July 7, 2026

DokuFest announces the full slate of the films in competition for its 25th, jubilee edition. From the record number of 3687 films submitted to the festival for consideration, the programming team has selected 104 films across eight competition sections, with number of them seeing their World, International and European premieres, enforcing the status of DokuFest as an important launching pad for both, documentary and narrative short films in this part of the world.

With the selection, DokuFest continues the tradition of bringing the freshest and boldest films of the year, whilst at the same time looking at some of the most pressing and urgent global issues through these films. We are thrilled to feature an incredible lineup of emerging filmmakers this year, and we can't wait to see how our audience reacts to their groundbreaking work!

“The moment to finally share the selection of films in competition has arrived and I am overjoyed to be able to share so many films we cared so much for quite some time, films that surprised us and those that deeply moved us. But above all, films that reflect the troubled world that we live in. Because the world is on fire and many filmmakers respond to this cataclysmic moment with films that somehow burst with fire too, be it about the element itself, about the devasting effects to the communities that raging wars create or leave behind, about the forest defenders and police militarization, or about the heat of the desert and rapid decline of glaciers. Fire is everywhere and documentary filmmakers from around the world bring stories about all this with grace and dignity that are almost unmatched”, says Veton Nurkollari, Artistic Director of DokuFest.

Samir Karahoda, head of the Short Film Program of DokuFest says:

"This year as well, DokuFest continues to bring authors who challenge storytelling formats and invite us to see the world from new perspectives. At a time when the world is changing at a rapid pace, the short film remains the space where authors dare to experiment, tackle sensitive themes, and question the reality that surrounds them. This year's selection brings together voices from different countries, urging us to watch with greater attention and deeply understand the times we live in. The International Short Film Competition and the National Competition prove that the short film remains one of the boldest forms of expression in contemporary cinema."

In the following days DokuFest will continue with the further programme announcements, including its highly anticipated View from the World section, a Country in Focus program, members of juries, as well as a host of other specially curated programs, panel discussions, talks, master classes and music acts that will perform at the festival.

DokuFest runs from 7 to 15 August in venues throughout the historic city center of Prizren, as well as at Abi Qarshia cinemas.

See the full list of competition titles below in alphabetical order:

 

BALKAN FEATURE DOX  

  • 2M² / Director: Volkan Üce / Producers: Claus Herzog-Reichel, Hans Everaert, Harry Flöter, Jörg Siepmann, Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay / Germany, Belgium, Turkey
  • A State Film / Director: Roland Sejko / Producers: Marlon Pellegrini, Maura Cosenza / Italy
  • As the Spring Arrives, Water Recalls the Nomads (Geldikçe Bahar) / Director: Dilşad Aladağ / Producer: Burak Çevik / Turkey
  • Peacemaker (Mirotvorac) / Director: Ivan Ramljak / Producer: Nenad Puhovski / Croatia
  • Something Familiar / Director: Rachel Taparjan / Producers: Aleksandra Bilic, Elena Martin, Monica Lazurean-Gorgan / Romania, United Kingdom
  • Sunset (Zalazak) / Director: Miloš Jaćimović / Producers: Boris T. Matić, Jelena Mitrović, Jelena Angelovski, Vanja Kovačević / Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia
  • The Dream & The Lie / Director: Elena Dorfman / Producers: Elena Dorfman, Paul O’Bryan / United States
  • The Thing to Be Done (Ono što treba činiti) / Director: Srđan Kovačević / Producer: Sabina Krešić / Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia
  • Yugo Goes America (Yugo ide u Ameriku) / Director: Aleksa Borković, Filip Grujić / Producer: Carna Vucinic, Vanja Jambrović / Croatia, Serbia

BALKAN SHORT DOX  

  • 3 Generations (3 Gjenerata) / Director: Alberta Sinani / Producer: Alberta Sinani / Austria, Kosovo
  • Butterfly (Leptir) / Director: Sara Stijović / Producer: Sara Stijović / Montenegro
  • Closure / Director: Zulfikar Filandra / Producer: Zulfikar Filandra / Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany
  • Goats! (Koze!) / Director: Tonči Gačina /  Producer: Tibor Keser / Croatia
  • Leave This Room Buried (Ovu sobu ostavite zakopanu) / Director: Iva Kraljević / Producers: Igor Grubić, Marijana Veljović / Croatia
  • Letters from Home / Director: Ibro Hasanović / Producer: Ibro Hasanović / Bosnia and Herzegovina, France
  • Mother Company / Director: Alexander Raptotasios, Konstantinos Thomaidis / Producers: Alexander Raptotasios, Konstantinos Thomaidis / Greece
  • SLET 1988 / Director: Marta Popivoda / Producer: Zsofia Lili Kovacs / Serbia
  • The Divine Feminine (Žene Narodnog fronta) / Director: Ivana Todorovic / Producer: Ivana Todorovic / Serbia
  • The Other Spring / Director: Monica Maria Moraru / Producer: Monica Maria Moraru / Romania, Canada
  • This Desirable Device (Ovaj poželjni stroj) / Director: Mina Simendić / Producer: Mina Simendić / Serbia, Germany
  • Towards where to breath / Director: Stefan Pavlović / Producer: Stefan Pavlović / Netherlands
  • White Veil (Bela Koprena) / Director: Žiga Ciber / Producer: National Film School at IADT, Žiga Ciber / Ireland, Slovenia

