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The Prague-based dok.incubator workshop has announced its final film selection for 2026. “From a world-renowned blind pianist redefining independence, to stories bound to the oldest marathon in Europe, and a new generation of Ukrainian youngsters documenting their own lives during wartime, the films selected for this year's workshop explore how individuals navigate the forces that shape their lives in stormy times,” organisers write.

The awards of the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival were presented August 21 at the National Theatre Sarajevo. Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić’s To Hold a Mountain was handed the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Feature Film. On August 22, the Audience Award for Best Documentary Film went to We Shall Live Together, directed by Damir Markovina, with an average rating of 5.000.

A total of 24 feature-length documentary projects will be presented during the second edition of Flanders Film Days, running October 6-7 in Ghent, Belgium. The doc component will comprise six new project pitches, nine works in progress and nine completed films, and the event will include new doc works by the likes of Olga Lucovnicova, Maarten Stuyck & Lennart Stuyck and Pieter Van Eecke.

A collective of Iranian artists and academics has published an open letter in the UK-based Tribune magazine demanding an immediate end to the “violence being inflicted on the Iranian people, and the repeated threats by President Trump to destroy the civilian infrastructure.” An accompanying petition “condemns the threats against civilian infrastructure as collective punishment, documents the trauma they inflict, and warns that such rhetoric erodes decades of institution and norm-building meant to protect civilians in armed conflict.”

The Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA) announced August 19 Pepa Lubojacki’s feature documentary as the Czech candidate for an Oscar® in the category of International Feature Film. The doc had its world premiere in February this year at the Berlinale, where it won the award for Best Documentary Feature, as well as the independent Caligari Film Prize.

Docs Beyond, the new 3-module audience, impact & training programme from the Institute of Documentary Film, seeks to give documentary teams the time, expertise and practical tools to “find its audience, build the right partnerships and turn its topic into meaningful action.” Docs Beyond is intended for producers, directors, screenwriters, distributors and other members of documentary creative teams based in the Czech Republic.

The two titles are Imperium by Sergei Loznitsa (Germany-France-Italy-Lithuania), and Act 3 by Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor (Ireland-UK). “Our 2026 competition selection brings an astounding array of filmmaking styles to the screen. As ever, it’s been creatively nourishing for myself and the team to encounter each of these works - we’re excited to share these with audiences in October,” comments Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Director. The 70th edition runs 7 – 18 October 2026.

Seven highly promising docs from CEE, scheduled for theatrical release over the next 12 months were presented on Sunday August 16 as part of CineLink Industry Days at Sarajevo FF. The Docu Talent Award went to the Luxembourg–Slovak co–production Ora et Labora (pictured) by Dzhovani Gospodinov, while the DAFilms.com VoD distribution Award went to the Slovak project Retuning directed by Sára Prokopová. Ji.hlava IDFF further revealed the professionals for the Emerging Producers programme 2027, and the Guest Country of Ji.hlava IDFF 2026 as Montenegro.

The documentary, which explores the loss of home against the backdrop of the Gaza War, celebrated its world premiere in 2025 in Venice Giornate degli Autori, where it won the Cinema & Art Award. In early 2026, Who Is Still Alive (Qui vit encore) received the Prix de Soleure at the Solothurn Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary at the Swiss Film Awards. The film continues to screen at numerous international festivals, most recently in the Panorama Suisse section of the Locarno Film Festival.

The Pardo d’Oro in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente and the Swatch First Feature Award were both awarded to The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer (La ilusión de un verano sin fin) by Alessandra Sanguinetti. The Grand Prix Semaine de la Critique – Prix SRG SSR went to Blossoming by Kamila Serwicka. Also in Concorso Cineasti del Presente, the Special Jury Prize CINE+OCS was given to Mohanad Yaqubi for Revolutionaries Never Die.