Four international and one Swiss award were handed out March 10 as doors closed on the 8th Impact Days, the professional arm of FIFDH.
Following the August 2025 call for impact-driven documentary projects, the event received almost 200 submissions from 70 countries, with all 5 continents represented. Twelve of these projects were selected to participate in our annual Impact Lab by a committee based in Kenya, Denmark, Jordan and Argentina, and a further four Swiss co-productions were selected for the Swiss Focus section. One unfortunately had to drop out halfway through the Lab due to recent world events.
The teams worked online for several weeks with tutors from Mexico, Indonesia, USA, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Belgium, Colombia, Kenya and France to produce an impact strategy and pitch for presentation to potential partners and funders in Geneva.
STORYBOARD IMPACT AWARD
Olimbi – Mother Courage by Karlo Mlinar.
Synopsis: Olimbi – Mother Courage is a hybrid feature documentary blending intimate testimony, archival footage, and theatrical reconstruction. After her husband’s death in 2003, Olimbi Hoxhaj learned that she and three of her four children were HIV positive in Albania, where treatment did not exist. Confronting stigma, institutional neglect, and patriarchal silence, she transformed personal loss into public action. The film follows the creation of a theatre play in which Olimbi and her children act as co-authors, guiding actors through reenactments of their past. As theatre becomes a space of memory and healing, the film reveals how one mother’s courage reshaped public awareness and helped secure treatment for thousands.
Value of award: CHF 10,000
SWISS FOCUS IMPACT AWARD
To the Moon and Back by Elisa Gómez Alvarez
Synopsis: To the Moon and Back follows two Gen Z scientists chasing the same dream of becoming an astronaut in a profoundly unequal world. At Asclepios, a Swiss-based, student-led analog space mission under the mentorship of astronaut Claude Nicollier, Pauline from the Philippines and Ilyasse from Morocco train side by side. The film exposes how the new space race reproduces old hierarchies of gender, geography, and access to STEM education. Between rejection, resilience, and return, the documentary asks a brutal question: Who gets to leave Earth to imagine humanity’s future—and who is forced to stay and fix what’s been broken?
Value of award: CHF 2,500
WORKING FILMS IMPACT AWARD
The Quiet Part by Rachel Lauren Mueller
Synopsis: When a pagan white supremacist group arrives in a Minnesotan farming town, it sparks an intense struggle over who has the right to belong, offering a disturbing warning about the normalization of extremism. The controversial group, the Asatru Folk Assembly, co-opted Norse pagan mythology loosely modeled on the Icelandic faith, Ásatrú, but reframed for white nationalism. Their prolific online evangelism and aggressive recruiting in American prisons has led to chapters across the globe. Through the eyes of residents who oppose the group and others who defend them, the film follows one community’s increasing tolerance toward ideologies they once condemned, revealing how extremism exploits the erosion of community and our primal yearning to belong.
Value of award: An in-kind award offering a two-part workshop designed to strengthen the project’s impact campaign strategy. These customised online sessions will focus on budgeting, fundraising, and partnership and strategy development.
ANOTHER STORY FOUNDATION X IMPACT SOCIAL CLUB AWARD
This Is Not a Civil War by Hnin Thet Hmu Khin and Oliver Petrie
Synopsis: By following the community of Demoso, the film shows how resistance can lie in everyday gestures and collective acts. We want to celebrate these quiet forms of resistance while helping younger generations recognize threats to democracy in a world of growing authoritarianism and international influence. We aim to open discussions about what “taking action” means. Even from far away, people can act. By standing with local organizations, sharing reliable information or signing petitions, they can take part in a broader, collective effort to push for political and economic pressure that protects democratic voices.
Value of award: CHF 2,500 and consultancy
SUBLIMAGES IMPACT AWARD
Gaza Sunbirds by Flavia Cappellini
Synopsis: Gaza Sunbirds follows Ala’a, a young Gazan cycling champion whose life changes forever when he’s shot by an Israeli sniper. Determined to rebuild, he sets his sights on the Paralympics, inspiring others to join him. Together, they defy immense challenges—not just lost limbs, but war, blockade, and societal limits. As their journey unfolds with unexpected twists, their story transcends politics and sport, proving that their disability isn’t their biggest obstacle—the world is. At its heart, this is a story of resilience, unity, and the unstoppable desire to live, dream, and rise above.
Value of award: This award provides a full film translation and subtitle creation in one of four languages: English, French, Spanish or Portuguese. Offered by Sublimages.
FIFDH pointed to a “record-breaking year” for FIFDH Impact Days which:
- Welcomed over 220 international participants, including 115 social justice, environmental, and philanthropic organisations, as well as over 100 documentary filmmakers and impact practitioners.
- Curated 15 moderated roundtables, with filmmakers and closely aligned organisations and foundations. Concrete collaborations are already being confirmed, such as between Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) and the project This Is Not A Civil War – details to come!
- Secured the participation of 20 new organisations and associations, amongst which: Artistic Freedom Initiative, the Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), European Institute of Peace (EIP), European Network Against Racism (ENAR), Handicap International, Nature Positive Initiative, Olympic Refuge Foundation and UNAIDS.
- Brought together funders from 3 different continents: Another Story Foundation (France), Doc Society (UK), Luminate Group (UK), IUCN Netherlands, Working Films (USA), IRIS (USA), The StoryBoard Collective(Switzerland), DocA – Documentary Africa, among others.
- Enjoyed a new collaboration with SWISS FILMS, with a networking dinner after the Swiss Focus event for Swiss impact stakeholders of all language regions, and international Impact Days guests, and Swiss filmmakers. Added two new awards, with three new partners: Working Films, Another Story Foundation and Impact Social Club.
- And thanks to the contacts made last year, the Impact Lab 2025 project Yurlu | Country was able to come back this edition to take part in a UN side-event. The film was also screened in the FIFDH Impact Spotlight section, as was another ID25 project, Traces. In addition to these, previous Impact Lab projects Runa Simi and Scarlet Girls were also screened to acclaim in the main public festival programme this year.
