POLISH DOCUMENTARY FILMS IN THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL CIRCUIT – A 2025 REVIEW
The year 2025 proved an exceptionally rich one for Polish documentary cinema, marked by a wealth of events, premieres, and international successes. It was a period of pronounced visibility on the global festival stage, accompanied by an intensity of creative work that yielded films bold in form and deeply rooted in pressing social matters. The most widely screened Polish feature-length documentary was "Child of Dust" by Weronika Mliczewska, whilst the most frequently exhibited short was Bloodline by Wojciech Węglarz. The most accolades abroad – ten awards – went to "Letters from Wolf Street" by Arjun Talwar. Right behind it is "Child of Dust" and "Unspoken" by Maciej Adamek with nine awards each to their names.
In a period of dynamic change across the film industry, Polish documentary filmmakers demonstrated a remarkable capacity to speak in their own distinctive voice and accurately respond to the world around them. Their productions did not merely circulate in the global festival circuit; they became a significant contribution to the international conversation about the contemporary world. Faced with the ever-expanding influence of streaming platforms and constantly shifting distribution models, these filmmakers proved that Polish documentary remains a living, sensitive, and vital form of cinema.
The figures speak for themselves: Polish documentaries enjoyed a total of 455 festival screenings in 2025 and garnered 109 awards and commendations*. It constitutes strong evidence of the enduring standing of Polish documentary – in both feature-length and short form – as a meaningful participant in the global cinematic discourse, and a source of pride in the sustained international efforts of the filmmakers themselves.
At the very top of this impressive tally stand two titles that were simultaneously engaged in vigorous Oscar campaigns: the aforementioned Child of Dust by Weronika Mliczewska and Trains by Maciej Drygas. Mliczewska's film – a deeply affecting account of intergenerational trauma, search for identity, and painful road towards healing – had 38 international screenings, making it the most widely shown Polish documentary of the year. Right behind it was Trains – an essayistic film composed entirely of archive footage, assembling a collective portrait of twentieth-century Europe – with 29 screenings at festivals worldwide. Both titles travelled extensively across the international circuit and accumulated a breadth of awards and distinctions, of which we shall speak in greater detail below.
Amongst the most widely screened films of the year, the theme of the refugee experience resonated with particular force, explored in different yet equally affecting ways. Silent Trees by Agnieszka Zwiefka (21 screenings) and the short Bloodline by Wojciech Węglarz (21 screenings as well) – the latter narrated from the non-anthropocentric perspective of a European bison – offered two complementary vantage points on the consequences of the migration crisis. A robust international presence was also maintained by Abortion Dream Team by Karolina Domagalska (20 screenings), a documentary devoted to the work of activists from the Aborcyjny Dream Team, a prominent Polish reproductive rights organisation. Among last year's most well-travelled films there is also the medium-length documentary Unspoken, directed by Maciej Adamek – a portrait of a young acrobat fighting to realise his dreams – alongside Lift Lady by Marcin Modzelewski, a tragicomic portrait of Georgia centring on a former sniper who is now operating a lift, and My Gray World by Petr Aleksowski. Each of these films was presented 17 times on the international circuit.
Polish documentary films made their presence felt across virtually every latitude, securing spots in the programmes of the most prestigious festivals of the past twelve months, including IDFA – the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Visions du Réel, CPH:DOX, DOK Leipzig, DocsMX, DOC NYC, and FIPADOC. In this review, we look back at the premieres, awards, and commendations that shaped this extraordinary year – and we invite you to take this trip with us, for the sheer scale of achievement and the diversity of cinematic paths pursued in 2025 were truly remarkable.
PREMIERES
The year 2025 saw Polish documentaries maintain an exceptionally strong presence in the most important world premiere sections, which swiftly translated into intensive competition appearances and major prizes. Early in the season came the world premiere of the Polish-German documentary Letters from Wolf Street, directed by Arjun Talwar, presented in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). Panorama – long regarded as a space for bold, formally adventurous, and socially engaged cinema – proved a natural launchpad for what would become a brilliant festival career.
The documentary, which makes the Warsaw street Wilcza (Wolf Street) its protagonist – presented here as a living being and, at the same time, a kaleidoscope of contemporary society – is guided by the perspective of an Indian migrant attempting to comprehend a country riven with contradictions and tensions. Here, urban space becomes an instrument of observation and dialogue, whilst the film itself unfolds as an essayistic meditation on belonging and the condition of existing 'in between'.
