Marnie Blok’s “Beyond Silence” wins the MIOB In Shorts Award 2026

MIOB in Shorts online competition audience has chosen Marnie Blok’s drama Beyond Silence as their favourite film. This is another victory for Blok’s directorial debut, which was the double winner of Tribeca Film Festival (Best Narrative Short Award for the Director and for the Producer Team), Palm Springs International ShortFest (Best International Short), Savannah Film Festival (Jury Award for Ensemble Acting), Whistler Film Festival (Best International ShortWork Award) and Cordillera International Film Festival (Best International Short Film) in 2025, and is shortlisted for the Oscars.

The news came weeks after voting concluded, as the Award was announced at the closing ceremony of FilmFestival Cottbus by the Head of Programme Coordination, Merlin Bodenstedt. “With Beyond Silence, the audience has chosen, albeit by a narrow margin, an outstanding film. It impresses with its narrative and cinematic compression and its emotional force, tackling big themes: sexual abuse, tensions between two generations, shared trauma, and different ways of dealing with it. A bold film by Marnie Blok, and a sensational acting debut by Henrianne Jansen, bringing into focus the power structures of academia, the pain they cause, and the courage to break the silence“, said Bodenstedt in her statement.

From September 1 to October 15 2026, viewers could watch 12 short films selected by six members of Moving Images Open Borders (Les Arcs, European Film Festival Palic, Trieste Film Festival, Scanorama, Filmfestival Cottbus & Crossing Europe) on the “This Is Short” platform for a symbolic subscription fee. The following titles ran for the award:

FOUND&LOST – Reza Rasouli (Austria, 2025, 17’)
INDEX – Radu Muntean (Romania, 2025, 29’)
TEM FÉ – Helen Esther Aschauer, Leonor Patrocinio (Portugal, 2025, 8’)
FROM SOMETHING TO NOTHING – Michael Heindl (Austria, 2025, 7’)
PVRGATORIVM – Máté Gergely Kiss (Hungary, 2025, 24’)
LIME KILN WORKERS – Nevena Micić, Katarina Micić, Filip Marojević (Serbia, 2025, 10’)
BEYOND SILENCE – Marnie Blok (Netherlands, 2025, 17’)
KJÆLEDYRUTRYDDELSE – Mikkel Storm Glomstein (Norway, 2025, 14’)
THOSE WHO MOVE – Stephanie Ricci (Portugal, 2025, 20’
PRA/RASTI PASAULIAI – Aušra Lukošiūnienė (Lithuania, 2025, 20’)
MARELLE – Kristjan Poom (Estonia, 2025, 19’)
DEAD BUT NOT GONE – Hêvî Çinar (Turkey/Germany, 2025, 22’)

Established in 2001, the MIOB In Shorts Awards aim to increase the visibility of European short movies and to connect filmmakers and audiences across borders. Each of the six MIOB member festivals nominates two films for the annual competition. This year’s edition featured twelve titles from eleven countries, spanning fiction, documentary and experimental cinema.

All twelve films were screened in Cottbus in two curated programmes.