“Turning pain into happiness” is a key sentence in the film that deals with a Gaza, before it was totally destroyed after October 7 2023 and the consequent events.

The pain of the director Areeb, Palestinian living in the US, remembering the smile of her mother, when she was walking with her in Gaza, at the sea. They lived in Nablus, the mother passed away, the father is in Amman.

And the pain of the young members of the Parkour team, who dreams of getting out of Gaza – there is no future for us, as one of them says. Becoming a professional parkour player is a way to get a visa and leave.

Areeb finds Ahmed via the internet and the whole film is a visual conversation between the two. They get closer and closer to each other and Areeb gets to watch the videos that Ahmed has shot for years; one is more – for this viewer – nerve wracking than the next one! Hard to watch in one way, an artistic performance for sure but also bearing the risk of tough consequences as when one of the parkourists, Jinji, falls from fourth floor.

The film starts with Areeb and her memories. Beautiful shots from where she lives in the US, a snowy landscape – later on Ahmed expresses “oh, I have never seen snow, would love to”. In Gaza where he performs it is sand all over. A very staged beginning, compositions and a glass wall, where Areeb draws lines as waves in the sea. From there the film – via the videos shot by Ahmed – moves to more documentary footage of the kids performing. Ahmed has been filming for years and friends of him have been filming him, when he is jumping. There are also footage from the Palestinian camps. A good choice to have this contrast in narrative style between the Palestinian “outside” and the Palestinian “inside”. Even if it irritated me a bit, also later in the film, that Areeb primarily is seen behind glass… I loved when I see her beautiful smiling face as a response to Ahmed telling her that “I have a girl friend”. Can I see her, she asks, “nope”, he says laughing.

At this point Parkour has brought him out of the country. To Sweden where he has a job as trainer for kids, that’s what I understood. For years he applied for a visa, he got one to leave Gaza, and in Sweden he applies for citizenship, and gets it after 7 years. Which enables him to return to Gaza to meet his family. In one of the most emotional scenes he says this to his mother, she cries – and so did I!

Ahmed is sooo good for the film. Charming, natural in front of the Camera, (trying to) turning pain into happiness. And as a parkourist quite close to losing his mobility as he shows Areeb some videos, where his jumping made him end on his head…

Of course you can´t help – when watching the film – think about Gaza today BUT as a well composed sometimes painful, sometimes joyful I enjoyed the film that also catches the Palestinian soul and I hope for the best for Ahmed and his parkourist teammates and his family, where ever they are.

Wolski pitched “The Big Chief” in Sarajevo last August. During a workshop at ZagrebDox he told me that the film was to have its premiere at Visions du Réel in Nyon. It had, the other day. He sent me a link and below is my review. The film will also be shown at The Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival in Warsaw in May and at Krakow Film Festival in June. Of course. And many other festivals will follow. Wolski is a master in his work with archives, I have written about three of his films on this site, go to “search” if you like.

I have seen the film twice. After the first time I wanted to go back for two reasons: The story about Leopold Trepper is a fascinating war and post-war history with plenty of details to study AND the way it is told is a superb piece of Cinema. Totally built on archive there is never a dull moment, it’s entertaining because Wolski dares to play with his material and the material he has with Trepper is extraordinary. A main source is an interview made by famous French journalist Pierre Elkabbach. The journalist came to Poland in 1972 but was not – in the beginning – given access to Trepper. There are some hilarious scenes, where Elkabbach asks the authorities if he may go to give Trepper a birthday cake!

It became terrible for us from 1968, Trepper says. It was the time, where Gomulka was head of the communist party in Poland and where the official policy was openly anti-semitic. “They”, meaning the Jews in the country, can leave if they want. But not Trepper who was put in house arrest.

Trepper worked for Moscow. He organized a network of agents, who collected intelligence to be delivered to USSR. As a true believer in communism – as was his wife Luba – he set up the so-called Red Orchestra that had its office in Paris with agents around Europe. It was in 1937. In the beginning of the war he was arrested by the Germans and became a double agent. But I never betrayed France, he said in the many post-war interviews and in his book “The Great Game”. I fought against nazism.

Another strong character in the film is Gilles Perrault, who wrote “The Red Orchestra” in 1967. He tells with passion about Trepper, who finally, after having started a hunger strike, got permission to leave Poland to join his family.

It’s complicated to remember it all after two screenings but of course, for a Dane, it is very interesting to see footage of Trepper and his wife in Copenhagen, where his son Michael Brojde lived. In 1972 Michael started a hunger strike to get his father out of Poland. (He stopped the strike after 171 hours being urged to do so by his father and the Chief Rabbi of Denmark Bent Melchior – this is not in the film, I googled it and I also saw that Brojde wrote a book about his childhood in Stalin’s Soviet Union, 1936-54). After the war Trepper went to Moscow, was arrested and sent to prison for 10 years.

Trepper was a family man. He talks warmly about his wife and how she kept the family (three sons, Michael, Peter and Edward) together, when he was imprisoned. Why were you in jail, he is asked in the film. I was considered a traitor, he says.

Perrault shakes his head, when he talks about Trepper wanting to go to Israel – he was never a zionist, he says. Trepper – in the Copenhagen footage – on the contrary says about going to Israel that he wants to be close to his children. One of them was married to a doctor, good to have a doctor close to you, he says and lights a cigar, as a doctor had said that cigars are not so bad as cigarettes… during the many interviews you see Trepper smoking cigarettes all the time.

Playful, elegant in editing, jumping in time, amazing storytelling, many many close-ups of the master spy, humor, for film and history lovers and for all of us, who like a good spy story! And Wolski cares about his audience including in the film wonderful footage from Poland in the 60’es, horrible images from the war – Jews being hanged in public – Stalingrad, and lovely glimpses from Paris and Moscow… I could go on. In other words: No objections!