Following its premiere in Berlin, Letters from Wolf Street embarked upon an intensive journey across the international festival circuit, amassing a total of 10 awards and special mentions. One particularly meaningful milestone along this path was the film's inclusion in the Best of Fests section at IDFA, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam – a section dedicated to showcasing the most important and most often awarded titles from the global festival circuit.
Amsterdam's selection resonated powerfully in the realm of premieres for other Polish films as well. In the competitive Envision section, Confessions of a Mole by Mo Tan received its world premiere – a Polish-Chinese production balancing between tragicomedy and a self-ironizing melodrama. After seven years spent in Poland, the director returned to her native China, where she found herself confronting old familial patterns, traditional beliefs, and the weight of expectation. Realist observation is interwoven with stop-motion animation, and the titular mole – a symbolic mark of misfortune – serves as a starting point for a reflection on identity and belonging. At the same festival, Passion According to Agnieszka by Wojciech Staroń was selected for the Luminous section, where it received its international premiere. The film constitutes a portrait of the legendary editor Agnieszka Bojanowska – one of the key figures of Polish documentary cinema, a creative force behind more than 350 films, and an artist linked most notably with the work of Bogdan Dziworski.
In the domain of new narrative forms, the presence of the VR project The Choice by Joanna Popińska at South by Southwest in Austin proved a natural extension of this international visibility. The spectacular success of the first instalment prompted the director to produce a second and third chapter, both presented at one of the most significant events on the American independent cinema calendar – a festival famous for its fluid interweaving of film, music, and intermedial projects. Popińska's work confirmed that Polish documentary is venturing with increasing confidence into the territory of immersive narrative and cutting-edge technologies.
In parallel with these formal experiments, Polish films had a strong presence in the classic premiere sections of several major documentary festivals. Among the most significant events were the screenings at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen – one of the most influential festivals dedicated to documentary cinema anywhere in the world. It was here that My Dear Theo by Alisa Kovalenko received its first public showing in the main competition for the DOX:AWARD, whilst the Polish-Icelandic documentary The Ground Beneath Our Feet, directed by Yrsa Roca Fannberg and shot by Wojciech Staroń, was invited into the NORDIC:DOX AWARD competition.
Polish representation resonated with particular force at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival. My Sunnyside by Matylda Kawka and Child of Dust by Weronika Mliczewska had their world premieres there and both were invited into competitive sections, with Mliczewska's film securing a place in the festival's international competition. Child of Dust returned from Greece bearing the aforementioned Special Mention from the Jury of the International Competition – a first sign of the intensive festival trajectory that was to follow – whilst Lift Lady by Marcin Modzelewski came back with the Audience Award, confirming the film's outstanding reception among festivalgoers.
My Sunnyside by Matylda Kawka was also presented as a premiere in the competition for debuting filmmakers. The film tells the story of Allie and Jo ľ a transgender couple whose relationship blossoms at a moment when both have lost faith in the possibility of finding love. Jo, a transgender man, is a recognisable figure in New York's start-up world, a mentor and activist, whilst Allie – a transgender woman – works as a biology teacher. Their shared story becomes one of intimacy, hope, and the strength of a bond forged in defiance of societal convention.
The Thessaloniki programme was made even more compelling by such documentaries as Being Mikołaj, directed by Aurelia Frydrych-Zdanowska, Bloodline by Wojciech Węglarz, Abortion Dream Team by Karolina Domagalska, The Faint Clatter of Birds by Franciszek Berbeka, Trains by Maciej Drygas, and In My Day by Iga Lis. Several months later, this young director made her feature-length debut with The Queen and the Smokehouse, which received its world premiere as the opening film of the Krakow Film Festival. Lis portrays Miecia – the charismatic owner of a legendary smokehouse in the seaside town of Łeba, known among the locals as the 'Queen of Łeba'. The camera accompanies her at a turning point: health problems force her to reevaluate a life that has, for decades, been shaped entirely around work. Set against the backdrop of a summer resort, the film unfolds as a story of ambition, sacrifice, social standing, and the necessity of redefining oneself in the face of passing time.