 

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE DOX

  • Amilcar / Director: Miguel Eek / Producers: Luis Miguel Correia, Marie Dumoulin, Mario Adamson, Miguel Eek, Natacha Ceuninck / Spain, Portugal, France, Sweden, Cape Verde
  • An Incomplete Calendar / Director: Sanaz Sohrabi / Producers: Burak Çevik, Sanaz Sohrabi / Canada, Iran, Turkey, Venezuela
  • Closure (Bez końca) / Director: Michał Marczak / Producers: Karolina Marczak, Katarzyna Szczerba, Monika Braid, Rémi Grellety / Poland, France
  • Dream of Another Summer / Director: Irene Bartolomé / Producer: Elie Kamal, Irene Bartolomé, Pere Marzo / Spain, Lebanon
  • From Dawn to Dawn (La noche de la infancia) / Director: Xisi Sofia Ye Chen / Producers: Camila Montaldo, Leonor Abreu, Luis Ferrón, Marina Perales Marhuenda, Marta LaCima, Pedro Palacios, Ran Shao, Ricard Sales, Xavier Rocher / Spain, France
  • Into the Jaws of the Ogre (Dans la gueule de l'ogre) / Director: Mahsa Karampour / Producer: Mathilde Raczymow / France
  • London / Director: Sebastian Brameshuber / Producers: David Bohun, Lixi Frank / Austria
  • Paikar / Director: Dawood Hilmandi / Producer: Frank Hoeve, Katja Draaijer / Netherlands
  • The Calf Doll (खाल बछड़ा) / Director: Ankur Hooda / Producers: Anish Sarai, Ankur Hooda, Ayushi Gupta / India
  • Whispers in May / Director: Dongnan Chen / Producers: Jia Zhao, Kay Xu / Hong Kong SAR China, Netherlands, Sweden, South Korea

 

INTERNATIONAL SHORT DOX

  • An Impossible Address / Director: Suneil Sanzgiri / Producer: Suneil Sanzgiri / Angola, India, United States
  • Chuuraa / Director: Evgenia Arbugaeva / Producer: Evgenia Arbugaeva / United Kingdom
  • Compact Disc / Director: Rico Yiu / Producers: Hau-chun Chan, Jessie Yang / Hong Kong SAR China, United Kingdom
  • Dragica, Danica, Duška / or / When Zora, the Goddess of Dawn, Opens the Gates of Heaven for Sun to Emerge / Director: Iva Radivojević / Producer: Iva Radivojević / Kosovo, United States
  • Elegy for the Forgotten, on an Endless War (مرثیه‌ای برای فراموش‌شدگان، در باب جنگی بی‌پایان) / Director:  Bani Khoshnoudi / Producer: Bani Khoshnoudi / Iran, France
  • Escalation / Director: AJ Schnack / Producer: Shirley Moyers / United States
  • Forgotten Spaceman (Hershewe Fazanawerd) / Director: Elham Ehsas / Producers: Elham Ehsas, Lorraine Bhattachary / Afghanistan, United Kingdom
  • I couldn’t draw you a map / Director: Yaela Gorrlieb / Producers: Miljana Dunđerin, Yaela Gottlieb / Germany, Kosovo
  • kiss kiss bang bang (kus kus beng beng) / Director: Ollie Launspach / Producers: Isa Sluis, Swaantje Kooijmans / Netherlands
  • Miriam / Director: Karla Condado / Producer: Karla Condado, León Boltvinik / Mexico
  • Normal Planet / Directors: Ekiem Barbie, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L’helgoualc’h / Producer: Boris Garavini / France
  • Pacifico / Director: Daniel Duque / Producer: Le Fresnoy - Studio national des arts contemporains / Colombia, France
  • Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon / Director: Bill Morrison / Producers: Bill Morrison, Jamie Kalven, María Inés Zamudio / United States
  • Singing of the Evening Stars / Director: Iris Sang / Producer: Eneos Çarka, Iris Sang / China, Estonia, United States
  • Two Pids / Director: John Smith / Producer: John Smith / United Kingdom

