televisions, is the official Best Picture Sponsor; Insurgence, the bold production company formerly known as V Channels, supports the Producer’s Pick; and streaming technology pioneer OTTera will sponsor the Audience Award. NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) is also awarding “Rising Creators” memberships to three lucky winners.
Winning films are available to stream on Mometu’s free platform until July 26, offering audiences a first look at some of the most promising new voices in film and television.
