3rd M&R Pictures Awards

M&R Pictures Awards

2025

The Days of Knight: Chapter 3

Directed by

John P Martinez

From United States

A highly trained operative, belonging to a clandestine ancient group of expert mercenaries, is given a mission to recover a valuable item for one of the 13 most influential families on Earth. As war breaks out and alliances formed centuries ago crumble, survival becomes the top priority for everyone involved.

Categories Nominee:

Best Action – Short Film

Best Thriller – Short Film

Best Mystery – Short Film

Best Director – Short Film

Best Editor – Short Film

Best Sound – Short Film

Best Original Score – Short Film

Best DOP – Short Film

Categories Winner: 

Best Thriller – Short Film

Best Mystery – Short Film

Best Editor – Short Film

Best Sound – Short Film

Sunday

Directed by

Carol Dorn

From United States

Two women escape a near death experience and change their lives.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Drama – Short Film

Best Leading Actress – Drama Short Film

Best Supporting Actress – Drama Short Film

Best Director – Short Film

Best Sound – Short Film

Best Short Script

Categories Winner: 

Best Drama – Short Film

Best Leading Actress – Drama Short Film

Best Supporting Actress – Drama Short Film

Flatline

Directed by

John Lockmer

From United States

A Vietnam Vet is haunted by the woman he left behind.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Drama – Short Film

Best War – Short Film

Best Historical – Short Film

Best Director – Short Film

Best Leading Actor – War Short Film

Best Supporting Actor – War Short Film

Best Editor – Short Film

Best Sound – Short Film

Best DOP – Short Film

Best Poster – Short Film

Categories Winner: 

Best War – Short Film

Best Historical – Short Film

Best Leading Actor – War Short Film

Best Supporting Actor – War Short Film

Best Poster – Short Film

Hard Side of Miracles

Directed by

John Fornof

From United States

In the throws of the Jesus Movement of the 1970s, a youth pastor takes an eager youth group on a bus to spread the Good news. While on the road, amazing miracles occur, but not without tragedies that test their faith to its core.

Categories Nominee:

Best Drama – Short Film

Best Religious – Short Film

Best Biographical – Short Film

Best Historical – Short Film

Best Director – Short Film

Best Editor – Short Film

Best Sound – Short Film

Best DOP – Short Film

Best Poster – Short Film

Best Leading Actor – Religious Short Film 

Best Supporting Actor – Religious Short Film 

Categories Winner: 

Best Religious – Short Film

Best Biographical – Short Film

Best Leading Actor – Religious Short Film 

Best DOP – Short Film

Dojo

Directed by

Armin Alic

From United States

In 1985 Los Angeles, Shane Lucas, once bound to the Yakuza, inherits his late father Alfonso’s dojo while struggling to escape the violent shadows of his past. Alfonso’s spirit still lingers within the walls, shaping Shane’s every movement as an unseen guide. When a former colleague, Elias, resurfaces with a crew demanding his return to the syndicate, Shane must confront the past that refuses to die—battling not only his enemies, but the visions that blur memory, time, and reality.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Action – Short Film

Best Thriller – Short Film

Best Mystery – Short Film

Best Drama – Short Film

Best Experimental – Short Film

Best Director – Short Film

Best Editor – Short Film

Best Sound – Short Film

Best Original Score – Short Film

Best Poster – Short Film

Categories Winner: 

Best Action – Short Film

Best Experimental – Short Film

Best Original Score – Short 

Kukràdjà

Directed by

Palmer Douglas Durr

From Brazil

Set against the lush backdrop of the Amazon Rainforest, "Kukràdjà" is a poignant documentary that celebrates the vibrant festival traditions of the Kayapó Indigenous Community.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Cultural – Feature Documentary

Best Native – Feature Documentary

Best Environmental – Feature Documentary

Best Human Rights – Feature Documentary

Best Director – Feature Documentary

Best DOP – Feature Documentary

Best Editor – Feature Documentary

Best Sound – Feature Documentary

Best Original Score – Feature Documentary

Best Poster – Feature Documentary

Categories Winner: 

Best Cultural – Feature Documentary

Best Native – Feature Documentary

Best Director – Feature Documentary

Best DOP – Feature Documentary

Best Editor – Feature Documentary

John Horse

Written by

Walt Alexander , James Riordan

From United States

Leader, Lover, Warrior, Black Seminole. John Horse led the Black Seminoles during the the Second Seminole war. He also led them with passion and faith and determination to capture a land for his people to be free. After the war, he led them in Oklahoma and then down to Mexico in order to have their own land, before they died.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Historical – Feature Screenplay

Best Biographical – Feature Screenplay

Best War – Feature Screenplay

Best Cultural – Feature Screenplay

Best Drama – Feature Screenplay

Best Religious – Feature Screenplay

Best First-time Screenwriter – Feature Screenplay

Categories Winner: 

