August 15, 2026
As the 25th edition of DokuFest comes to a close, the festival announces the winners of its 2026 competition categories, celebrating films that distinguished themselves through their artistic vision, storytelling, political urgency, and engagement with the world around them.
From explorations of memory, displacement, and colonial history to stories of resistance, environmental crisis, and everyday life, this year’s awarded films reflect the breadth and diversity of documentary and short-form cinema presented at DokuFest XXV.
BALKAN DOX
Balkan Feature Dox — Winning Film: As the Spring Arrives, Water Recalls the Nomads by Merve Dilşad Aladağ
The jury awarded the Balkan Feature Dox to As the Spring Arrives, Water Recalls the Nomads, praising its ability to transform the landscape into a powerful narrative of absence and loss.
“Walking through the land is learning about the land: two researchers meet across time in a way that only cinema allows. Through their attention and persistence toward the people whose culture they seek to understand, this encounter turns a bare land into a powerful narrative of absence and loss. Rather than simply mourning this loss, the filmmaker repurposes and empowers archival materials, insisting on the importance of preservation. In doing so, the film itself becomes an archive, honouring the memory of this land.”
Special Mention — The Thing to Be Done by Srđan Kovačević
The jury gave a Special Mention to The Thing to Be Done for its attentive portrayal of workers and their struggles for rights and dignity.
“Workers, regardless of where they’re coming from, are filmed with care and attention. Laughs, tears, struggles, solidarity: the office becomes the theatre of fights for rights and dignity. Songs of resistance that accompany the film emphasize both its politics and passion. Without sparing any bit of energy and emotion, the film offers a precise observation of resistance to encourage us to never stop fighting.”
Balkan Short Dox — Winning Film: Towards Where to Breathe by Stefan Pavlović
Towards Where to Breathe received the Balkan Short Dox award for its poetic exploration of memory, language, and the figure of the father through the element of water.
“There is a brief moment after you release your breath, before you inhale again, that small space between breaths. The breathturn. It is a moment when thought disappears and language, too, is briefly lost. The film we award the Balkan Short Dox to begins in this space, allowing itself to drift through memories evoked by the element of water. Its videotape images repeat, as if language itself prevents them from flowing as freely as they want to. The director’s poetic journey is one of searching for that flow and the result is a film about remembering feelings, the figure of the father, and the words we use to make sense of both. In the end, memory can finally breathe.”
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE DOX
Winning Film — From Dawn to Dawn by Xisi Sofia Ye Chen
The International Feature Dox jury awarded From Dawn to Dawn, highlighting its intimate and nuanced approach to family, migration, spirituality, violence, pain, and tenderness.
“We were deeply moved by the film’s artistry and grace. With a delicate balance of intimacy and restraint, the filmmaker invites us into her family’s distinct and unexpected world, leaning into the complexity, depth, and contradictions of characters and situations, where the messiness of life, spirituality, violence, pain, wisdom, and profound tenderness coexist. The beautifully crafted film gives space to those in the margins of society and offers a different story of immigration. The film and its epic final scene left us in a state of emotion that will not soon be forgotten.”
INTERNATIONAL SHORT DOX
Winning Film — Normal Planet by Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L'helgoualc'h
Normal Planet was recognized for its playful filmmaking and inventive use of animation to engage with history and contemporary life.
“Normal Planet is a work of deft, playful filmmaking, where the animation elevates rather than overwhelms the everyday reality. From the opening whistle of a cheery frog — or rather, a museum security guard — we encounter a hilarious cast of contemporary characters engaging with the historical artefacts of a world gone by. Warm, inventive and sharply observed, the film finds humour in the distance between then and now without ever losing sight of the people at its heart.”
HUMAN RIGHTS DOX
Winning Film — The Clearing by Sabine Groenewegen
The Human Rights Dox award goes to The Clearing by Sabine Groenewegen, a film that confronts a suppressed chapter of Dutch colonial history and the systematic sexual exploitation and enslavement of women in Sumatra, Indonesia.
“Through meticulous investigation and artistry, the film exposes a profound historical injustice and a deeply suppressed chapter of Dutch colonial history. Using a vigilant analysis of archival evidence and a critical examination of state-sponsored censorship and erasure, the film brings to light how colonial power exploited women’s bodies, controlled the historical record, silenced their experiences, and erased them from collective memory.
