Ji.hlava IDFF announced August 18 the 2025 Docu Talent Awards. Earlier, seven docs from Central and Eastern Europe, planned for theatrical release during the upcoming 12 months were presented as part of CineLink Industry Days at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Projects from the Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Croatia, Georgia, Poland, and Ukraine made it to the final selection of Docu Talents from the East 2025.
The Docu Talent Award was granted to the most promising project. The international jury decided to give award to A Song Without Home by Georgian director Rati Tsiteladze, produced by Olga Slusareva. The jury gave the following statement: “A raw film with real-world stakes – the imminent personal risk to both the filmmakers and subject makes this a worthy recipient of the Docu Talent Award. Distinctive visuals will entice the audience; who will then find a heartfelt portrayal of a life lived with honesty, despite the danger posed to the protagonist. [It is given] with our solidarity with the independent filmmaking community of Georgia.”
The 25,000 EUR in-kind Avanpost Post-production Award was handed to Armenian-Swiss co-production Flying Cows by directors Vahagn Khachatryan and Aren Malakyan, produced by Vahagn Khachatryana and Irene Muñoz Martin. The jury gave the following statement: “This engaging, emotive project promises an animal’s journey that is scary, surreal and troubling. Flying Cows polarised the jury, eliciting strong responses from all of us; what we agreed on is that it will continue to do so on its journey to audiences. There is a strong sense of scene and narrative, as the animal experience is set amongst a divisive political context.”
The 3,000 EUR in-kind DAFilms.com Distribution Award was given to Land of Fire by Czech director Nikola Klinger, produced by Kristina Husová. The award covers international VOD release on DAFilms.com (including Americas, Europe, Asia) for two years. The jury gave the following statement: “A vibrant cast of characters deserve a broad audience. Land Of Fire is therefore a deserving recipient of this award, as it takes in a dark North American story with an original European perspective. The combination of the pain of the story and the harshness of the surroundings make for a strong watch.”
Curated by the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Docu Talents has, since 2005, been a launch pad for a number of documentaries by both renowned and emerging directors such as Laila Pakalniņa, Vladimir Mansky, Bartek Konopka, Piotr Stasik, Peter Kerekes, Dmitrii Kalashnikov and Helena Třeštíková, the festival writes. Films presented at Docu Talents in the past had world and international premieres at major film festivals including in Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam and Sundance.
Commented Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava IDFF: “This year’s Docu Talents from the East, which traditionally focuses on notable films from Central and Eastern Europe, had a special focus on the countries of the South Caucasus. Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan share a common history and culture but have different languages, political systems, and religions. The selected projects showcased the region’s strong cinematic tradition and its ability to transform the historical tensions of long-lasting armed conflicts into universal questions about human identity.”
EMERGING PRODUCERS 2026 WERE ANNOUNCED
During the event, the representatives of the Ji.hlava IDFF also revealed the names of the Emerging Producers 2026. This unique programme aims at promoting talented European documentary film producers and provides them with a range of networking, educational and promotional support throughout the year. 17 European producers will be accompanied by a producer from Ethiopia, which is the guest country of the 2026 Emerging Producers programme. The Emerging Producers programme consists of three workshops – taking place in Jihlava in October 2025, during the Berlinale in February 2026, the venue of the third session in spring 2026 will still be announced.
EMERGING PRODUCERS 2026
- Dominic Spitaler / Austria
- Maarten D’Hollander / Belgium
- Pavla Klimešová / Czech republic
- Julie Meigniez / France
- Evi Stamou / Greece
- Anna Tóth / Hungary
- Angelo Rocco Troiano / Italy
- Ringailė Leščinskienė / Lithuania
- Yann Tonnar / Luxembourg
- Ivana Shekutkoska / North Macedonia
- Anita Vedå / Norway
- Maria Krauss / Poland
- Bernardo Lopes / Portugal
- Tomáš Gič / Slovakia
- Caroline Drab / Sweden
- Azra Djurdjevic / Switzerland
- Eugene Rachkovsky / Ukraine
- Nahusenay Dereje / Guest country Ethiopia
54,000 EUR DISTRIBUTED TO CZECH AND SLOVAK DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
The Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival and Czech entrepreneur Jan Barta also underlined their continuing support for outstanding auteur filmmaking from Central and Eastern Europe through the Ji.hlava / JB Films support scheme. Three outstanding projects were selected for support in 2025, each with 18,000 EUR:
- Playtopia Countries: Czech Republic, Romania. Film length: 80 min. Director: Bára Jíchová Tyson.Producers: Alice Tabery, Kristina Husová. Co-producers: Radu Stancu, Cristina Hanes. Genre: hybrid documentary
- Valley of the Night Countries: Czech Republic, USA. Film length: 80 min. Director: Lynne Siefert. Producers: Matej Sotník (Somatic Films), Lynne Siefert (Mousehaus). Genre: hybrid documentary
- World of Walls Countries: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Belgium, France, South Africa. Film length: 80 min. Director: Lucia Kašová. Producer: Matej Sotník (guča films). Co-producers: CLAW Films, Harald House BV, FACTSTORY, ARTE GEIE, Czech Television, The Audio Room. Genre: hybrid documentary
Ji.hlava IDFF also announced the industry guest country of its upcoming edition (October 24 – November 2) as Croatia. The official delegation at Ji.hlava Industry 2025 will be Austria.
