2025 Filmmaker of the Year – Tina Romero

The Filmmaker of the Year award honors an artist whose passion, creativity, and dedication to storytelling embody the spirit of independent horror. This year, we celebrate Tina Romero, a filmmaker, editor, and storyteller who carries forward a legacy of fearless genre filmmaking while forging her own path with authenticity and heart.

Tina’s work captures what horror does best, revealing truth through fear, empathy through darkness, and humanity through chaos. Her voice, artistic vision, and commitment to nurturing new talent continue to inspire the next generation of filmmakers. She reminds us that horror isn’t just about what scares us, it’s about what connects us.

THE CRAMPS
Directed by: Brooke H Cellars
2025 BAFF Romero Award Winner

This film embodies the heart of the Romero Award by using horror as a vehicle for truth, empathy, and social reflection. At its core is Agnes Applewhite, a young woman discovering her independence while navigating a painful and deeply personal struggle, debilitating menstrual cramps that twist her world into a waking nightmare.

What makes this film extraordinary is how it confronts a reality many women endure: the dismissal and medical gaslighting of their pain. Rather than minimizing that experience, the film amplifies it through genre, transforming an overlooked struggle into something impossible to ignore. Through surreal, nightmarish imagery and a fiercely grounded emotional core, the story exposes the fear, frustration, and resilience that come with not being believed or minimized.

In true Romero spirit, the film uses horror not just to scare, but to illuminate. It brings humanity, inclusivity, and compassion to a subject too often brushed aside, honoring the voices of those who fight to have their pain recognized.

Its bravery, authenticity, and powerful social commentary are why this film was chosen as a Romero Award winner.

THE BEAST
Directed by: Anissa Matlock
Sinema Challenge Romero Award Winner

This film embodies everything the Romero Award stands for: humanity within horror, compassion within chaos, and the belief that even our darkest struggles can carry truth, vulnerability, and connection.

In the story, newly sober Luca attends a gathering meant to honor an old friend, only to find that the temptations of his past awaken a Beast he believed he had finally defeated. This narrative is more than a tale of addiction or inner demons, it’s a powerful reflection on resilience, recovery, and the constant battle between who we were and who we hope to become.

Like the Romero legacy itself, rooted in kindness, inclusivity, and hope, this film uses fear not to shock, but to illuminate. It shows that monsters aren’t always external; sometimes they live within us, demanding empathy rather than judgment. This thoughtful blend of emotional truth, social awareness, and genre storytelling is exactly why we chose it as this year’s Sinema Challenge Romero Award winner.