Barcelona, April 8, 2025 · The Barcelona International Documentary Film Festival DocsBarcelona will hold its twenty-eighth edition from May 8 to 18 at the CCCB, the Renoir and Phenomena cinemas, and the Filmoteca de Catalunya, the festival’s regular venues, in addition to Casa Montjuïc and Espai Texas. Tickets will go on sale today at the festival’s website. “With more than a thousand proposals received, forty-eight meticulously selected films, and eleven world premieres, DocsBarcelona 2025 reaffirms its commitment as a meeting place for documentary film and seeks ties with the city to consolidate its position as the leading platform for audiences. In this edition, we are committed to narrative innovation, the connection between artistic disciplines, and the dialogue between the local and the global, in a year marked by the need to preserve our roots while forging international alliances. Furthermore, we are incorporating new awards, such as the Best Editing Award – AMMAC and the Journalistic Relevance Award – El Periódico, to recognize talent at all stages of the filmmaking process,” explains Maria Colomer, artistic director of DocsBarcelona.   The festival adds a new official section, Visions, which aims to expand the boundaries of non-fiction with five titles that explore reality with innovative cinematic language, transforming it into an artistic expression. Part of this new commitment to the transformative power of cinema are films such as Unanimal by Sally Jacobson and Tuva Bjrok, a philosophical journey about the relationship between humans and animals narrated by Isabella Rossellini.     The weaknesses that threaten Europe   Faced with the multiple fragilities that threaten Europe, this year’s program delves into the old continent’s past to consider its present and future with a section dedicated to the archive, where documentary filmmakers explore the dark folds of the 20th century with found footage. The eagerly awaited documentary that explores the artistic legacy of Nazi Germany’s official filmmaker, Riefenstahl, by Andrés Veiel, with its world premiere at the Venice Biennale in 2024, will open the festival on May 8, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War on European soil. Another highlight will be Trains, Best Film at IDFA, where veteran Polish documentary filmmaker Maciej J. Drygas weaves a profound collective portrait of 20th-century Europe with material found in more than forty archives, based on the hopes, desires and tragedies of the people who inhabit them.   Two other titles, produced by Heino Deckert, this year’s Docs d’Honor, bring us closer to Germany, this year’s guest country: Rabbit à la Berlin (2009), nominated for an Oscar, witnesses the misadventures of the thousands of wild rabbits, who lost their home when the Berlin Wall fell, and Heimat Is a Space in Time (2019), a monumental essay that reflects on  one hundred years of German history.   The festival will also look toward Eastern Europe with three titles, all of them Spanish premieres, which will open a window on documentary filmmaking that takes the pulse of the Russo-Ukrainian war. From Russia comes one of the festival’s highlights, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, “a fascinating and bold look at everyday indoctrination” according to The Guardian, winner of the Special Jury Prize at Sundance. David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin chronicle the transformation of a school in the Urals with the arrival of Vladimir Putin’s new “patriotic education policy,” the imperial dogma. Also delving into the school environment, in this case in the invaded country, is Timestamp, a portrait of the daily struggle of students and teachers to keep schools open in the midst of war. Far from the front lines, Facing War reminds us that the battle is also fought in markets and offices. Norwegian director Tommy Gulliksen portrays Jens Stoltenberg as NATO Secretary General, one of the key figures in the international political scene, filmed with unique access as he seeks support for Ukraine at the end of his term.   November 20, 2025, will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Franco’s death. Two of the films selected for this edition of the festival reveal the struggles to construct the memory of one of Europe’s longest-running dictatorships. With O Silencio Heredado, Lucía Dapena confronts the memories of her grandmother, a survivor of Franco’s regime, revealing the complex emotional bonds built around inherited silence. Looking beyond the current borders of the state, Lorenzo Benítez’s Negro Limbo explores the impunity of the Franco dictatorship in the former Spanish Guinea and how Francoism managed to hide its crimes and torture in Africa.   DocsBarcelona’s bet on Catalan talent   The event will take the pulse of the Catalan documentary with thirteen titles: Only on Earth, by Robin Petré; Requiem for a Tribe, by Marjan Khosravi; Miralles, by Maria Mauti; Dabruneba, by Mar Garro Lleonart, Paloma Bercovich Melamed, Júlia Farràs Riu and Julieta Balasch Carulla; Poirot. Último testigo, by Francesc Relea; Mares, by Ariadna Seuba; O Silencio Heredado, by Lucía Dapena; Grup Natural, by Nina Solà; Sunu Gaal (El nostre cayuco), by Josep Tomàs París; La fibra sensible, by Isabel Andrés Portí; Alexina B. en composició, by Alexis Borràs; Plat en blanc, by Ramon Pardina and Alan Fàbregas, and Temps mort, by Fèlix Colomer.   Documentary and the arts   Six titles dedicated to leading figures in photography, musical composition, and architecture build a bridge between documentary and the arts. Among the former are Joel Meyerowitz, professor and pioneer of color portraiture and landscape (Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other, by Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet), the Chilean Luis Poirot (Poirot. Último testigo, by Francesc Relea), and the South African Ernest Cole, the first photographer to expose the world to the horrors of Apartheid (Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, by Raoul Peck). Two female composers will also be present at Docs: Meredith Monk, one of the great innovators of her generation (Monk in Pieces, by David C. Roberts and Billy Shebar) and Raquel García-Tomás, showing us the creation of her new opera inspired by the memoirs of Alexina B., the first legally recognized intersex person in 19th-century France (Alexina B. Vides en composició, by Alexis Borràs). Finally, in Miralles, a title in competition in the Official Section, Maria Mauti celebrates the work and life of the brilliant Barcelona architect.   For a decolonizing narrative   From Peru, Sudan, Kenya, and Senegal, this year’s programming focuses on narratives that revisit Europe’s colonial past. A photograph of two indigenous children forcibly taken to the old continent is the starting point for La memoria de las mariposas, a monument to the indigenous victims of the Peruvian rubber trade that filmmaker Tatiana Fuentes connects with her own family. Two other titles take us to former French colonies: Sunu Gaal (El nostre cayuco) by Josep París, which focuses on Senegalese female migrants willing to risk their lives to realize their dream of reaching Europe; and Khartoum, screened in the Berlinale’s Panorama section after its world premiere at Sundance, where five young Sudanese filmmakers, driven by British writer-director Phil Coix, film the daily life of their country, their memories, and hopes before and after the current civil war. Germany’s colonial past is at the forefront of Sundance’s How to Build a Library, a look at the power of individual action as two Kenyan women reopen and transform a junk-filled library in downtown Nairobi.   Free Leonard Peltier offers another approach to the narrative of decolonization carried out by Indigenous movements, in this case in the Americas. It tells the story of one of the surviving leaders of the American Indian Movement, imprisoned for decades after a controversial conviction. Taking up his mantle, a new generation of Native activists is committed to winning his freedom.   Lessons from the rural world   From rural China, Galicia, and Iran come alarms about the advance of climate change, but also breaths of hope and resilience. Always, Deming Chen’s beautiful debut, winner of the CPH:DOX award, takes us to the mountains of Hunan province, where Youbin, an eight-year- old Chinese boy, discovers, grows, and takes refuge in the magical power of poetry, calligraphy, and language. Only on Earth, an immersive journey to southern Galicia during the hottest and driest summer ever recorded, shows us one of the European areas most vulnerable to forest fires, where humans and animals struggle to survive. Two titles will bring us closer to Iran’s rural communities and their heroines. On the one hand, Requiem for a Tribe, a powerful and moving portrait of Hajar, a 55-year-old woman from the Iranian Bakhtiari tribe, urged by her family to abandon her nomadic life and settle in the city. Through her resistance to relinquishing her connection to nature or her flock of sheep, Marjan Khosravi portrays the rise of urbanization, patriarchal control, and the effects of climate change. Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni’s Sundance-acclaimed Cutting Through Rocks traces the heroic struggles of Sara Shaverdi, a true local heroine who confronts the traditional mindset of her community. Completing the Official Section of DocsBarcelona 2025 are Señor, llévame pronto, by Guillermo F. Flórez, The Dialogue Police, by Susanna Edwards, and Yalla Parkour, by Areeb Zuaiter.   Maternity without filters   Two titles in the program open a debate on motherhood and the limits of the decisions that surround it. In 9-Month Contract, awarded at CPH:DOX 2025, a Georgian mother turns to surrogacy to provide a roof for her daughter, but what begins as a quick way to earn money turns into a profound sacrifice. Mares travels to another reality, also not without risks: the medical, physical, and emotional journey of two women who want to become mothers. For more than four years, Ariadna Seuba captures this process, full of hopes and frustrations, firsthand with her camera.   DocsBarcelona Industry: the radar of the upcoming documentary  From May 12 to 16, DocsBarcelona will launch its Industry section, a meeting point for professionals that has become a focal point for upcoming documentary filmmaking in Southern Europe. The market will generate new co-production partnerships and showcase sixty projects in the development or editing phase, selected from the six hundred and fifty submitted, the highest number in the festival’s history. Its director, Èric Motjer, describes it as “the home of industry professionals who are working on their next documentary. We are a film festival, but we are also a meeting point for reflection on the present and future of an industry in transformation, promoting local production.”   Two activities will reflect the ongoing debates among industry professionals. The inaugural Industry conference, framed annually within the concept of Nobody Cares About the Truth, will be led by anthropologist Manuel Delgado, entitled The Real (Best Left Unknown). The other event will feature a case study on the boundaries between journalism and documentary  filmmaking with journalist Mònica Terribas, photographer Raúl Gallego, and documentary filmmaker Etiénne Huver. The Industry Awards ceremony, which includes the new Aljazeera Documentary Co-production Award worth €10,000, will take place on May 15 at Casa Montjuïc.

