Wow, wow, wow! What on earth was that—another absolutely amazing party? No one can keep up with this anymore. It took forever for the madness to kick off, but it’s already over just as quickly. HARD:LINE 2026 is history. We hope you all had a great time—whether in front of the screen or in the beer garden after the films. We still need to let the shock of it all and the emotional chaos sink in. Please give us a little time! Photos, coverage, etc. will be coming soon, though. In any case, we’d like to thank all festival visitors and film guests from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Without you, we wouldn’t exist!
HARD:LINE 2026 is over—and yet, in a way, it’s not quite over yet. The festival is done, of course. You can still catch a few of our films at the Andreasstadel in Regensburg through Wednesday, April 22, 2026, as they’ll be showing them again there. Please check our schedule for details.
But we don’t want to keep you waiting any longer to announce the films that ultimately won our two Audience Awards and the Méliès d’Argent. Once again, it was an extremely close race. To put you out of your misery, here they are: our 2026 winners!
Audience Award - Best Short Film: THE SEEING EYE DOG WHO SAW TOO MUCH
There must have been plenty of fans of old Italian slasher and gore films in the audience, because our “Silver Razor Blade” award goes to the splatter-heavy giallo parody *The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much*. The guide dog, who exposes a murderer in 1970s Rome, provided a refreshing change of pace. We hope director Eric Jackowitz is just as happy in Los Angeles as we are here in Regensburg. Congratulations!
Audience Award - Best Feature Film: STINKER
It’s like a curse: once again, the movie in the “Sunday noon slot” has managed to win your hearts. We took a two-year break, but now this in-house rule has struck again. However: completely deserved! Because when an alien settles into an outhouse in the Kazakh wilderness and the village alcoholic—a failure in life—takes care of the creature, it simply melts hearts. The film has already won the Audience Award at the Weird Weekender 2025 in Stuttgart. Now we, too, would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to STINKER and Yerden Telemissov on winning the “Golden Razor Blade”!
Jury Award - Silver Méliès: COMPOST
Things got particularly exciting again during the presentation of the Mèliès d’Argent, the prestigious short film award that HARD:LINE, as the sole German member of the Méliès International Festival Federation (MIFF), has the honor of presenting. The winner of the Regensburg competition will compete in October against the winning films from all other festivals in the federation for the title of Best European Fantasy Short Film. Our jury, consisting of Valeria Bistagnino (producer of our opening film THE VIRGIN OF THE QUARRY LAKE), Elinor Lewy (co-founder of the Berlin film festival “Final Girls”), and comic artist Christopher “Piwi” Tauber, selected the French short film COMPOST, in which a young boy suspects his missing father is buried under a pile of dirt in the garden. Congratulations to director Jennifer Lumbroso!
Jury statement
Few moments in childhood are likely to be more traumatic than losing trust in one’s own parents. In this mysterious and unsettling short film, we follow a child who is about to undergo a transformation that will change his life forever.
Thanks to outstanding direction, acting, and precise editing, COMPOST not only evokes childhood fears but combines them with supernatural horror rooted in a contemporary social issue: the absence of father figures and male role models. With a compellingly eerie atmosphere and eerily beautiful special effects, director Jennifer Lumbroso establishes herself as a master of horror—well-versed in the rules of the genre, yet confident enough to carve out her own niche within it.
The child actors’ compelling, authentic performances and the film’s hypnotic visual style not only captivated the jury but also convinced them that Jennifer Lumbroso is the winner of the Short Film Award at the 13th HARD:LINE Film Festival.
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What could be scarier than a child realizing that their parents can’t be trusted? In this mysterious and terrifying short film, we follow a child on the verge of uncovering something that will change his life forever.
With stellar direction and editing that never misses the mark, *COMPOST* explores childhood fears as well as a supernatural horror that is also deeply rooted (no pun intended) in the zeitgeist of family trauma caused by absent fathers. The chilling atmosphere and creepy special effects establish Jennifer Lumbroso as a master of horror—well-versed in the genre’s conventions, yet confidently adding her own voice to the field.
The spectacular child actors and striking visual style really won us over. We’re happy to announce that the winner is Jennifer Lumbroso’s COMPOST.
Honorable Mention: STRETCHER
This is also a first for us: our jury would like to single out and mention a short film in particular, even though it didn’t win the Méliès d’Argent. The film in question is *STRETCHER* (original title: *Brancard*) by French filmmaker Thibault Fauconnet. You’ll now find out what our jury found so noteworthy about it.
Quote: Jury
Starting from a premise that is as familiar as it is unsettling to anyone with hospital experience, STRETCHER/BANCARD launches into a veritable tour de force that taps into one of our deepest primal fears: the complete loss of control. Through the chosen perspective—in which we never leave our protagonist’s side throughout the film—Thibault Fauconnet demonstrates cinematic craftsmanship as well as an innovative knack for horror that manages without monsters or blood, and which, on bad days, could befall any of us. Certainly a wild ride for any festival audience, STRETCHER/BANCARD receives a more than well-deserved honorable mention.
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With an opening scene that feels both familiar and unsettling—especially for those with hospital experience—STRETCHER/BANCARD sets out on a veritable tour de force that taps into one of our deepest primal fears: the complete loss of control. Through the chosen perspective—in which we never leave our protagonist’s side throughout the film—Thibault Fauconnet demonstrates cinematic craftsmanship as well as an innovative knack for horror that manages without monsters or blood, and that, on bad days, could befall any of us. Without a doubt a wild ride for any festival audience, STRETCHER/BANCARD receives a well-deserved honorable mention.