 

INTERNATIONAL SHORTS  

  • A Few Things Happening by a River (Algumas Coisas Que Acontecem Ao Lado De Um Rio) / Director: Daniel Soares / Producers: Daniel Soares, Luís Urbano, Mouloud Ouyahia, Romina Orsini, Sandro Aguilar, Thaddeus Christandl / Portugal, France
  • A Train Leaves the Station / Director: Mahmoud Ibrahim / Producer: Mahmoud Ibrahim / Egypt
  • Ali / Director: Adnan Al Rajeev / Producers: Kristine De Leon, Tanveer Hossain / Bangladesh, Philippines
  • Always wanted to be God, never wanted to do good / Director: Noa Epars / Producer: Anita Hugi / Switzerland
  • Bad Ideas (Zle Pomysly) / Director: Jan Bujnowski / Producer: Iga Malińska, Jan Bujnowski / Poland
  • Couto / Director: Flávio Ferreira / Producer: Bernardo Lopes / Portugal
  • Detach / Director: Danielle Kaganov / Producers: Elodie Waittaux, Luc Jerome Bailleul / France
  • Faux Bjioux / Director: Jessy Moussallem / Producer: Jean-Baptiste Savary, Olivier Muller / France, Lebanon
  • For The Opponents (Para Los Contrincantes) / Director: Federico Luis / Producer: Augusto Matte, Elena Fortes, Fernanda de la Peza, Fernando Bascuñán / Mexico, Chile, France, United Kingdom
  • Fresh Cut (Nouvel Hair) / Director: Hadrien Bels / Producers: Julien Manunta, Manuel Chiche, Matthieu Berenguer, Violaine Barbaroux, Xinyu Zhou / France
  • Habibi / Director: Alexey Evstigneev / Producers: Clémence Crépin Neel, Igor Courtecuisse / France
  • I can't think of anything right now (ما بين وبين) / Director: Hussen Ibraheem / Producers:  Constanza Schmidt, Hussen Ibraheem / Lebanon, Germany
  • Imagine Me Like a Country of Love (تخيلني وطن من الحب) / Director: Thana Faroq / Producers: Ruba Al Sharki, Thana Faroq / Qatar, Yemen
  • It lives Under the Snow / Director: Igor Smola / Producers: Alvin Lee, Emil Najafov / Azerbaijan, Singapore
  • Kleptomania (Di San Xian) / Director: Jingkai Qu / Producer: Jianing Wen / China
  • Norheimsund / Director: Ana A. Alpizar / Producer: Ana A. Alpizar, Madeline Rose Finkel / Cuba, United States
  • Pankaja / Director: Anooya Swamy / Producer: Anooya Swamy, Archana Swamy, Nakirekanti Swamy, Vindhya Gupta / India, United States
  • Robin in the Hood / Director: Kristin Vollset / Producers: Edwina Forkin, Glen Hansard, John Kaare Hoversholm / Ireland, Norway
  • Scraps (Skråbock) / Director: Emily Norling / Producer: Melissa Lindgren / Sweden
  • SightNotSeeing / Director: Sheungman YIM / Producers: Sheungman YIM, Whitney Ka Wan YIU / Hong Kong SAR China, United Kingdom
  • Stallion and a Crystal Ball (Stallion y la Bola de Cristal) / Director: Christian Avilés / Producers: Christian Avilés, Manuel G. Romero / Spain
  • Tarik / Director: Adem Tutić / Producers: Adem Tutić, Tamara Tomašević / Serbia
  • The Weary Hours of Two Lab Assistants (İki Laborantın Yorgun Saatleri) / Director: Burak Çevik / Producer: Burak Çevik, Denizcan Ünal, Kanat Doğramacı, Nuri Cem Erbak, Stjepan Hundic, Vanja Vascarac / Turkey, United Kingdom, Germany, Croatia
  • Tuesday or Thursday (Utorak ili četvrtak) / Director: Dušan Kasalica / Producers: Dušan Kasalica, Jelena Angelovski / Montenegro
  • Venezia Diorama / Director: Nicolas Piret / Producer: David Grançon / Belgium
  • We Were Here / Director: Pranav Bhasin / Producer: Yash Gonsai / India
  • Whispers of a Burning Scent / Director: Mo Harawe / Producer: Mo Harawe / Somalia, Austria, Germany