I was invited to the premiere by Marie (Schmidt-Olesen), who with her company Northern Soul produced first time long documentary of Camilla Arlien, who has graduated from the film school in Copenhagen. I could not attend and later on in the CPH:DOX festival, I watched foreign films and hosted friends, who came for this amazing festival. Leaving Danish films for later.

Today I watched “If I Die Today” and was in contact with good friend Marie to ask her if I should write my enthusiastic words in Danish or in English. She said English as she is now working on getting the film to festivals. In Denmark the film had successful screenings during the festival, great reviews and good publicity.

But will it work abroad? I think so. It is a very well made film that follows Jannik for a period of seven years.

The director explains, ““I first met Jannik in a prison cell on Funen, without having any idea that this would be the beginning of a seven-year film project.I was attending film school and had heard about Jannik from a friend. He was in prison for attempted murder, and he made music—that was all I knew. What I encountered was a person so full of life and hope that he was about to burst. Jannik had gathered all his song lyrics, prepared to show me. He immediately began to sing, and his songs moved me so deeply that I couldn’t let go.“

You sense immediately how close Camilla Arlien got to Jannik, who is used to the camera, so their interaction is much more a conversation than an interview. The film is a Film, a documentary and not just another tv-report. There is a narrative flow, as a viewer you suffer with Jannik,

the director again, “Jannik described his time in prison as both the best and the worst. He had gained a structure in his life that he had been missing, but he had also accumulated even more trauma and wounds, both physical and psychological. I picked Jannik up, when he was released—without any plan in place for him. He was 22 years old, had no money, and nowhere to live...”

