GCUFF 14 Award Winners

It is our honor to celebrate this year’s award winners—films that embody the creativity, courage, and community spirit of the 14th Annual Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival.

Audience Choice Award – Something About Tomorrow

Director: Carole Murphy Copeland

Screenwriter: Jabril Ty Murphy, Carole Murphy

After her daughter’s near-fatal overdose, attorney Linda Hamilton confronts guilt, fractured family ties, and the truth about addiction. This powerful drama from Recovery Media explores love, blame, and the shared journey toward healing amid trauma and generational pain.

Outstanding Documentary Short – The Injustice of Justice

Director: Max Boekbinder, Jim Batt

Screenwriter: Keith LaMar

Artist Molly Crabapple joins forces with Keith LaMar to expose his wrongful death sentence after the 1993 Lucasville Uprising. Through striking visuals and testimony, the film reveals systemic corruption, prosecutorial misconduct, and a fight for justice before time runs out.

Outstanding Documentary Feature – Who in the Hell is Regina Jones?

Director: Soraya Selene, Billy Miossi

Chronicling Regina Jones’ extraordinary life—from dispatching the first Watts Rebellion call to founding SOUL magazine—revealing a resilient Black matriarch's journey through love, loss, legacy, and her fight to preserve her history.

Outstanding Narrative Short – Sugar Dumplin

Director and Screenwriter: Tristan Barrocks

A young Jamaican-Canadian woman reconnects with her estranged father through the shared act of cooking Caribbean meals. As he faces early dementia, their kitchen becomes a space for healing, memory, and rediscovered love across generations.

Outstanding Narrative Feature – Young King

Director and Screenwriter: Bryant T Griffin

As Diondre Howell re-adjusts to civilian life and struggles to cope with the scars of the Iraq war, he increasingly becomes a threat to those he cares about the most – his family.