Nick Cunningham

The third edition of Doxumentale, Berlin’s celebration of all things documentary, kicks off May 27, running through to June 7. “Positive stories are still happening despite the despair of our world,” Artistic Director Anna Ramskogler-Witt tells Business Doc Europe before doors open on the 2026 roll-out. “And I think we need them as an inspiration…I think we are trying to offer insights and spaces for conversations, and inviting exchange. And whoever wants to join is very welcome."

Pegah Ahangarani’s Rehearsals For A Revolution, directed by Pegah Ahangarani, was handed May 22 the L’Œil d’or, the main doc award at Cannes 2026. “This film allows us to enter the intricate and complex reality of contemporary Iran through a braiding of personal, historical, and poetic cinema,” the jury said. Alexander Murphy received a Special Mention for Tin Castle.

UK/Irish producer Mike Downey has been shortlisted in the ‘Heritage Champions’ Category of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards for his contribution as Chairman of the European Film Academy. The awards are usually given to restoration projects, but for the first time the category of Heritage Champion has nominated an individual from the world of cinema. The Awards Ceremony will take place 28 May at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Cyprus.

DX’Hub, the professional arm of Berlin-based Doxumentale, is described as “an intimate space for workshops, tools, talks, and meaningful encounters around documentary and non-fiction storytelling.” At its core is the Good Media Pitch, during which Impact pitches for seven new and vital documentary projects will be presented to the industry in attendance. The third edition of DX’Hub runs May 28-31.

Serbian capital Belgrade is once again a key meeting point for the international documentary community as the 19th edition of Beldocs International Doc FF opens May 20, running to May 26 across multiple venues throughout the city. This year’s edition presents more than 100 documentaries, short films, VR works and interactive projects across 15 programme sections, reaffirming the festival’s growing position within the European documentary landscape. This year Beldocs became a qualifying festival for the European Film Academy Awards in the Doc category.

French director Tom Fontenille talks to Business Doc Europe about his deeply personal feature documentary A Secret Heart, world-premiering May 20, which chronicles both his father’s transition into a woman [Lilou) and Tom’s own journey of acceptance, together with his sister Manon. Tom remembers when his dad suggested to his son that he would prefer to be portrayed on camera as a woman, rather than a man. “It was on that day that the film was born and the shooting truly began,” Tom underlines.

At the May 19 close of Cannes Docs 2026, section head Pierre-Alexis Chevit hosted the Docs-in-Progress Awards Ceremony during which this year’s winners were announced. Over the past days, eight showcases of docs-in-progress from around the world were presented, totalling 33 new creative documentary projects. The big winner was Super Sila by Mohammed Alshareef [Palestine Showcase] which won both the IEFTA Award and the Al Jazeera Documentary Award. All awards…

To the West, in Zapata, directed by David Bim, was announced May 19 as winner of the inaugural Marcel Łoziński International Documentary Award, established jointly by the Kraków Film Festival and the Polish Documentary Film Directors Guild. “It is a remarkable documentary – one that unites beautiful, painterly imagery and precise dramatic construction with genuine emotional force,” the jury observes. “With remarkably restrained means, and never transgressing the boundaries of his protagonists’ intimacy, the young director speaks about the matters that give meaning to our lives – love, family and work.”

The winners of the Doc Alliance Award 2026 were announced May 19 during the Doc Day Lunch, held at the Marché du Film in Cannes, with The Case Against Space picking up the prize for Best Feature (€5,000) and Some of You Fucked Eva winning the award for Best Short Film (€3,000). This year’s jury brought together Wouter Jansen (CEO of Square Eyes), Maria Palacios Cruz (festival director of the Open City Documentary Festival), and film critic, filmmaker and producer Mark Peranson.

To the West, in Zapata, directed by David Bim, was announced May 19 as winner of the inaugural Marcel Łoziński International Documentary Award, established jointly by the Kraków Film Festival and the Polish Documentary Film Directors Guild. “It is a remarkable documentary – one that unites beautiful, painterly imagery and precise dramatic construction with genuine emotional force,” the jury observes. “With remarkably restrained means, and never transgressing the boundaries of his protagonists’ intimacy, the young director speaks about the matters that give meaning to our lives – love, family and work.”