It goes bad for Jannik, who is fighting with his inner demons, who gets to a huge abuse of hash, living with his mother for some time, with his half sister for some time, with girl friends, with friends he had met in prison.

Camilla Arlien: “ He was not born this way, I am convinced of that. He was hurt and let down so many times throughout his life. And there is no doubt that when he was released from prison, things got worse. It was as if he could never fully reenter society. Every time he tried, he faced closed doors, and in the end, it broke him...”

The film is full of well thought and performed scenes and sequences, some of them come back again and again like the one in the quiet clearing in the small forest, where Jannik came to write his music, and where his life ended. And the empty flats and his touching efforts to arrange a cosy environment, he wanted an organised “normal” life, and he has it in some periods. He would have been a great father, the first girl friend said; as a viewer, getting to know him so well thanks to the director, I can only agree. But the child was lost.

Was he a good songwriter? From my humble point of view, absolutely, his texts are personal, he was a good rapper, he got the chance to perform and did well together with the Prison Choir. From that point of view also a loss, his life ended at 27, like the lives of Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin.

One more quote from the director – could the mention of the Danish system and its inability be the same in other countries?

Camilla Arlien: “I was part of Jannik’s life for seven years. I will always carry a grief with me, and I will always carry these questions: Could I have done something differently? And where, when, and who could have changed Jannik’s path?Jannik’s story is not just his own. When you are released from a Danish prison, there is no plan. You are released with a massive debt due to legal costs, overwhelming interest rates, and a criminal record that limits your future opportunities.

About half of former offenders receive a new conviction within two years of their release.

For the good of all, we must get better at resocialization—but even more importantly, we must get better at prevention. We must take care of those who, from the very beginning, were not dealt the best hand in life. And we must be able to forgive and offer a second chance when someone has made a mistake and served their sentence.

I hope Jannik’s story can help make that happen.”

6.4.2025.

The Big Stamp went to Mr. Nobody Against Putin by David Borenstein and Pasha Talankin in International Competition and My Dad’s Lessons by Dalija Dozet in Regional Competition. The Little Stamp for best short film went to Arshia Shakiba for Who Loves the Sun.

On Saturday, April 20, starting at 6:15 pm, the winning films of the twenty-first edition of the ZagrebDox International Documentary Film Festival were announced at the awards ceremony. At the festival, which opened last Sunday at the Kaptol Boutique Cinema, the audience had the opportunity to watch as many as 107 documentary works in sixteen sections, and twenty films competed for the official festival award, the Big Stamp, in International Competition, and eighteen films in Regional Competition.

The international jury, whose members were Igor Mirković, Silje Evensmo Jacobsen and Mara Prohaska Marković, awarded the Big Stamp to the film Mr. Nobody Against Putin, by David Borenstein and Pavel ‘Pasha’ Talankin. “A testimony for today and future generations, illustrating how we may come to understand the gradual encroachment of war upon our daily lives, and the fear it sows, especially among our children. When the primary school curriculum becomes a mechanism of indoctrination, individual integrity and extraordinary courage inspire in their truest essence, striking against the cruelty of propaganda,” said the jury

The Special Mention in 21 st ZagrebDox International Competition went to the film Mistress Dispeller directed by Elizabeth Lo. “The film delves into the profound need for love and belonging, marked by a vulnerability that embraces emotional intimacy and openness. It invites us into a deeply human and complex exploration of universal themes: love, loneliness, and the evolving nature of relationships, while being uniquely shaped by the contours of modern Chinese society and the brilliant vision of the director.”

In Regional Competition, the Big Stamp went to the film My Dad’s Lessons by Dalija Dozet, and the decision was brought by the regional jury consisting of Tanja Miličić, Viki Réka Kiss and Vladimir Loginov. “This is a film about documenting and the act of recording. It is about the camera as a tool and a mean of communication, its presence in space. It is also a film about family, interpersonal relationships and grieving. We witness a beautiful meeting between a father and a daughter through numerous poetic images. This is an innovative and artistically outstanding film.”

The Special Mention in Regional Competition went to the film At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking by Maja Novaković. “This film shows us the beauty of paying attention, as the main protagonist observes: “While you are looking, you must hear and understand.” Through carefully composed, picturesque images, the viewer becomes immersed in the environment and its soundscape, gaining valuable opportunity to reflect deeply on the basics of our existence.”

The Little Stamp for best short film in competition, as judged by Lucija Brkić, Mariusz Rusiński and Maja Malus Azhdari, went to the film Who Loves the Sun by Arshia Shakiba. “The award goes to a powerful short documentary which captures the stark realities of illegal fuel production in war-torn northern Syria. In a striking paradox, oil, once a catalyst for conflict, becomes a symbol of survival. Through poetic visuals of rural life, the film intricately weaves together cultural, environmental, and socio-economic narratives, exploring how these illicit refineries reflect the enduring impact of war on both the people and the environment. With minimal yet significant dialogue, the film offers a poignant commentary on the generational transmission of knowledge, highlighting how oil serves as both a currency and a symbol of survival. This work exemplifies artistic excellence in portraying the complex interplay between conflict, survival, and the natural world.”

The same jury’s Special Mention went to the film The Other Side of the Mountain by Yumeng He. “The special mention goes to a documentary that takes us on a deeply emotional journey to the childhood home of the director’s grandmother. Guided by her father, the protagonist, the film beautifully explores themes of urbanism, heritage, and the impact of rapid urbanization on personal and collective memory. Through the delicate process of piecing together fragments of the past in a sketchbook, the film evokes a nostalgic longing for the places we call home, which are forever transformed by time. With its poetic rhythm and stunning visuals, The Other Side of the Mountain is an intimate exploration of collective memory, loss, and the passage of time, inviting viewers to reflect on the ever-evolving nature of home and identity.”