“Therefore, the film becomes an important act of decolonisation of historical memory. It challenges the colonial narratives that have shaped whose suffering is remembered, whose voices are preserved, and whose humanity is acknowledged. For her painstaking detective work and its beautifully constructed film laced with pain and poetry, we are proud to honour The Clearing by Sabine Groenewegen.”
Special Mention — A City in the Forest by Lev Omelchenko and Nolan Huber
The jury awarded a Special Mention to A City in the Forest for its portrait of grassroots activism and collective resistance against the construction of a militarized police training facility in an Atlanta forest.
“With its incredible guerrilla spirit and infectious energy of solidarity, this film follows the varied and tireless tactics activists use to halt the construction of a militarized police training facility in an Atlanta forest. Exuding joy, creativity, and beauty in the face of police brutality and the suppression of democracy, the film is both an urgently needed guide to grassroots organising and a testament to the potential of collective action in confronting state oppression.
“For this powerful ode to an ongoing struggle, reminding us that resistance is both a right and a collective responsibility, we are proud to give a Special Mention to A City in the Forest by Lev Omelchenko and Nolan Huber.”
GREEN DOX
Winning Film — Krakatoa by Carlos Casas
The Green Dox Award of DokuFest XXV goes to Krakatoa by Carlos Casas.
“Exploring the possibilities of the materiality of cinema, this film forces us with remarkable conviction to participate in a physical, telluric journey to the center of the Earth.”
The award was given by unanimous decision.
INTERNATIONAL SHORTS
Winning Film — Kleptomania by Jingkai Qu
The award for Best International Short Film goes to Kleptomania, a quiet yet unsettling portrait of violence entering the everyday life of a child.
“A calm yet chilling portrait of violence seeping into the daily life of a child; unapologetic, discreet, and complacent. For its decisive and patient approach to a memory that we never knew we had buried, the award for Best International Short Film goes to Kleptomania.”
Special Mention — Venezia Diorama by Nicolas Piret
The jury gave a Special Mention to Venezia Diorama by Nicolas Piret for its distinctive approach to visual storytelling.
“One film impressed the jury by excelling in pure visual storytelling, where hand-crafted animation techniques are elevated by treating the frame as a physical, multi-layered miniature set, drawn in detailed pencil textures. Special Mention goes to Venezia Diorama by Nicolas Piret.”
NATIONAL COMPETITION
Winning Film — Searching for Poetry by Lorin Terezi
The National Jury Award goes to Searching for Poetry by Lorin Terezi, recognized for its intimate approach to history, censorship, memory, and the search for tangible proof.
“We would like to award a film approaching history through the intimate portrait of a character trying to recover what was taken from him. A film approaching censorship and memory with honesty, subtle humor, and humanity. Refusing to look away from its character, it creates a vulnerable, stubborn yet touching and sometimes absurd quest for tangible proof.
“The National Jury Award goes to Searching for Poetry by Lorin Terezi.”
AUDIENCE AWARD
Winning Film — The Beauty of the Donkey by Dea Gjinovci
The Beauty of the Donkey, directed by Dea Gjinovci, was awarded the Audience Award, receiving the highest average audience rating of 4.75 out of 5. Blending memory, exile and return, the film follows a father and daughter as they attempt to reconstruct a childhood world that has disappeared from the landscape, exploring how stories and collective memory can keep the past alive.
Distribution Award
Winning Film — Dance by Hana Bucalija
Dance by Hana Bucalija was announced as the winner of the Distribution Award. During their flight from war, eighteen-year-old Uka and his family make a final stop to pick up Ema, the girl he loves. She waits for them like a bride ready to exchange rings, but one ring is missing.
THE 39TH EUROPIAN FILM AWARDS DOKUFEST NOMINATION
Nominated Film — Tarik by Adem Tutić
Shortlisted for European Short Film - Prix Vimeo
Tarik by Adem Tutić was announced as DokuFest's candidate for European Film Academy's Short Film - Prix Vimeo award. After being expelled from school in his hometown, Tarik is forced to leave his single mother, Marija, and move to Novi Pazar to live with his father, Safet, and his family.
The awarded films of DokuFest XXV reflect the festival’s commitment to bringing forward bold cinematic voices and films that challenge, question, document, and reimagine the realities around us. From intimate personal histories to collective struggles and urgent political questions, this year’s selection once again demonstrates the power of cinema to preserve memory, amplify voices, and inspire resistance.
