Documentary film competiton

13 films
As many as 13 films will be competing for the Golden Horn and Silver Horns in the International Competition, which opens the way to the European Film Awards and Oscars. Ecological catastrophe, discrimination, exploitation, dangerous artists, spies – and war in the background. Filmmakers capture a reality that offers little comfort, yet as documentaries that make us of archival footage remind us, the past, too, has been fraught with unrest and terror. Confronting difficult subjects enables a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that govern our world – and prompts profound reflection on life itself, which may offer a glimmer of solace.
  • Child of Dust (Dziecko z pyłu)

    dir. Weronika Mliczewska
    dok2025

    Sang was one of hundreds of thousands of children sired by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Today, he would like to meet his biological father. The trip to the US means a lot to him, but when he meets his new family, nothing is as he expected.

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    film still Child of Dust
  • Do Painters Die Elsewhere (Dokąd umierają malarze)

    dir. Michał Pietrak
    dok2025

    For Bolesław Gasiński, life and art have been inextricably interwoven. He left behind not only paintings but also abundant audio and video materials. They constitute the main fabric of this documentary, making a visually sophisticated portrait of an outsider.

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    film still Do Painters Die Elsewhere
  • Lovers in the Sky (Amantes en el cielo)

    dir. Fermin de la Serna
    dok2025

    For many years, Cristina and La Bonita have worked as cooks on merchant ships sailing the Peruvian Amazon. However, being transgender still poses a challenge to local customs and beliefs.

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    film still Lovers in the Sky
  • New Beginnings (Les Recommencements)

    dir. Vivianne Perelmuter, Isabelle Ingold
    dok2025

    Al, a resident of California’s Yurok reserve, decides to embark on a long journey. Due to an environmental catastrophe, it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to engage in fishing and the demons of war are still swirling in his head. Will a reunion with his former brothers-in-arms enable him to regain his equilibrium?

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    film still New Beginnings
  • Pet Farm

    dir. Finn Walther, Martin Walther
    dok2024

    Should domestication of wild animals be allowed? Joakim has loved foxes since childhood and, many years later, he fulfilled his dream by setting up a breeding farm. However, he has to face the regulations in force in Norway.

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    film still Pet Farm
  • Sanatorium

    dir. Gar O'Rourke
    dok

    Welcome to Kujalnik, a famous spa resort near Odesa. Despite the holiday atmosphere and pleasant ambiance of the place, there is still a war going on nearby. A stay at the Black Sea sanatorium is a temporary return to normality and peace.

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    film still Sanatorium
  • Shadowland

    dir. Otso Tiainen
    dok2024

    This was supposed to be a documentary about an esoteric community living today in the French Pyrenees. While it was being filmed, serious accusations were made against one of the sect’s members, Hollywood director Richard Stanley. Consequently, the documentary seems stretched between a utopian fantasy and a brutal clash with reality.

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    film still Shadowland
  • Silver

    dir. Natalia Koniarz
    dok2025

    Without this metal, there would be no modern technologies today. In the 21st century, there are still murderous working conditions in the Bolivian silver mines of Potosí, from which the profits are reaped by international corporations. The entire lives of people from this area revolve around mines, and the documentary is a raw observation of their daily routine.

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    film still Silver
  • Tata

    dir. Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc
    dok2024

    In this film, the global problem of invisible slavery meets a family story of violence. When a Moldovan journalist learns that her father, who works in Italy, is being abused and beaten by his employer, she arrives on the scene and tries to record the abuse using a hidden camera.

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    film still Tata
  • The Big Chef (Wielki szef)

    dir. Tomasz Wolski
    dok2025

    He worked for the Soviet intelligence, faked his collaboration with the Gestapo and had to explain himself for it for the rest of his life. In Poland, in 1968, he was put under house arrest as a victim of the anti-Semitic campaign. Employing archival footage in a creative way, the film reveals the remarkable biography of Leopold Trepper.

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    film still The Big Chef
  • The Gardener, the Buddhist & the Spy

    dir. Håvard Bustnes
    dok2025

    Tycoons producing carcinogenic asbestos with impunity, activists fighting the global web of illicit connections and a man who was a double or perhaps even a triple agent – here is an investigative documentary whose protagonist continually eludes us.

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    film still The Gardener, the Buddhist & the Spy
  • The Propagandist (De propagandist)

    dir. Luuk Bouwman
    dok2024

    Why did Jan Teunissen, a distinguished Dutch filmmaker, become the ‘tsar of Nazi propaganda’ during World War II? Composed exclusively of archival footage, including many materials unknown so far, the film tells a story of the man who, ‘for the love of cinema’, began collaborating with the occupier.

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    film still The Propagandist
  • Tooth and Nail (După Cioate)

    dir. Radu Mocanu, Mihai Gavril Dragolea
    dok2024

    Once a local businessman, Tiberiu is now a determined Romanian activist. He documents illegal logging in state forests and publishes the evidence on his social media. Two journalists follow in his footsteps and witness the events that seem taken out of a hard-hitting thriller.

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    film still Tooth and Nail