The same jury, Lucija Brkić, Mariusz Rusiński and Maja Malus Azhdari, decided on the best film by a young filmmaker, and the Little Stamp in this category went to the film Wind Has No Tail by Ivan Vlasov and Nikita Stashkevich. “The award goes to an observational documentary that delicately explores the lives of the Nenets people, whose nomadic existence is intricately tied to migrating with reindeer herds across the Siberian tundra. Through the eyes of Nika and her sisters, the film sensitively addresses the growing disconnection between traditional ways of life and the modern influences encroaching on younger generations. The poignant cinematography captures the richness of Nenets folklore, culture, and family bonds, while also raising critical questions about the impact of profound changes, such as the separation of children from their families to attend city boarding schools. The film challenges viewers to reflect on how such experiences affect identity and cultural heritage, while highlighting the threat that modern influences pose to the preservation of nomadic traditions.”

The jury’s Special Mention went to the film Eyes of Gaza by Mahmoud Atassi. “The special mention goes to a powerful documentary that follows three Palestinian journalists in northern Gaza as they risk their lives to document the horrors of war, including the pervasive hunger and suffering faced by the people. Through disturbing yet vital visuals captured on their cameras and mobile phones, the film starkly reminds us of the bravery and importance of journalism, especially in conflict zones where filming is often forbidden. The act of documenting the truth becomes an expression of solidarity with the world, transcending personal survival. This documentary humbles viewers by confronting them with the brutal realities of hunger, loss, and the harsh conditions faced by the people of Palestine, while underscoring the critical role that fearless reporting plays in our understanding of human suffering and conflict.”

The Movies That Matter Award, for a film which best promotes human rights was presented by the jury consisting of: Margje de Koning, Arijana Lekić Fridrih and David Lušičić, and it went to the film Sudan, Remember Us by Hind Meddeb. “This film shows how to fight the system with art and poetry. This film is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to get an understanding of what is happening in a country where freedom of expression is under attack. We also would like to acknowledge the high quality of the filmmaking and storytelling, which together dissolves into an incredible film, which has silenced us as jury: art form itself is translating into a tool of resistance.”

The same jury’s Special Mention went to Victoria Verseau’s Trans Memoria. “To decide on the Special Mention contained a long deliberation. There are very strong films in the selection on extremely timely topics. The films challenged us to look beyond the frane, shedding lights on geo political topics to local important topics. But having to choose one film, we choose a film on a subject that now is less on front pages due to the wars and political climate. This group has been fighting for their rights forever and their position in society seems under threat again. An honest, raw, in your face and authentic film with different styles of filmmaking deserves an acknowledgment.”

The members of the international film critics federation FIPRESCI jury, Dimitra Bouras, Armando Russi and Sara Simić, gave the namesake award to Night of the Coyotes by Clara Trischler. “In an era marked by the dangerous rise of extreme protectionism, far-right ideologies, and anti-immigration rhetoric, it is more essential than ever to shine a light on the struggles faced by migrants. This film does exactly that – offering a powerful, multidimensional exploration of the migrant experience. Author of this film brings an outsider’s perspective and weaves a narrative that transcends a single story, offering a universal reflection on the pursuit of a better life and the complex, transgenerational bonds forged through migration. With profound empathy and a clear-eyed lens, this film opens our hearts and minds to the universal quest for belonging. For its bold storytelling and its strong reminder of the shared humanity in the face of displacement, the FIPRESCI Award at the 2025 ZagrebDox goes to Night of the Coyotes by Clara Trischler.”

The Teen Dox Award, presented to a film from a competition of the same name which best speaks about youth issues, was decided by students from Zagreb’s 1 st Gymnasium.

The award went to the film Lessons of Happiness by Oleg Yeroshenko. “The film Lessons of Happiness has impressively portrayed the harsh reality of Ukraine today. The focus is on school, not only as an institution, but also as a community trying to give warmth and optimism to children in the midst of war. Observational style, the use of silence and empty shots have opened a space for compassion. In only 21 minutes a spectator is left strongly impressed.”

The Special Mention of the Teen Dox jury went to the film Where the Kids Have No Name by Jamillah van der Hulst. “The film strongly impressed us because it gave us an insight into a reality completely different from ours and inspired compassion for the children less fortunate than us. We believe this is achieved thanks to a realistic depiction of the daily challenges of children on the streets of Bangladesh and the people taking care of them. We hope it will give you a sense of hope and empathy for the most vulnerable groups of people in this world.”

The final awards of the 21 st ZagrebDox were announced late on the penultimate day when the audience voting ended. Maja Prettner’s film Woman of God won the HRT Audience Award in Regional Competition with a high score of 4.94. And what can we say about Lidija Zelović’s Home Game? The film won the Aviteh Audience Award in International Competition with an average score of 4.96.

The Honorary Big Stamp Award, which is awarded to authors whose work has been present and decisive in documentary filmmaking for years, even decades, and is presented by the festival’s artistic director Nenad Puhovski, was awarded to Swiss-Canadian film director and cinematographer Peter Mettler, whose work is characterised by hybrid forms, so his films often combine travelogue, essay, interview, fiction and criticism. He explores themes of transcendence and the relationship between nature and technology, guided by an instinct that is in turn based on discipline, structure, skill and the ability to capture stunning images. Mettler’s work holds a unique position, not only for its innovations in the field of documentary film, but also for its creation of new art forms where cinematography merges with other disciplines. At ZagrebDox, as part of the retrospective section, we have the opportunity to see three films by this important director; Picture of Light, Gambling, Gods and LSD, and The End of Time.

