2026
2026 Films
Another February : Tobias Ervolder
THE AUDIT : Jon Rizik
Barbed wire : Sepideh Eghbali
Brain Rot : Jackson Coates
Buckets : Drew van Steenbergen
CASINO! : Izzy Leung
Cellulose Documents: Forget Me Not : Katina Bitsicas, Scott McMahon
Chair : Chris McInroy
THE CHOSEN : Brady Richards
COYOTES : Said Zagha
Curtains : Oskar Peacock
Dog of God : Lauris and Raitis Ābele
Dream Synth™ : Ryley O'Byrne
explant / implant : Josh Weissbach
Five Star : Kai Hasson
Fresh Values : Drew Durepos, Isaac Brooks
THE Garden Sees Fire : Kiera Faber
THE Gnawer of Rocks : Louise Flaherty
Guy Playing a Saxaphone : Josh Raby
Halfway Haunted : Sam Rudykoff
Happy Anniversary : Munjal Yagnik
Harvester : Charlie Schwan
Heirlooms : Dan Abramovici
Henry and the Horrible Thing : Phynley Joel
How to Make Yourself Miserable : Elizabeth Katz
I Was There : Kamila Kuc
It’s a Wonderful Night of the Living Dead : John Bell & Dan Bell
Lady Puritan : Gustine Füdickar, Justin Streichman
Like Me : Ashley Lauren Thomas
Murderbird : Barrett Shuler
Museum of Regret : Skye Braband
Next In Line : Danny Dolan
NO SWIMMING : Andrea Dratch, Andy Carrasco
The Oldest : Cathlin McCullough
On the Way Out of Time : Steven Palassis
Painting Cathedral Rock : Mel Day
Palace : Jacob Forman, Joseph Hurt
Party Invitation : Chelsea Hall
Patch : Meg Cook
Preparing for the Worst : Taylor Benjamin, Megan Jensen
Primetime Mr. President : Saif Alsaegh
Puisque tout brûle : Anna Ostasenko Bogdanoff, Tessa De Baudinière
Ramy : Pouyan Rostami
THE Schism & The Butterfly : Joseph Taglieri
Something Wrong : Paola Termine
THE Tempest : Diego Müller
Truckees : Madeline Hicks
Wall Udder : Alexandra Hayden
Weak in the Knees : Shivers & Viking
When Big People Lie : Gianfranco Fernández-Ruiz
WHY-EEELA : Ian Gibbins
2026 MAUREEN SAARI-WILDMAN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DEFIANCE (“the moe”) winner:
CURTains
Best of 2026:
BEST OF FEST - FEATURE: Dog of God
BEST OF FEST - SHORT: Next In Line
Learn about the Defy Awards HERE.
2026 PRESS:
NASHVILLE SCENE
2026 JUDGE:
Daniel Jones (he/him) is a Nashville-based creative producer, director, writer, and curator passionate about facilitating shared live arts experiences that ignite social change. In 2022, the Nashville Scene named him "Best Advocate for Artists." As a Co-Founder & Co-Artistic Director of the nonprofit organization Kindling Arts, Daniel has worked with hundreds of Nashville-based artists to launch more than 175 unique artistic experiences since the organization was founded in 2018. Kindling's programming has been hailed by the Nashville Scene as "freewheeling, uncensored and full of heart, pushing the boundaries of what we imagine performance art to be." In 2027, Kindling will celebrate its 10th year of programming and community impact, and Daniel will also collaborate with Lenin Fernandez to develop a new immersive theatrical experience, Jock Night, which explores queer masculinity in the digital age.
Daniel also serves as the Associate Director of Programming & Partnerships at OZ Arts Nashville where he has supported hundreds of visiting artists from around the world, including companies from Brazil, Japan, Chile, Germany, South Africa, France, and more. He also works closely with Nashville artists as they develop new works in OZ's unique 10,000 square-foot creative warehouse, including the annual Brave New Works Lab which has developed 20 short-form projects over the past 5 years.
Daniel's creative producing and directing credits include The Naughty Tree, an interdisciplinary, queer retelling of the Garden of Eden creation story created in collaboration with choreographer Lenin Ferndandez, playwright River Timms, and indie rock band Fable Cry; two installments of Heroic Couplets: Poetry into Film Collaborations with Defy Film Festival; and HAUNTED, a multimedia, immersive experience inspired by the deadliest train crash in American history.
