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Home Film Featured Film

Middleburg Film Festival: ‘The Debut’ Wins Top Audience Award

'Elsinore' & 'Wild Horse Nine' named runner-ups; winners in International Feature and Documentary Feature announced

Joey Moser by Joey Moser
October 21, 2026
in Featured Film, Featured Story, Film, Middleburg Film Festival
1
Telluride 2026: ‘The Debut’ Thrusts An Absolutely Glorious Julianne Moore to Center Stage

(Photo: A24/YouTube)

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Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut has been given a callback!

They say that actors should follow their instincts. A lot of us who attended the opening night premiere of Eisenberg’s comedy this past weekend at the Middleburg Film Festival suspected that the film would land the coveted Audience Award, and we are thrilled that that instinct paid off. When the Toronto International Film Festival wrapped up last month, some were surprised that Los Javis’ La Bola Negra landed the top prize when The Debut tickled so many people. The Spanish epic did not walk away from Middleburg empty-handed, though.

Are people underestimating Simon Stone’s Elsinore in the Best Picture race? It has won a few audience prizes since its festival premiere last month, but the audience at my screening on Saturday were audibly in tears at the film’s conclusion. As a giant fan of the film myself, I won’t stop shouting its praises.

Listen to part 1 of our coverage here, and be on the look out for part 2 dropping later this week.

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE 

THE DEBUT – Winner

ELSINORE – First Runner-Up

WILD HORSE NINE – Second Runner-Up

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

LA BOLA NEGRA

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

14TH

 

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Tags: 14thElsinoreLa Bola NegraMiddleburg Film FestivalThe DebutWild Horse Nine
Joey Moser

Joey Moser

Joey is a co-founder of The Contending currently living in Columbus, OH. He is a proud member of GALECA and Critics Choice. Since he is short himself, Joey has a natural draw towards short film filmmaking. He is a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic, and he has also appeared in Xtra Magazine. If you would like to talk to Joey about cheese, corgis, or Julianne Moore, follow him on Twitter or Instagram.

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VAFF 2026: Julianne Moore’s Nervous Breakthrough in Jesse Eisenberg’s ‘The Debut’

VAFF 2026: Julianne Moore's Nervous Breakthrough in Jesse Eisenberg's 'The Debut'

Comments 1

  1. bschwartz47 says:
    3 weeks ago

    I’m with you Joey! People were weeping and sniffling at the Sunday showing too.

    I was surprised that Wild Horse Nine was voted higher than I Play Rocky because seeing them back to back right after Elsinore, I Play Rocky had a bigger audience reaction than WHN.

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