Strumica, 8 August 2025 (MIA) — Strumica's 20th Asterfest Short Film Festival has awarded its Grand Prix to Victoria Warmerdam's Oscar-winning "I Am Not a Robot" (2023), which will be screened Friday at 8:30 pm.

Özlem Canel, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, received the award on behalf of the Dutch writer and filmmaker.

Festival organizers awarded the Golden Horseshoe award to the Macedonian short film "Choice" (2025) by Marko Crnogorski. The Silver Horseshoe went to "Jus d’Orange" (2023) by Alexandre Athané and the Bronze Horseshoe went to "Ya Hanouni" (2024) by Sofian Chouaib and Lyna Tadount.

The Gjorgјi Abadzhiev best screenplay award went to the Croatian short "Lonely" (2025) by Bobby Grubic. The Aco Aleksov best director award was given to Nadezhda Panov for "Turbo-Net" (2024).

Special mentions went to "Frame of Mind" (2024) by Aleksandra Kardalevska and "Motherly Instincts" (2025) by Ema Zafirovska. The audience award went to Iain Gardner's "A Bear Named Wojtek" (2023).

The festival also organized special screenings of "Unshattered" (2023) by Igor Aleksov and "The Letter" (2000) by Vasil Hristov.

Asterfest is the country's longest-running short film festival. Since 2025, it has focused on promoting short films, encompassing both documentaries and fiction, from around the world. mr/