The festival paths of My Sunnyside and Lift Lady crossed not only in Greece but also in the United States, where both received their American releases. Each featured in the programme of DOC NYC – one of the largest documentary film festivals in the US. My Sunnyside was presented in the Metropolis Competition, a section devoted to stories of life in New York, whilst Lift Lady screened as part of Shorts: Look Up. The prestige of DOC NYC carries particular weight, as films recognised at this festival become eligible for Oscar qualification in the category of best documentary short.
The year 2025 also brought about an exceptionally strong Polish presence at Visions du Réel in the Swiss town of Nyon, where four films had qualified for the programme – three world premieres in international competitions and one screening in the Highlights section. In the Burning Lights competition, The Big Chief by Tomasz Wolski received its world premiere. It's a portrait of Leopold Trepper, the legendary spy and creator of the Red Orchestra, who during the 1960s and 70s – subjected to constant surveillance and stripped of employment and passport – fought for the right to leave Poland, becoming the focus of an international campaign for his release that was shadowed by slander and accusations of treason. The medium- and short-length competition featured The Town That Drove Away by Grzegorz Piekarski and Natalia Pietsch – a documentary about the inhabitants of the Kurdish town of Hasankeyf, whose daily existence was brutally disrupted by the decision to construct a dam, and which was awarded the Special Youth Jury Prize for Best Medium-Length Film — alongside Double Trouble by Emilia Śniegoska, an intimate story of two women grappling with loneliness, ageing, and the necessity of making a decision that would alter the course of their lives. The programme was completed by the screening of The Guest by Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz in the aforementioned Highlights section. This diverse representation confirmed the significance of Visions du Réel as one of the key platforms for the international reception of Polish documentary cinema.
Polish premières resonated strongly beyond Europe too. In Canada, the documentary King Matt The First by Jaśmina Wójcik enjoyed its world premiere in the international Spectrum competition at Hot Docs – North America's largest documentary event. Wójcik's creative documentary invites audiences into a world seen from a child's perspective – not yet constrained by the hierarchies of adulthood – posing questions about the moment of transition between childhood and maturity against the backdrop of contemporary crises: war, pandemic, and climate catastrophe.
Selected for the First Feature Competition at Sheffield Doc/Fest was December by Grzegorz Paprzycki, a film addressing the humanitarian crisis on the Poland-Belarus border through the stark contrast between the joyful atmosphere of the Christmas holiday season and the tragedies unfolding in the frozen expanses of the borderland forests. The subject of war resurfaced also in War on Art by Andrzej Miękus, which documents the efforts to rescue and safeguard works of art in Ukraine – a film whose premiere screenings in Lviv and Kyiv carried a particularly emotional weight.
The Passenger Andrzej Munk by Michał Bielawski – a portrait of the outstanding director who worked within the Polish Film School movement – was presented for the first time to an international audience in the Panorama section at the Mar del Plata festival in Argentina. In turn, the short The Light of Immortality by Mikołaj Janik received its first international screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Also making its world debut was Kompleta by Magdalena Hueckel and Tomasz Śliwiński, presented at the Aesthetica Film Festival in York – a moving, experimental work about the process of recovery and the sustaining power of human connection, weaving together documentary, video diary, visual art, and music.
Taken together, these premieres compose a picture of an exceptionally intense and diverse year. The year 2025 confirmed not only the artistic maturity of Polish documentary cinema but also its capacity to sustain a consistent presence on the international circuit, where world premières, awards, and successive festival invitations reinforced one another, building a durable and genuinely global visibility.
AWARDS
The 2025 season brought Polish documentary cinema a series of spectacular festival triumphs, confirming its strong reputation in the international circuit. Child of Dust, directed by Weronika Mliczewska, once again deserves particular recognition. The film proved both the most widely screened and among the most frequently awarded Polish documentaries of the year, accumulating a total of nine awards beyond Poland's borders.
From the moment of its world première at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, where it received a Special Mention, the documentary maintained a virtually unbroken presence in the programmes of the most significant film events. It tells the story of 55-year-old Sang – an unwanted child of the Vietnam War, subjected to years of discrimination – whose life undergoes a radical transformation when, decades later, he locates his American father and tries to reuniting with him.
