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DOC.BERLIN Documentary Film Festival 2025: Award Winners Unveiled!
- Dec 12, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 14, 2025
Over the past few days, the Doc.Berlin once again hosted its annual event at the historic Babylon cinema in Berlin. The festival was happy to welcome a number of artists: Nazanin Hafez, Zora Arose Ritz, Evgenia Chetvertkova, Kayu Yeung, Matias Dumas, Westley Hennigh-Palermo, Piotr Goldstein and many more.
Kris De Meester, festival director, looks back:
“As the festival director of Doc.Berlin, I tend to experience each edition in a very inward way. Documentaries, for me, are not about declaring ‘the truth,’ but about opening a space to examine deeply rooted moral conflicts. They function as vessels for dialogue — connecting people through reflection rather than dividing them through certainty. These films speak to you personally, often long after the screening has ended. This year we were fortunate to present so many profound and courageous voices. I was especially moved by Inferior Shadows, an extremely brutal and deeply human tragedy. When the credits stopped rolling, the audience remained silent for a long time. We looked at each other and, without words, understood that we had shared something rare and deeply human.”
Cherrypicked out of more than 2000 submissions, this year's official selection included 23 wonderful films hailing from France, Iran, Lebanon, Mexico, United States, Poland, Belgium, Qatar, Canada, Estonia, and Germany.
We are pleased to share with you the 2025 Doc.Berlin award winners, chosen by the jury panel.
Best Feature Documentary Film
Inferior Shadows (Iran) by Ramin Khalighi
Best Short Documentary Film
To the embers (France) by Morgane Ambre
Best German Documentary Film
Spiegelberg - A german village (Germany) by Adrian Sagolla
Best Experimental Documentary Film
Blessed Are Those Who Grieve (Germany) by Zora Arose Ritz, Evgenia Chetvertkova, Kayu Yeung
Best Underground Documentary Film
Tokyo Toy Boy (Belgium) by Esli Balatova
Best Cinéma Vérité Film
Yalla, Baba! (Belgium, Lebanon, Netherlands, Qatar) by Angie Obeid
Best LGBTQ+ Documentary Film
Portraits In Drag – The Faces of Pinay Colada (Germany) by Stephan Schaar
Best Poetic Documentary Film
Voice Notes on Death (Germany) by Romy Persaud Drennan, Harry Crampton
Best Historical Documentary
Ottilie Moore – Heiress in the Resistance (United States) by Dana Plays
Best Super Short Documentary Film
Nathalie, Nathalie (Germany) by Matias Dumas
Congratulations to all!
About Doc.Berlin:
Doc.Berlin is part of Doc.World, a new global network of documentary film festivals, with festivals in London, Berlin, Ghent and Boston. As a celebration of the cinematic and visual arts, these documentary festivals will bring diverse international films to our community and showcase the best regional and international filmmakers.
Official Selection / Winners of The Tarkovski Grant
Ottilie Moore – Heiress in the Resistance (United States) by Dana Plays
Seconds Away (United States) by Benjamin Kegan
From Earth to Earth: The Lost Art of Dying in America (United States) by Maxwell Schweik, Alyssa Beebe, Chess Cabrera, Reed Freedman, Mikayla Hall
Portraits In Drag – The Faces of Pinay Colada (Germany) by Stephan Schaar
No Matter What (United States) by Carolyn Lambert
Harder! Faster! Louder! – Crows! Fireworks! Berlin! (Germany) by Westley Hennigh-Palermo
Hidden Driveways (Canada) by Quinn Masselink
Sanctity (Germany) by Frances Rebollido
Aka 赤 (Mexico) by Abinadi Meza
Yalla, Baba! (Belgium, Lebanon, Netherlands, Qatar) by Angie Obeid
Inferior Shadows (Iran) by Ramin Khalighi
The Other Side of Despair (Switzerland) by Varsy Buchmann
Line of Sight (Estonia) by Akseli Leppänen
Georgie (United States) by Jennie Butler
To the embers (France) by Morgane Ambre
Shifting Roots (Lebanon) by Angie Mrad
Tokyo Toy Boy (Belgium) by Esli Balatova
Spiegelberg - A german village (Germany) by Adrian Sagolla
Voice Notes on Death (Germany) by Romy Persaud Drennan, Harry Crampton
Nathalie, Nathalie (Germany) by Matias Dumas
This week doesn't really exist (Germany, Poland) by Piotr Goldstein, Olga Łojewska, Maksymilian Awuah
Blessed Are Those Who Grieve (Germany) by Zora Arose Ritz, Evgenia Chetvertkova, Kayu Yeung
Unscarred (Belgium) by Théo Roland
The structure made it easy to follow, and the highlights gave a meaningful sense of the diversity and creativity within the documentary space. It’s always inspiring to see recognition given to filmmakers who push storytelling boundaries. The way you explained the topic was very clear and helpful. I recently came across a similar discussion on a review blog, and it offered an interesting perspective as well. While exploring related reads, I noticed how content strategies used by sites like https://grandoaksorthodontics.com/ also focus on making specialized topics accessible to a broader audience, which adds to reader engagement. Overall, an engaging and informative post that captures the spirit of the festival.
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