Best International Film:
Mr. Nobody against Putin (Denmark, Czech Republic) (PHOTO)
Directed by David Borenstein, Pasha Talankin
Produced by made in copenhagen
Coproduced by PINK in association with BBC Storyville, DR, ZDF/ARTE
Supported by the Danish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, FilmFyn, Fritt Ord, the Czech Film Fund, Hermod Lannungs Fond, NRK, SVT, RTS RadioTélévision Suisse, VPRO

Special Mention International Film:
Mistress Dispeller (China, USA)
Directed by Elizabeth Lo

Best Regional Film:
My Dad’s Lessons / Lekcije mog tate (Croatia)
Directed by Dalija Dozet
Produced by Hulahop
Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre

Special Mention Regional Film:
At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking / Ko će pokucati na vrata mog doma (Serbia, BiH)
Directed by Maja Novaković
Produced by Kinorasad
Supported by Film Center Serbia

Best Short Film:
Who Loves the Sun (Canada)
Directed by Arshia Shakiba

Special Mention Short Film:
The Other Side of the Mountain (USA, China)
Directed by Yumeng He

Best Film of an Author under 35:
Wind Has No Tail (Russia)
Directed by Ivan Vlasov, Nikita Stashkevich

Special Mention for an Author under 35:
Eyes of Gaza (Qatar)
Directed by Mahmoud Atassi

Movies That Matter Award:
Sudan, Remember Us (France, Tunisia, Qatar)
Directed by Hind Meddeb

Movies That Matter Special Mention:
Trans Memoria (Sweden, France)
Directed by Victoria Verseau

FIPRESCI Award:
Night of the Coyotes (Germany, Austria)
Directed by Clara Trischler

Teen Dox Award:
Lessons of Happiness (Ukraine)
Directed by Oleksii Yeroshenko

Teen Dox Special Mention:
Where the Kids Have No Name (the Netherlands, Bangladesh)
Directed by Jamillah van der Hulst

Audience Award for the Best Regional Film:
Woman of God / Duhovnica (Slovenia)
Directed by Maja Prettner
Produced by Studio Virc
Supported by the Slovenian Film Centre

Audience Award for the Best International Film:
Home Game / Na domaćem terenu (the Netherlands)
Directed by Lidija Zelović
ZagrebDox PRO Winners:

Al Jazeera Balkans Cash Award (1,500 EUR):
Loud Silence (Italy)
Impronta Film One-Year Consultancy Award:
Lost in Tehran, Lost in Japan from Iran, and In the Winds of the Icy Fields (Estonia)

Rab Film Festival Residency Award:
Entr’actes (Ukraine)
Where People and Storks Nest (Bulgaria)
Produced by Izograph

Second time I saw this film. Same reaction. Emotional reaction. A mother decides to go to war to fight for her country. And first and foremost for the future of her child with whom she video-communicates during the film and to whom she writes letters. A different version but thematically basically the same as British Humphrey Jennings did in 1945 with “A Diary for Timothy”.

Faces, small movements, boredom in the trenches in Ukraine at the front line. They sit, they lie in the grass, they smoke, they are in the house that is their home, here there is internet connection so they can talk to their loved ones. 98 minutes long is the film, not a minute too long, my wife said to me after the screening, and she is normally having this comment after a screening, “it was too long”.

I saw it this time… how the intensity of the narrative is increasing towards the end of the film, when the volunteer brigade moves to liberate village(s) near Kharkiv. With losses. To be understood clearly when the end credits roll. Unbearable to read “lost in action” on one photo after the other. Of mostly middle aged men. Fathers and husbands. Unbearable because we just saw them alive minutes ago in the film! (I remember a film director who once said that “this is why we make films… to keep “them” who were on the screen alive”.)

This second screening took place at ZagrebDox. Alisa Kovalenko was there, alone. At CPH:DOX Théo and his father and grandmother were there. I asked Théo what he thought about the film, thumbs up was his reaction. Me too!

Foreword to the festival catalogue:

With all the explosions, sirens howling, cries and
fights pervading our small endangered planet, all I
can hear is – silence.
The silence of intelligence, reason, dialogue and –
humanity.
The world is dominated by bullies, some new ‘gold’
defines the price of human lives and the future
of entire nations, tens of thousands of people die
every day on fronts and beyond, and hundreds of
thousands of those who thought would be safer if
they fled such a fate were stopped on their way to
a life they believed to be better and safer.
Greed, stupidity and primitivism become the main
‘ingredients’ not only of politics, but also of our
destinies. I belong to the generation popularly called
‘boomers’. Conceived in the world of post-war
optimism, we probably genetically acquired that
essential ingredient of human existence – hope.
However, is there hope today for – hope?
This is the question I ask myself on a daily basis,
thinking primarily about those with the burden
of future on their shoulders – our children and
grandchildren.
There has to be!
Even if we make it up, temporarily.
“Neither for glory, nor for the cash,” that’s my
answer when I’m asked why I’ve been doing this
job for the past 30 years; in fact, my whole life.
I simply feel we need to try, if not give sense, if not
improve the world, then at least comprehend what
is really happening.
ZagrebDox sprang from one such necessity. It is
probably idealistic, ambitious, unrealistic…? Does it
make sense at all?
Only you, our audience, can answer this question.
Over 350,000 of you have already travelled with
us over the past 20 years, so I sincerely believe the
same will happen this year, too.
Out of over 1,500 film titles we saw for this year’s
festival, we selected around a hundred of them.
They are not always an easy watch. Besides, there
is reality TV for that…
We are here to illustrate how the finest
international filmmakers of all generations,
nationalities and ‘signatures’ see the world we live
in. The real reality.
And to talk about that after the screening. And in
that talk, in this exchange of thoughts and ideas, to
try to find – hope.
Nenad Puhovski,
founder and art director of ZagrebDox

The juries have deliberated and the winners of the international competitions at CPH:DOX 2025 have been announced this evening at the festival’s Award Show at Kunsthal Charlottenborg. The international competition lineup included a total of 71 films in competition, in 6 different categories, featuring 56 world premieres, 12 international premieres, and 3 European premieres. The main prize DOX:AWARD has been awarded to ‘Always’ (PHOTO) by Deming Chen – a striking debut of great beauty.

