Almeria Western Film Festival – Awards

'Eastern Western', 'Sirat' and 'Tokyo Cowboy' triumph at the 15th edition of Almería Western Film Festival

The film of sisters Biliana and Marina Brozdanova, Oliver Laxe and Marc Marriot won the top awards in a night of recognition for western and neo-western cinema

Almeria, October 11, 2025.- Almería Western Film Festival celebrated this Saturday the presentation of the official awards at a gala held at the Municipal Theater of Tabernas. The productions “Eastern Western” (USA), directed by Biliana and Marina Brozdanova, and “Sirat” (Spain), by Oliver Laxe, were the big winners of the night, taking the awards for best western and neo-western feature film respectively. For its part, and “Tokyo Cowboy” (USA-Japan) by Marc Marriot was awarded by the public and also with the award for best male performance to actor Arata Iura.

For the first time in 15 years, a film directed and written by women has won the top prize. The jury also recognised the technical-artistic contribution to the western genre by awarding the 'Carlo Simi' Prize ex aequo to directors Biliana and Marina Brozdanova for “Eastern Western” and to Kangding Ray for the music of “Sirat”. Among the winners were Natalia Cortés, awarded as best actress for her role in “El vaquero” (Colombia).

The jury of the short film section awarded “A Beautiful Excuse for a Deadly Sin” (Bahrain), directed by Hashim Sharaf, while directors Jos and José Manuel Azuela received a special jury prize for directing in “Trinidad” (Mexico). Carolina Gutiérrez was recognized for her cinematography in the Chilean short film “Atajo”.

For its part, the Andalusian production “El precio de la Verdad”, by Juan de Dios Díaz, was awarded the RTVA award for the best regional production. In the section dedicated to film schools, the award went to “Invaders of the Valley”, by Dustin Tidwell.

Members of the Jury of this edition, the public present, as well as the mayor of Tabernas, José Díaz, the deputy for Housing and Provincial Buildings, Ana Lourdes Ramírez, and the delegate for Social Inclusion, Youth, Families and Equality of the Junta de Andalucía, Francisco Bellido, participated in the awards ceremony. In addition, other authorities and institutional representatives were present.

The closing gala, presented by Luis Larrodera and accompanied by a musical performance by Emilia and Pablo, culminated with the screening of “Tornado”, the closing film by director John Maclean, recognized with the festival's 2025 'Spirit of the West' award. With these recognitions, AWFF 2025 reaffirms its commitment to the promotion and dissemination of western cinema, its evolution and its new voices, celebrating the diversity and talent of creators from all over the world and positioning Tabernas, once again, as the epicenter of western at an international level.