A pivotal moment in the film's global journey came at the 65th Krakow Film Festival, where the jury awarded two Golden Hobby-Horses in the feature-length documentary competition ex aequo to Wojciech Staroń for Passion According to Agnieszka and to Weronika Mliczewska for Child of Dust. Simultaneously, Mliczewska's film claimed the Golden Horn – the main award in the Documentary Competition – thus opening a simplified path in the pursuit of an Oscar nomination. Yet the festival triumphs did not end there. Child of Dust went on to receive, among others, the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival, the main award for Best International Feature Documentary at the Visioni dal Mondo festival in Milan, and a further Audience Award for the International Feature Length Documentary at the Chania Film Festival in Greece.
A formidable position on the international festival map was further cemented by Agnieszka Zwiefka's Silent Trees. The documentary secured the Maysles Brothers Award for Best Film at Docs Ireland in Belfast, followed by the Special Jury Prize at the Aswan International Women Film Festival in Egypt, a Special Mention at the Amsterdam Kurdish Film Festival, and the Best Documentary Award at the Festival International du Cinéma Mémoire Commune in Nador, Morocco. This impressive festival journey was crowned by victory in the Breakout competition at the Slamdance Film Festival in Los Angeles, which confirmed the film's enduring status. Silent Trees is a partly animated story of 16-year-old Runa who, following the tragic death of her mother at the Poland-Belarus border, must assume responsibility for her four younger brothers and a deeply depressed father. Life in a refugee camp, the uncertainty of each new day, and the threat of deportation are interwoven here with an intimate portrait of premature adulthood in the shadow of a global humanitarian crisis.
During Slamdance's 2026 edition, Silver by Natalia Koniarz received its American premiere. The film leads its audience into the depths of Cerro Rico – the oldest silver mine in Bolivia – interweaving the perspectives of a boy, a seasoned miner, and a woman with a reflection on colonial legacy and the mechanisms of exploitation that endure to this day. At the Kraków Film Festival, Silver claimed the Silver Horn, the FIPRESCI Prize, the Maciej Szumowski Award for remarkable social awareness, the award for best cinematography, the Best Producer award, and the Audience Award, along with a recommendation for the European Film Awards. This remarkable run was further confirmed by its participation in the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, where the film received than three prizes in the Opus Bonum competition: the award for Best Documentary Film, the award for Best Documentary Film in the Visegrad Region, and once again the prize for Best Cinematography, the work of Stanisław Cuske.
One of the most frequently screened Polish films abroad was My Gray World by Petr Aleksowski, recognised at festivals both in Europe and beyond its borders – including the Eastern Europe Film Festival (Honorable Mention and the award for Best Cinematography) and the Athvikvaruni International Film Festival (Best Documentary Film Award). The film tells the story of a photographer who, following yet another divorce, abandons his life in Switzerland and returns to his homeland to traverse Poland alone in a campervan, compiling a personal album of the country. A friendship with Krzysztof Kieślowski enabled him to complete his life's work – a photo album documenting Oscar-winning cinematographers. Despite enjoying a global success, the protagonist is haunted by an existential sense of incompleteness and – at the age of eighty – continues to search for his own identity. The film becomes a profound portrait of an outsider and an artist, in which the worlds of cinema and photography intertwine.
If My Gray World concerns itself with the later stages of life and the need to bring one's own story to a close, Clear Sky by Marcin Kundera shifts attention towards childhood – one marked by the experience of war. Vova and Roma spend the final days of summer in their home town, as explosions and air-raid sirens gradually fill their daily existence. Despite the mounting danger, childhood endures… Kundera's film was honoured with, among other accolades, a Special Mention at the FIDBA International Documentary Film Festival in Buenos Aires and the Short Film Documentary Award at the Rhodope International Film Festival in Bulgaria.
Maciej Adamek, director of the affecting Unspoken, did not leave that festival empty-handed, his film receiving a Special Mention. The documentary follows 26-year-old Mateusz – a young man struggling with a stammer who relentlessly pursues his childhood dream of becoming Polish acrobatics champion. It is precisely his training that enables him to endure the more difficult moments and, for a time, quieten the anxiety caused by his speech disorder. This intimate story of fierce determination was appreciated at numerous festivals: the film won best documentary awards at, among others, the Portoviejo Film Festival, the Maracay International Film & Video Festival, and the Trujillo International Film Festival, whilst accumulating a further array of special mentions which you can find in the table below.