Friday 28th Mar 2025

Besides the festival’s main prize, the Dox:Award, prizes have been awarded in the categories F:act Award, Nordic:Dox Award, New:Vision Award, Next:Wave Award, Human:Rights Award and Inter:Active Award. The Audience Award is yet to be announced on April 4 as the online festival unfolds, providing a chance for audiences based outside of Copenhagen to vote for their favourite film.

The winners of the international competitions of CPH:DOX 2025 are:

DOX:AWARD
Winner: ‘ALWAYS’ by Deming Chen / US, FR & CN / 2025 / World Premiere

Special Mention: ‘FLOPHOUSE AMERICA’ by Monica Strømdahl / NO, NL & US / 2025 / World Premiere

Sponsored by Politiken and Politiken-Fonden with a prize of €10,000, the DOX:AWARD is the festival’s main competition, honoring films with artistic quality, cultural relevance, and strong personal expression.

The jury consisted of Rikke Tambo Andersen, Max Kestner, Nicolas Rapold, Adele Tulli and Raul Niño Zambrano.

F:ACT AWARD
Winner: ‘2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA’ by Mstyslav Chernov / UA / 2025 / European Premiere

Special Mention: ‘THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR’ by Geeta Gandbhir / US / 2025 / International Premiere

Supported by International Media Support (IMS) and the Danish Union of Journalists with a prize of €5,000, the F:act Award competition recognizes films blending documentary and investigative journalism.

The jury consisted of Alexis Bloom, Mikala Krogh and Steffi Niederzoll.

HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD
Winner: ‘9-MONTH CONTRACT’ by Ketevan Vashagashvili / GE, BG & DE / 2025 / World Premiere

Special Mention: ‘THE ENCAMPMENTS’ by Michael T. Workman & Kei Pritsker / US / 2025 / World Premiere

Awarded for the second consecutive year, the Human:Rights Award is sponsored by the Danish Institute for Human Rights with a prize of €5,000, and focuses on films dealing with human rights issues.

The jury consisted of Mohamed Saïd Ouma, Tomáš Poštulka and Birgitte Stærmose.

NORDIC:DOX AWARD
Winner: ‘WALLS – AKINNI INUK’ by Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg & Sofie Rørdam / GL/ 2025 / World Premiere

Special Mention: ‘THE NICEST MEN ON EARTH’ by Josefine Exner & Sebastian Gerdes / DK / 2025 / World Premiere

The NORDIC:DOX Award (€5,000) honors standout documentaries from the Nordic region.

The jury consisted of Butheina Kazim, Dario Oliveira and Roja Pakari.

NEXT:WAVE AWARD
Winner: ‘ABODE OF DAWN’ by Kristina Shtubert / DE / 2024 / International Premiere

Special Mention: ‘WHO WITNESSED THE TEMPLES FALL’ by Lucía Selva / SP / 2025 / World Premiere

The NEXT:WAVE Award (€5,000) highlights new and emerging filmmakers.

The jury consisted of Sissel Morell Dargis, Sona Karapoghosyan and María Palacios Cruz.

NEW:VISION
Winner: ‘RAMALLAH, PALESTINE, DECEMBER 2018’ by Juliette Le Monniyer / BE / 2025 / World Premiere

Special mention: ‘SCRAP’ by Noémie Lobry
FR / 2025 / World Premiere

The NEW:VISION Award (€5,000) celebrates art films and boundary-pushing experiments.

The jury consisted of Mason Leaver-Yap, Jeppe Lange and Marina Kožul.

INTER:ACTIVE AWARD
Winner: ‘CONSTANTINOPOLIAD’ by Sister Sylvester & Nadah El Shazly / UK / Installation / 2025 / International Premiere

Special Mention: ‘THE GARDEN SAYS…’ by Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot, Sara Topsøe Jensen, Sarah John & Marieke Breyne / DK / XR Perfomance-Installation / 2025 / World Premiere

The award winner will receive a winning package including two complimentary industry accreditations for Sunny Side of the Doc, two full access accreditations for the Industry Days of New Images Festival, 6 hours of legal consultation on European IP law and a cash prize of €1000.

The jury consisted of Irene Campolmi, David Adler and Carl Emil Carlsen.

Jury Statements

DOX:AWARD

Winner: ‘ALWAYS’
‘There’s a huge difference between nothing and small things. But life is in fact made up of many, often unnoticed, small things. We need the sensibilities of artists to show us the greatness of the little things.

This exquisitely shot chronicle of a rural farming family is alive with compassion and poetry.
The DOX AWARD goes to ALWAYS, directed by Deming Chen.’

Special mention: ‘FLOPHOUSE AMERICA’
‘Home is where the heart is, in love and in pain. A 12-year-old, his mother and his father live in close quarters that involve constant back and forth, fighting, making up, and fussing over one another (and the cat).

For its vision of living as a work-in-progress, squeezed by circumstances, the special mention goes to FLOPHOUSE AMERICA, directed by Monica Strømdahl.’

F:ACT AWARD

Winner: ‘2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA’
‘Ultimately we give the F: ACT award to ”2000 Meters to Andriivka” not just because it’s a conflict on our doorstep, but because it’s a masterpiece in filmmaking: a haunting, multi layered portrayal of war comparable to All Quiet on the Western Front. But this is not the First World War, it’s today. The meaningless of war, and also its unsettling poetry are all on full display here. An artist in amongst bloodshed brings the reality home, and make an anti war film that forces us to reflect on the diginity of each human life lost.’

