Solzy at the Movies presents the Solzy Awards for 2025…so far, which spotlights the best films and performances of the first half.

My first-half awards were slightly delayed this week because I needed to catch up on a few films that I didn’t get to see during the first half of the year. Part of this is due to films screening for press on Shabbos or screening prior to the end of Yom Tov. The other part is because I was so slammed with conducting and transcribing interviews for Phase 1 of Emmy nominations voting. So I figure, what better way than to announce my mid-year picks than during MLB All-Star break? It’s not the beginning of July but it’s close enough!

If I screened a film during a film festival or it had a one-off screening while touring the country and has not been released yet, it will be listed below under Festival Favorites. Second half films–like Jurassic World Rebirth and Heads of State–seen before July 1 do not qualify as these awards are specifically for films released between January 1-June 30, 2025. For the same reason, even as I publish this list after watching Superman, the new DC film is not eligible for the mid-year. While Bad Shabbos has been expanding nationwide, it qualified in 2024 due to its South Florida theatrical release.

Unfortunately, the mainstream animated features that I have seen this year fell short of inclusion into the Solzy Awards for 2025…So Far. Dog Man screened on Shabbos and it otherwise never really piqued my interest. Elio, of course, fell spectacularly short of what’s expected for an animated feature. I saw a few animated films during the Jewish film festivals. As far as I can tell, Legend of Destruction never got a 7-day theatrical release and has only played at film festivals.

While I usually stick to just film for the Solzy Awards for 2025…So Far, I am including a TV pilot that I covered during a recent film festival.

Narrative Features

• Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
• Thunderbolts* (The New Avengers)
• Tatami
• Deep Cover
• Sinners

Documentary Features

• The Children of October 7
• Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On
• Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
• Pee-wee as Himself
• Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything

Film Festival Favorites

Narrative Features

• Guns & Moses
• Air War
• The Stronghold
• Matchmaking 2
• The Floaters
• 31 Candles

Animated Features

• Legend of Destruction

Documentary Features

• Soul of a Nation
• For the Living
• Torn
• Swedishkayt: Yidlife Crisis in Sweden
• Milk & Honey, Blood & Tears
• Long Live The State
• State of Firsts
• Shari & Lamb Chop
• Laemmle’s List

Television

Pilot

• Observance

The Solzy Awards for 2025 will be announced later this year.

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