Silent Rebellion wins Best Feature Film at the 2026 Joburg Film Festival. See the full list of winners here.
The Joburg Film Festival announced its 2026 winners on Saturday night (7 March), with Silent Rebellion taking home the top prize for Best Feature Film.
Directed by Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, the World War II-era drama was recognised at an awards ceremony held at Theatre on the Square on Saturday evening. The film received the festival’s Nguni Horn award and also won Best Cinematography.
Set in Switzerland in 1943, Silent Rebellion follows Emma, a young woman navigating the rigid social and religious structures of wartime society after a traumatic assault changes the course of her life. The story explores themes of power, patriarchy and survival within a small rural community.
The film stood out among roughly 700 global submissions screened as part of the festival’s programme. Actress Lila Gueneau, who stars in the film alongside Sasha Gravat Harsch and Cyril Metzgerbout, also received a special mention from the jury for her performance.
This year’s winners were selected by a jury including Keith Shiri, Dorothee Wenner, Sia Stewart, Bongiwe Selane and Cait Pansegrouw.
Other major awards highlighted a mix of African and international storytelling. Variations On A Theme won Best African Film, while Broken Voices received the award for Best Editing.
The Best Documentary award went to Let Them Be Seen, while Stero won Best Short Film. The Silent Inheritance was recognised as Best Student Film.
In the festival’s youth category, Umxoxiso won the Young Voices competition.
The festival also honoured Harriet Gavshon with a special recognition award.
Festival founder Tim Mangwedi said the winning films reflected the craft behind filmmaking and the many people involved in bringing stories to the screen.
AT A GLANCE: Here are all the Joburg Film Festival category winners
- Best Feature Film – Silent Rebellion
- Best African Film – Variations On A Theme
- Best Cinematography – Silent Rebellion
- Best Edit – Broken Voices
- Best Documentary – Let Them Be Seen
- Best Short Film – Stero
- Best Student Film – The Silent Inheritance
- Young Voices Competition Winner – Umxoxiso
- Special Mention – Lila Gueneau (Silent Rebellion)
- Special Recognition – Harriet Gavshon
The 2026 Joburg Film Festival wrapped yesterday, 8 Marach with the premiere of The Trek, directed by Meekaeel Adam, after a programme that featured more than 100 films.
Watch the trailer for The Trek below.