Wojciech Węglarz was also among the many festival victors. His short documentary Bloodline claimed the Golden Hobby-Horse at the 65th Kraków Film Festival, confirming the film's standing as one of the most compelling voices of the year. This disciplined, focused, and visually striking metaphor for solitude and rejection – furthermore received the SMAT Award for the Best Short Film at the 28th CinemAmbiente in Turin, a Student Award at a festival in Turkey, and was granted a Special Mention at the In the Palace International Short Film Festival in Bulgaria.
At the same Bulgarian festival, Koka by Aliaksandar Tsymbaliuk was also recognised, coming back home with award for Best Medium-Length Documentary. The film follows a father and son who sustain themselves through fishing, living in austere, near-ascetic conditions where the rhythm of daily existence is dictated by fishing expeditions. The titular Koka has been learning the art of survival under his father's tutelage from the earliest age, though beyond his duties he is still permitted to retreat into childhood frolic. It is a tender, intimate account of a relationship in which care and love are interwoven with rigour and discipline.
At the Belgian Millennium Festival, meanwhile, the main award went to Edyta Wróblewska for When Harmattan Blows. The documentary's protagonist is Barbara – a 25-year-old resident of Accra who, at the age of eight, was sold into forced labour. For years she existed in a world of violence and fear, surviving with the help of her eldest brother and a befriended Polish priest, Piotr, and despite her trauma she continued to support her entire family financially. When her relatives' expectations begin to mount, Barbara and her brother resolve to return home – and the journey becomes an opportunity to ask her parents the questions she has carried within herself for a lifetime.
The Human Rights Dox award at DokuFest in Kosovo was given to My Dear Theo, directed by Alisa Kovalenko. The film was recognised at the largest international documentary and short film festival in the country, held annually in the historic city of Prizren. It is a deeply personal work in which the director – herself a soldier in the Ukrainian army – documents the experience of war through intimate video diaries and poetic letters sent from the front line to her 5-year-old son. The film fuses the perspective of a mother and a participant in the conflict with a meditation on the cost of choosing to serve one's homeland, becoming a record of love, inner torment, and the everyday reality of war.
The Jury Award at the Human Rights Film Festival Lugano – another event centred upon human rights and dedicated to supporting filmmakers who engage with these issues in diverse ways – was awarded to Arjun Talwar, director of Letters from Wolf Street. This, however, was merely one of many accolades: the film was also recognised at, among others, the Neisse Film Festival (Award fo the Best Feature Documentary and Audience Award), the Transilvania International Film Festival (Special Mention), and the Beyond Borders Documentary Festival (Silver Wreath of Megisti).
A Special Mention in the main Global DOC competition at DocsMX in Mexico City was presented to Everything Needs to Live, directed by Tetiana Dorodnytsyna and Andrii Lytvynenko. The documentary centres on Anna Kurkurina – three-time world champion in powerlifting, animal rights activist, and openly out social activist. Having embarked upon her sporting career after the age of 40, she became an icon of strength and determination, and since the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has deployed her public profile to aid wounded and abandoned animals.
The award for Best Feature Documentary at the Montreal Women Film Festival went to Danger Zone, directed by Vita Maria Drygas. The film addresses the subject of war tourism – a morally ambiguous phenomenon in which thrill-seeking travellers visit conflict zones, turning war into a luxury commodity. The documentary poses questions about the limits of empathy, responsibility, and the privilege conferred by one's place of birth.
Trains by Maciej Drygas constructs a wordless, essayistic narrative about 20th-century Europe. The film creates a collective portrait of people caught in a recurring cycle of hope and catastrophe, with the motif of tangled tracks and railway points serving as a metaphor for history as a perpetual choice of direction. The documentary received the main award at the UnArchiveFest in Rome, among other accolades. Archival footage also formed the basis for A Year in the Life of a Country, directed by Tomasz Wolski, which received the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize at goEast (Festival of Central and Eastern European Film). The director returns to the time of martial law imposed on 13th December 1981 – a pivotal date in Polish history – showing the regime's crackdown on the Solidarity movement along the daily life during that period.
