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Eighty Plus by Želimir Žilnik wins the Laceno d’Oro 50 Award, as decided by a jury composed of the filmmaker Andrei Ujică, the producers Jani Pösö and Donatella Palermo and the editor Joe Bini. The film, which receives a €3,500 prize. The Audience Award “Franca Troisi” was won by Je suis la nuit en plein midi by Gaspard Hirschi. The 50th Laceno d’Oro International FF ran December 1 to 8 2025.

In 2026 DocsBarcelona Pro will double the value of its awards to nearly 60,000 euros, of which 42,500 euros are paid in cash. The event will run May 9 to 14 during the 29th edition of DocsBarcelona (May 7 to 17, 2026). Professionals from around the world can apply for sic initiatives which include the Public, Rough Cut and New Tech pitches. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2026, through Docs&Me.

Organisers of the Sundance Film Festival announced Dec 10 their program for the upcoming edition, running January 22–February 1, 2026, and online Jan 29 to Feb 1. Documentaries will compete in World Cinema Documentary Competition and US Documentary Competition, and a raft of docs are selected within the Next, Premieres, Midnight, Non-fiction Showcase, Spotlight, Family Matinee and Special Screenings sections. Read on for all doc selections.

The Nyon-based docfest is inviting films for its Official Selection, which includes six competition sections, as well as projects for VdR–Industry activities. Films in competition receive their world, international or European premiere. The final date for submissions for both Festival and Industry is Dec 15. The 57th edition of Visions du Réel will run 17 to 26 April 2026.

“This difficult but necessary decision results from a combination of factors: the loss of its main European grant, a decline in key financial support, as well as organisational constraints that make it impossible to deliver an event that meets the expectations and challenges of today’s global audiovisual ecosystem,” the organisation writes in a statement dated December 5.

Roger Ross Williams (Stamped From The Beginning) speaks to Geeta Gandbhir about her Sundance-winning feature doc The Perfect Neighbor, which presents a devastating critique of race, inequality and the vigilante-style ‘stand your ground’ legislation in operation in the US today, and which details the events leading up to the murder of Gandbhir’s friend Ajike Owens. The director recalled the conversation she had with Ajike’s mother Pam in terms of the outreach support she could offer after the tragic loss. “I have no money to give you. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a lawyer…but I think I can make a film.”

Business Doc Europe caught up with EURODOC’s Nora Philippe before an IDFA 2025 closing ceremony that awarded three films that were developed at the leading producer training lab. In total, no fewer than 37 former EURODOC alumni were selected for IDFA 2025, including nine within International and Envision competitions. “EURODOC helps good projects become excellent, highly creative projects that definitely deserve such prestigious selections,” Philippe told BDE.

A Fox Under a Pink Moon picked up the Best Film in International Competition while Past Future Continuous won Best Film in the Envision Competition. The IDFA Award for Best Directing (worth €5,000) in International Competition went to Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel for The Kartli Kingdom while The IDFA Award for Best First Feature went to Paikar by Dawood Hilmandi. The IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film was won by Maasja Ooms for My Word Against Mine.

The award for Best Doc went to the Georgian film 9-Month Contract, which examines the struggles of a single Georgian mother who turns to surrogacy, and the limits imposed by poverty. The Best Hungarian Film award was given to My Father’s Daughter, a story about the search for a lost sister. The festival continues online until 30 November, including all winning and special mention titles.

The Geneva-based human rights festival unveiled this week the 12 internatonal projects for its Impact Lab training program in 2026. Each project representative will receive expert training to craft an impact strategy ahead of presentation to dozens of NGOs, international organisations and philanthropists, both in Geneva and beyond. The next edition of FIFDH Impact Days runs March 8 to 10 2026.