Sheffield DocFest announces winners for 2025

The prizes of the 32^nd Sheffield DocFest were handed out June 22 during the event’s closing ceremony. 

This year the festival presented 51 World Premieres, 16 International Premieres, 8 European Premieres and 39 UK Premieres from 68 countries of production. International industry attendance rose with 2,601 delegates from 81 countries attending the six-day festival in person (up from 73 countries in 2024). 192 Industry representatives from 146 companies and 26 countries took part in more than 1,079 in-person meetings with 50 selected projects and 18 ‘talents’ over the course of the festival market days, DocFest writes.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION (GRAND JURY AWARD)

• The Grand Jury Award for the International Competition was awarded to Welded Together directed byAnastasiya Miroshnichenko (France, Netherlands, Belgium, 2025). This Award is Academy Award® accredited and honours films that best display strong artistic vision and courageous storytelling. The jury said: “A portrait of resilience and strength — both of the main character and of a community that stands in solidarity. The film highlights the contrast between the generosity of the people and the harsh realities of alcoholism in the Belarussian society. An honest and delicate portrayal of a young woman desperately trying to hold her family ‘welded together.’”
• Special Mention: The Gas Station Attendant dir. Karla Murthy (USA, 2025). Jury: “This love letter to the director’s father is an intimate and sincere portrait of both a family and the U.S. society. The film is delicately crafted with care, creativity, and sensibility.”

INTERNATIONAL FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION (SUPPORTED BY NETFLIX)

• The Grand Jury Award for the International First Feature Competition was presented to Comparsa directed by Vickie Curtis, Doug Anderson (Guatemala, USA, 2025). The competition honours the future of non-fiction film and celebrates promising new talent and is supported by Netflix. The jury said: “The film that we chose celebrates the power of resilience of a community, while shedding light on an unknown story of systemic gender-based violence. It’s a film that introduces us to amazing characters, smart, sensitive, with an astonishing inner force that is an inspiration to push for change against all odds. The movie will leave us with a much needed and powerful sense of hope. The creativity, the access, the trust built with the whole community made us fall in love with a movie that opens critical conversation.”
• Special Mention: Carmela and the Walkers (Carmela y los Caminantes) by Luis Herrera, Esteban Coloma (Ecuador, 2025). Jury: “This film receives a special mention for its deeply human portrayal of resilience, solidarity, and moral courage in the face of crisis. With extraordinary intimacy and empathy, the filmmakers shed light on an urgent humanitarian issue through the powerful lens of one woman’s everyday heroism, offering a moving testament to the strength of community and compassion amid adversity.”

INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION

• The Grand Jury Award for the International Short Film Competition was awarded to In a Whisper (Dans un Souffle) directed by Catarina Gonçalves (Portugal, Hungary, Belgium, 2025). This Academy Award®, BAFTA and BIFA accredited award honours the best creative approaches in documentaries under 40 minutes. The jury said: “For its bold and minimalistic, cinematic mastery, and thoughtfully crafted sound design, this elegant portrait of admiration and resilience reflects the extraordinary talent of a promising director whose trajectory is clearly on the rise.”
• Special Mention: Oscurana dir. Violeta Mora (Honduras, Hungary, Portugal, Belgium, 2025). Jury: “We would like to give an honourable mention to a beautiful film for its unique perspective, presented in a visually sparse yet powerfully affecting manner. This sensory invitation fosters empathy for the human rights crises that immigrants face when crossing borders, and it is now more critical than ever in this unprecedented time.”

TIM HETHERINGTON AWARD (Presented in association with Dogwoof) 

• The Tim Hetherington Award was presented to Sudan, Remember Us (Sudan Y’a Ghali) directed by Hind Meddeb (France, Tunisia, Qatar, 2024). The award recognises a film and filmmaker that best reflects the legacy of photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington and is presented in association with Dogwoof. The Jury said: “Set against a women-led revolution, Sudan, Remember Us captures the spirit of resistance and the deep human desire for freedom. The film is rich in colour and texture, and there’s a quiet poetry in the way the story unfolds. It reminds us of the human capacity for hope, the importance of empathy and the tragedy of loss.  At its heart is a deep sense of community where the collective takes priority over the individual. This spirit of togetherness is one of the film’s most powerful messages.” 

INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL REALITY COMPETITION

• The International Virtual Reality Competition honours the best virtual reality non-fiction work. The award was presented to Speechless Witness of a Wandering Tree. The Jury said: “We unanimously agreed to honour this award to a project that employs a poetic approach to language and visual storytelling and acts as an intimate healing ritual in the ongoing aftermath of hostility towards women in an area of conflict. Through magical realism and the innovative use of the 360 cameras to constructively process the impact of trauma and given the restrictions of producing work in this region, the artists we feel should be additionally commended on the making of their work against the backdrop of instability.” 

YOUTH JURY AWARD

• The Youth Jury Award was presented to Runa Simi directed by Augusto Zegarra (Peru, 2025). The Jury said: “Language is more than just a means of communication between peoples. Language shapes how we think, our beliefs and our experience of the world. Languages are dynamic; emerge from contexts, evolve, become endangered, even extinct. This is a film all about language and one individual’s specific and humble dream to preserve his native tongue through the magic of popular cinema. With gorgeous cinematography and a soulful, intergenerational cast, this is a story of hope, community and decolonisation in action. It blossoms to become far more universal than its specific cultural context and is ultimately a tribute to the power of cinema to unite. As Young People, we all see non-fiction so differently, with so many possibilities, but this documentary connects our passion. It is a film that amplifies, celebrates and preserves a lived reality.”
• Special Mention: The Stand by Christopher Auchter (Canada, 2024). Jury: “We feel this film comes at a particularly pressing political moment, where hope can often feel in limited supply. In times like these, it is vital for us to turn to, and to learn from history. To recognise that injustice has always existed, but people have always resisted.”

THE WHICKERS PITCH, FILM & TV FUNDING AWARD 2025 

• With a prize of a whopping £100,000 the award went to The Video Guy by Sam Howard and Alexander Dickerson (UK/USA). The Jury said: “This is a raw and tender film that gives viewers access to a world we don’t normally see. Through the passion and vulnerability of Alex, the Video Guy, we are offered a longitudinal look at a group of friends as they grow into adulthood and the choices they have to make to survive in today’s America.”
• The development prize of £20,000 went to Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Koval Bhatia (India). The Jury said: “This is a delightfully chaotic, funny and honest portrayal of a young Indian woman navigating her complex relationship with her family and the influence of her grumpy old schoolteacher. Will she ever wake up with the clouds far behind her?” 

THE PODCAST PITCH (funded by The Whickers)

• The first prize (£15,000) went to Chris Mitchell for Redemption Man. The Jury said: “The premise of this podcast proposal is both original and haunting – and has the special quality of being particular and universal at the same time. It promises a journey deep into the story of a community as well as the life of an intriguing individual, and we realise with ambition could make something incredibly special that could speak to a broad audience.”
• The second prize (£5,000) was won by Jesse Lou Lawson for The Great Gay Penguin Cover Up. The Jury said: “This idea is important, fascinating, and — if told with the lightness of touch evident in the pitch — funny and clever as well. Focusing on the ‘cover up’ gives a really strong narrative vehicle with which to unfold a history that will be unknown to many.”