SLASH announces Méliès d’Argent winners 2026
Founded in 2010, SLASH Filmfestival has established itself as one of Europe’s dynamic genre events, bringing horror, science fiction, fantasy and other forms of fantastic cinema to Vienna. For its 2026 edition, the festival expanded its Méliès d’argent programme: alongside its short film competition, SLASH awarded the Méliès d’argent for Best European Feature Film for the first time. Both competitions were judged by the same three-member jury.
And the winner is…
Méliès d’Argent Award Winner – Feature Film @ SLASH 2026
The winner of the Méliès d’Argent Award for Best European Fantastic Genre Feature Film at SLASH is “Bloody Tennis” by Nikias Chryssos (Germany, 2026).
Sophie (Sandra Guldberg Kampp) has made it: she’s been accepted into the prestigious Mary Tyrone Tennis Academy. At a remote former monastery in Southern Europe, the athletes battle for glory on the blood-red hardcourts. But when Sophie discovers what goes on behind the old convent walls, it’s almost too late. A strange hunger is stirring inside her. Nikias Chryssos (A Pure Place, SLASH 2021) serves up Bloody Tennis with a wickedly grotesque sense of humor: a wild collision of coming-of-age and body horror, drenched in sweat and blood and buzzing with flies, all to the pulsing score of Jim Williams (Titane, Raw). (Leonie Markovics)
Méliès d’Argent Award Winner – Short Film @ SLASH 2026
The winner of the Méliès d’Argent Award for Best European Fantastic Genre Short Film at SLASH is “Hag” by Anna Ginsburg (Uk, 2025).
Our story begins with our heroine breaking up with her obnoxious boyfriend; what should be a moment of liberation instead transforms her from a regular thirty-something into a hag with snakes for hair. Hag battles society pressures, inner longings, and the tick of her own biological clock. She searches for love and meaning in a hellscape of waning fertility, dating apps and the rotten stench of the patriarchy.
In this surreal South London, Hag’s journey becomes mythical as her despair crystallises into a quest for answers, and she must face the ultimate test! In a world where being true to yourself makes you monstrous, what is the cost of compromise and repressing your authentic self?
Jury
The two competitions were judged by the same jury:
- Jonas Govaerts (Belgium) – director of Cub and H4Z4RD
- Michael Gülzow (Germany) – artist and filmmaker based in Vienna
- Klara Rabl (Austria) – writer and director working across film, theatre and digital space
The winners of the Méliès d’argent competitions will qualify for the Méliès d’or, the annual award celebrating European fantastic cinema.
Don’t forget to watch the MELIES D’ARGENT Special Programs on our Méliès Fantastic Hub!