See the Life of a Lowly Stormtrooper in the 'Star Wars' Fan Film Award Winner

The biggest sci-fi event of the year — at least, until this December’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters — was last month’s Star Wars Celebration, a three-day fan festival dedicated to the franchise that George Lucas launched nearly 40 years ago. While Rogue One, Episode VIII and the upcoming Han Solo standalone film were the prime attractions at that weekend getaway in London, avid Star Wars aficionados also got a chance to see some original homage-y works created by other die-hards. Now, the biggest winner at the event has debuted online.

Bestowed with the Filmmaker Select prize at the Fan Film Awards, TK-436: A Stormtrooper Story is a 12-minute short directed by Samtubia and Samgoma Edwards (viewable above in its director’s cut). As you might expect from its title, it takes a close look at the day-to-day grind of being one of millions of nobodies tasked with enforcing the nefarious plans of the evil Empire. Such wartime toil inevitably takes a toll on those on the front lines, and this short does an impressive job assuming a unique perspective on familiar out-of-this-world conflict — and, as evidenced by its win at Celebration, did much to wow the competition’s judges, which included Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, executive producer John Knoll of Industrial Light & Magic, and co-producer John Swartz.

TK-436: A Stormtrooper Story was one of six winners at the Fan Film Awards, which also included animated, comedy and non-fiction efforts. You can check out all of these feted films here. And for more Star Wars fan movies, check out the various ones featured here and here.