 

HUMAN RIGHTS DOX

  • A City in the Forest / Director: Lev Omelchenko, Nolan Huber / Producer: Ike Rofe / United States
  • A Fox Under a Pink Moon (روباه و ماه صورتی) / Director: Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhlaghi Producer: Mehrdad Oskouei / Iran, France
  • Amazomania / Director: Nathan Grossman / Producer: Cecilia Nessen / Sweden, Denmark, France
  • American Doctor / Director: Poh Si Teng / Producer: Kirstine Barfod, Poh Si Teng, Reem Haddad / United States, Palestine, Malaysia, Qatar, Denmark
  • Meanwhile in Namibia / Director: Jonas Spriestersbach / Producer: Jonas Spriestersbach / Germany, Namibia
  • The Clearing / Director: Sabine Groenewegen / Producer: Manon Bovenkerk / Netherlands, Indonesia
  • The Phantom Pain of Rojave / Director: Maryam Ebrahimi / Producer: Stina Gardell / Sweden, Norway
  • Traces / Director: Alisa Kovalenko / Producers: Natalia Libet, Olha Bregman / Ukraine, Poland

 

GREEN DOX  

  • Derek vs Derek / Director: James Damer Dawson / Producer: Serena Kennedy / United Kingdom
  • Fire, Water, Earth, Air / Director: Phie Ambo / Producer: Rikke Tambo Andersen / Denmark, Sweden. Faroe Islands, Norway
  • Heat / Director: Jacqueline Zünd / Producer: Louis Mataré / Switzerland
  • Krakatoa / Director: Carlos Casas / Producers: Beli Martínez, Carlos Casas, Elena Hill, Helena Giron, Krzysztof Dabrowski, Samuel M. Delgado / Country: Spain, Poland, United Kingdom, France
  • Kukata Miti / Director: Daniel Kötter / Producer: Daniel Kötter / Democratic Republic of Congo, Germany, Indonesia
  • Nuisance Bear / Director: Jack Weisman / Producers: Michael Code, Teddy Leifer, Will N. Miller / United Kingdom, United States, Canada
  • The Price of the Sun (Du soleil et du plomb) / Director: Jérôme le Maire / Producers: Camille Laemlé, Hanne Phlypo, Isabelle Truc, Khadija Alami / Belgium, France, Morocco
  • Time and Water / Director: Sara Dosa / Producers: Elijah Stevens, Jameka Autry, Sara Dosa, Shane Boris / United States, Iceland

 

NATIONAL

  • Adem / Director: Edona Ademi / Producers: Edona Ademi, Rina Celina / Germany, Kosovo
  • All Good (Kaikki hyvin) / Director: Basha Troni / Producer: Basha Troni / Finland
  • angel777 / Director: Brilant Pireva, Producers: Blerta Ismaili, Tristan Halilaj / Kosovo
  • Antimuseum (Antimuzeu) / Director: Renis Hyka / Producer: Arnen Sula / Albania
  • Berna’s Eyes (Sytë e Bernës) / Director: Ermal Gërdovci / Producer: Trëndelina Halili / Kosovo
  • Dance (Valle) / Director: Hana Bucalija / Producer: Ismet Sijarina / Kosovo
  • Farewell until a free Kosova (Mirupafshim në Kosovën e lirë) / Director: Durim Klaiqi / Producers: Artit Bytyci, Lendita Idrizi / Kosovo, Germany
  • From 6 to 5 (Prej 6-ve në 5) / Director: Erlisë Beqiri / Producer: Ardian Dubova / Kosovo
  • Keep going / Director: Valmira Hyseni / Producers: Valmira Hyseni, Zgjim Terziqi / Kosovo
  • Language of the Diaspora (Gjuha e diasporës) / Director: Diell Curri / Producer: Volko Kamensky / Switzerland
  • Searching for Poetry / Director: Lorin Terezi / Producers: Arnen Sula, Eduardo M. Escribano / Albania
  • Stolen Life / Director: Viron Roboci / Producers: Besmira Pelushaj, Viron Roboci / Albania
  • The Gelina of Ribnovo / Director: Valon Ballabani / Producers: Alex Kurunis, Valon Ballabani / United Kingdom, Bulgaria
  • Two Lives in Tight Socks (Dy jetë në corape të ngushta) / Director: Besim Ugzmajli / Producers: Besim Ugzmajli, Rilindje Sadiku / Kosovo
  • Wet Soil (Tokë e lagët) / Director: Jon Brovina / Producer: Jon Brovina / United States