Best Historical – Feature Screenplay

Best Biographical – Feature Screenplay

Best War – Feature Screenplay

Best First-time Screenwriter – Feature Screenplay

A Legend of Persephone

Written by

C.J. Palmisano

From United States

In Ancient Greece, a rebel goddess is on a quest to rescue her human prince from the Underworld. Risking mankind's fate and her mother's wrath, Persephone ultimately must choose: immortality as an Olympus pariah, mortality with her prince on a dying planet, or a volatile eternity as Hades' queen.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Fantasy – Feature Screenplay

Best Drama – Feature Screenplay

Best Romance – Feature Screenplay

Best Historical – Feature Screenplay

Best Mystery – Feature Screenplay

Best Experimental – Feature Screenplay

Best Cultural – Feature Screenplay

Best Thriller – Feature Screenplay

Best First-time Screenwriter – Feature Screenplay

Categories Winner: 

Best Fantasy – Feature Screenplay

Best Romance – Feature Screenplay

Roads Taken

Written by

C.J. Palmisano

From United States

Told in reverse chronological order, ROADS TAKEN retraces the paths Sandy and Mercedes, Sandy's doppelgänger, take as they wrestle fate, bad luck, and bad decisions in an attempt to rise above their lot in life.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Drama – Feature Screenplay

Best Mystery – Feature Screenplay

Best Experimental – Feature Screenplay

Best Thriller – Feature Screenplay

Best Cultural – Feature Screenplay

Best Romance – Feature Screenplay

Best First-time Screenwriter – Feature Screenplay

Categories Winner: 

Best Mystery – Feature Screenplay

Best Experimental – Feature Screenplay

Wicked Women and Their Men

Written by

Merrill Anway Jones

From United States

The recent spread of online celebrity scams has resulted in millions of dollars being stolen from innocent victims who believed they were developing real connections to and helping their favorite celebrities.

Informed by actual online conversations with celebrity impersonators, “Wicked Women and Their Men” opens the door to understanding why and how any innocent fan would get suckered into the manipulation of a scammer and illustrates the often-overlooked emotional consequences of being scammed.

The narrative follows Henry Williams, a troubled young man haunted by familial abuse inflicted by his grandmother, Lucy Hardy. He lives with his cousins and Aunt Ruth, who is tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident. Desperate for connection, Henry becomes entangled in online chats with multiple imposters pretending to be British actor Forrest Livesay, whom he idolizes. One particular chat becomes intense as Henry develops romantic feelings and sends money for a "fan permit," believing he's talking to the real Forrest. When Henry attends a Meet & Greet event, he discovers the real Forrest has no knowledge of their supposed relationship. It's revealed that Henry's Aunt Joy and cousin Alice, Ruth’s daughter, motivated by jealousy over Henry’s inheritance from Aunt Ruth, were behind the scam. The FBI investigates the case, which leads to Joy's arrest.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Drama – Feature Screenplay

Best Mystery – Feature Screenplay

Best Thriller – Feature Screenplay

Best Cultural – Feature Screenplay

Best Biographical – Feature Screenplay

Best Experimental – Feature Screenplay

Best Romance – Feature Screenplay

Best First-time Screenwriter – Feature Screenplay

Categories Winner: 

Best Drama – Feature Screenplay

Best Thriller – Feature Screenplay

Best Cultural – Feature Screenplay

The Battle of the Fishermen

Written by

PABLO ANDRÉS FERNÁNDEZ

From United States

The Battle of the Fishermen is the screenplay for a short historical animation film about the struggle of the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico, who mobilized over many decades to get the U.S. Navy out of their island.

For over 60 years, the U.S. Navy used Vieques as a bombing range and a site to practice amphibious landings. This caused enormous suffering to the local population, who lived with the sound of bombs day and night. The island is still contaminated with uranium, mercury, and other heavy metals from the ammunition and explosives, and unexploded ordnance can still be found. Many Vieques families have lost loved ones to cancer, which doctors attribute to the contamination of the soil, water, and air.

The fishermen of Vieques organized, and they spearheaded a movement that eventually ousted the most powerful Navy in the world. With their small boats, they confronted the warships of the U.S. Navy and its NATO allies, and they succeeded in stopping their military exercises. In this battle, David defeated Goliath.

Categories Nominee: 

Best Historical – Short Script

Best War – Short Script

Best Cultural – Short Script

Best Social – Short Script

Best Revolution – Short Script

Best Biographical – Short Script

Best Environmental – Short Script

Best Religious – Short Script

Best Drama – Short Script

Best Experimental – Short Script

Categories Winner: 

Best Historical – Short Script

Best Revolution – Short Script

Best Social – Short Script

Best Experimental – Short Script