Feature Screenplays Awards

2025 SCREENPLAY AWARDS

Official Results

Best Fantasy

The Persian Lover by Naser Doushin Shahrivar

Best Comedy

Caramel Drizzle by Ian Wilson

In a country devastated by shameful and brutal religious leaders for more than four decades, follow this emotional journey of an ordinary man full of guilt at the end of his oppressed life. He returns to his homeland Iran, a broken man to discover an old love which sparks deep regrets after hearing of her sacrifices and bravery as she fought for human rights. His search for freedom and congeniality in another human comes to an end as love endures.

John Winters, a polished ad exec engaged to his boss’s daughter, lives for the perfect plan a beautiful life and a beautiful wife. Angus, his would-be father-in-law, makes a deal: land a French sexual-wellness AD account for his firm or forget the VP job and the wedding.
He’s paired with Liz Docherty, a chaos-friendly creative. Their meet-cute isn’t cute, it’s a latte-on-the-pants disaster; John’s Inner Voice (Frank) and Liz’s (Alex) heckle from the sidelines. But as John and Liz work together, their ad campaign gains a pulse and so does their relationship. Honesty cracks John’s façade: he ends his engagement; Angus fires him. Dominique, founder of Dominique & Leo, is about to award the account to Angus’s firm until she learns why John was sacked: no John, no deal.
Later Dominique offers John a VP role at D&L and recruits Liz. Together they deliver a triumphant launch, with the spilled caramel latte reborn as a metaphor for messy, Intimate connection. Snow falls; a kiss; for once Frank and Alex go quiet—then awkwardly flirt.
Theme: Only by breaking free of expectations can we discover real love.

Best Dark Comedy

Uncommon Grounds by Joseph Anthony Francis

Four couples, each at different stages of their relationships, face life’s challenges as they struggle with shadows from the past, navigate opportunities in the present, and prepare for uncertainty in the future.

Departures PILOT - T.D. Inoue

Best Thriller

As a miracle cancer cure causes catastrophic mental collapse in its first patients, Vivia, a Synth AI, guides Dr. Evelyn Reed towards a terrifying revelation: human consciousness depends upon a fragile tether to an ancient symbiotic alien intelligence.

Best Sci-Fi

Nocturnal by Peter Hardy

A man who nearly drowned when he was a boy becomes fascinated with a woman who steals into people's backyards and swims in their pools. When he tries to unlock her mystery he confronts the secrets of his own past. A psychological mystery in the classic Hitchcock tradition.

Best Drama

Sally and Glen at the Palace by Peter Hardy

Love stories come in all different shapes and sizes. A touching and funny comic drama about the growing friendship between two college students working together at a movie theatre in the 1970s, and the events that change their lives.

Best Action

The Hideout at Wilshaw by Dan Millen

Following a series of heists, Angelica Jacobs-Rowson, the fiercely loyal daughter of a notorious gangster, Roger Jacobs, retreats to a safehouse in the idyllic Wilshaw Grove with her misfit gang to await her father’s arrival to divide up the shares - that is until the money gets destroyed.

The Lightbox Film Festival is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Screenplay Awards.
These awards honour outstanding writing across feature-length and short-form screenplays, celebrating originality, structure, character development, and the creative voice behind each script.

All submissions were reviewed independently by our judging panel, with festival organisers playing no role in the scoring or final decision-making. Winners were publicly announced on 30th December following the completion of the judging process.

Presented below are the official Screenplay Award winners of 2025, along with their award titles and project details.