Special Mention: ‘THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR’
‘Our special mention is extremely powerful on a physical level. The choice to stay on the bodycam footage was brave, and it paid off. This shows enormous filmmaking skill. This is a devastating film about gun violence, but it’s also a film about families, about every day life, and the connections between us. The triangle between the perpetrator, the police and the neighbors is woven together with great sensitivity. In its own way, The Perfect Neighbor is a restrained film, and that’s what proves so shattering.’

HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD

Winner: ‘9-MONTH CONTRACT’
‘The winner in the Human Rights Competition is a film that portrays the relationship between a mother and her daughter with a radical intimacy and an outstanding tenderness.

Through its visual poetry the film balances delicately between the harshness of their situation and the humanity of Zhana and her intense love for her daughter.

The Human Rights Award goes to 9 MONTH CONTRACT directed by Ketevan Vashagashvili.’

Special Mention: ‘THE ENCAMPMENTS’
‘The Special Mention goes to a hopeful and inspiring film that immerses you in the activism of students in times of conflict and oppression.

While it was surprising for us that this was the only film in the Human Rights Competition that addresses the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, we are extremely happy to give the Special Mention to THE ENCAMPMENTS directed by Michael T. Workman & Kei Pritsker.’

NEXT:WAVE AWARD

Winner: ‘ABODE OF DAWN’
‘Set in a northern forest, the film follows a community which emerged as a replacement for a lost past which perhaps never existed.

For its immense respect and long-term commitment, nuanced approach to existential questions and ability to embrace an environment with so many contradictions, The Next:Wave award goes to Adobe of Dawn.’

Special Mention: ‘WHO WITNESSED THE TEMPLES FALL’
‘We also want to award a special mention to a film imbued with magic and mystery whose visual language and soundscapes impressed us. A film that blurs past and present to address issues around urbanisation, gentrification and the social landscape and troubled history of Spain.

The film with the most beautiful name and title design, we award a special mention to Who Witnessed the Temples Fall.’

NORDIC:DOX AWARD

Winner: ‘WALLS – AKINNI INUK’
‘Out of the periphery, armed with radical dignity in the face of a prolonged and harsh injustice, we bore witness to a pure flow of vulnerability, front and center, refusing to be cast aside.

In the heartbroken cadence of its native tongue, we found an alignment of elements, an intuitive and steadfast tale of a feminine force of nature.

Fresh like a gust of the Nordic wind, the healing powers of the film left us breathing hope and gentle triumph.

A reminder of putting cameras in the rightful hands, demonstrating the difference between observational documentary and representational storytelling.

For sending us off all the wiser, we present the award for Best Nordic Documentary to WALLS (Akinni Inuk) by Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg & Sofie Rørdam from Greenland.’

Special Mention: ‘THE NICEST MEN ON EARTH’
‘Because some of the hardest questions can sometimes be answered with the simplest of ideas and a whole lotta style, an honorable mention goes to THE NICEST MEN ON EARTH by Josefine Exner & Sebastian Gerdes’

NEW:VISION

Winner: ‘RAMALLAH, PALESTINE, DECEMBER 2018’
‘Penetrating a sunny pastoral landscape in single-take, Juliette Le Monnyer’s video takes us through an unfolding yet unspecified moment of conflict. The shakey camera pans as if scaling a ziggurat from afar. Dated from 2018, this is a document of a just-past that refuses to give a comprehensive overview and yet, in its partial nature, reveals much about the moment we find ourselves in — the timing of this film’s release: March 2025.

Wavering hesitantly between the everyday and the unknowable, this is a short film delivered with uncompromising conceptual rigor. It demands questions about what we – as viewers, as filmmakers – are witnessing. What we choose to focus on and when – what do we overlook, what do we withold, when do we stop watching.’

Special mention: ‘SCRAP’
‘Through an inventive use of associations the film weaves together childhood memories, eerie scenes from computer games, and glimpses of a post-apocalyptic future.

Salvaging and cannibalising components of the coming of age drama and the road movie genre, we’ve been taken to look upon it with a different eye.’

INTER:ACTIVE AWARD

Winner: ‘CONSTANTINOPOLIAD’
‘In a world of hyper-immersive technologies, where interactivity often demands movement, headsets, or VR goggles, Costantinopoliad invites us to do something far more radical: to sit still and listen.

Costantinopoliad is not just a work of storytelling; it is an invitation to discovery. It intertwines narrative with action, making us feel as though we are the first to stumble upon this archive, the first to unearth Cavafy’s story, to breathe life into his words. The work radiates a rare curiosity and playfulness, slipping between the boundaries of literature, performance, and archaeology.

Yet, just as we settle into this deeply personal experience, an uncanny sensation creeps in. As we turn the pages, touch the stones, and immerse ourselves in the poet’s world, we become the protagonist, performers in an unfolding documentary. Our movements, our gestures, become part of a cinematic language, synchronized with the voice-over that narrates a past we are now embodying.

It is with great pleasure that we announce Costantinopoliad by Sister Sylvester & Nadah El Shazly as the recipient of this year’s INTER:ACTIVE exhibition award. This work is not just an artwork—it is an experience, a portal, a living archive.’

Special Mention: ‘THE GARDEN SAYS …’
‘We are delighted to extend an Honorable Mention to The Garden Says… by Uri and Michelle Kranot, Sara Topsøe Jensen, Sarah John & Marieke Breynefor their beautiful, thought-provoking, and deeply reflective installation.
Centered on the aesthetic experience of a virtual garden and the serendipity of chance encounters, this work dares to create a space where interactions unfold organically—and it does so with remarkable success. The Garden Says… is not just an environment but an invitation—one that encourages return, exploration, and the continuous possibility of new meetings.

Thank you for offering us a heartfelt and personal experience, one that reminds us of the power of connection and shared presence.’