A significant moment in the domestic season was the ceremony for the Eagles Polish Film Award, organised by the Polish Film Academy. The Eagle in the documentary category went to Eliza Kubarska for The Last Expedition – a portrait of the first woman to conquer the world's highest peaks. The director, herself a mountaineer, followed in the footsteps of her titular subject through the Himalayas, attempting – 30 years after Rutkiewicz's disappearance – to unravel the mystery surrounding the fate of the legendary climber. The film did not stop at merely winning the Eagle, however. The production was widely honoured abroad as well: across Europe (in Spain, Ukraine, Italy, France, and Slovenia, among others) and beyond – in North America (a Jury Special Mention at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival) and in Asia (Special Jury Prize at the Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival in South Korea).
NOMINATIONS
The year 2025 also brought Polish documentaries significant recognition in the form of nominations on the international stage, completing the image of a season dominated by premieres, awards, and an intensive festival presence. A highlight of this chapter of the year were the aforementioned Oscar campaigns. Whilst we have written at length about the successes of Child of Dust, let us now turn our attention to Trains by Maciej J. Drygas. Beyond the achievements listed above, the film was recognised by the prestigious FOCAL International, which bestows annual awards upon filmmakers and institutions specialising in creative use of archival footage in film and TV productions.
Trains also received two nominations for the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. The American-Canadian film critics' association honoured the film in the category of Best Archival Documentary, whilst Paweł Szymański was nominated for Best Score. This marked the first time in history that a Polish documentary had found itself among the nominees for this award – a fact that only underscores the growing visibility of Polish documentary cinema within the most significant international industry contexts.
These nominations were accompanied by the theatrical distribution of Trains in the United States, conducted as part of a promotional campaign directed towards securing a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film – which had been awarded the Grand Prix and the prize for editing at IDFA in Amsterdam in 2024 – was formally submitted for Oscar consideration.
Produced by LARMO, The Town That Drove Away also gained significant recognition, receiving a nomination for the IDA Documentary Awards 2025 in the category of Best Cinematography. Natalia Pietsch and Grzegorz Piekarski were the sole Polish filmmakers included among the nominees that year. The IDA Documentary Awards, conferred by the International Documentary Association in Los Angeles, have ranked among the most important honours in world documentary cinema for more than four decades, recognising outstanding artistic achievement and setting industry benchmarks for quality – also in the field of cinematography.
The season reached a thrilling climax with news arriving towards the close of the year: the announcement of the inclusion of Michał Marczak's Closure in the Sundance Film Festival – one of the most prestigious events in world independent cinema – together with the confirmation that a total of six Polish documentaries would be featured at FIPADOC. These announcements drew an exceptionally intensive year to a close and sketched a clear outline of the next one, heralding a new season that promises to be every bit as rich, internationally visible, and artistically ambitious.
This eventful period did more than consolidate the standing of Polish documentary filmmakers on the world stage; it established formidable points of reference for the years ahead. The sheer number of premieres, awards, nominations, and wide presence in the most important industry competitions all combine to paint a picture of a creative community in outstanding shape: conscious in its artistic language, thematically bold, and ever more firmly embedded in the global circuit.
It is a cause for genuine pride, and at the same time an invitation to continue following the next chapters of this intensive international journey of Polish documentary cinema.
* data compiled by Polish Docs based on information received from producers, filmmakers, and festivals.
LIST OF POLISH DOCUMENTARY FILMS AWARDED AT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS IN 2025
RUN MONNIE, RUN, dir. Karolina Biesiacka
Festival 7ème Lune – International Festival of Young Filmmakers (Audience Award)
BLOODLINE, dir. Wojciech Węglarz
CinemAmbiente Festival (SMAT Award for the Best Short Film)
In the Palace International Short Film Festival (Special Mention)
Bozcaada International Festival of Ecological Documentary (Naci Guçhan Student's Award)
CLEAR SKY, dir. Marcin Kundera
Ischia Film Festival (Special Mention)
Rhodope International Film Festival (Short Film Documentary Award)
Beyond Borders Documentary Film Festival (Golden Phoenix Award)
FIDBA International Documentary Film Festival (Special Mention)
Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People (Award for Best Short Documentary Film - Children’s Juries, Best European Documentary for Children ECFA DOC AWARD)
DANCING KING, dir. Igor Kuna
Prix Europa Student Award- Rising Star (Main Award in the category: Video)
DANGER ZONE, dir. Vita Maria Drygas
Doc.Sydney Documentary Film Festival (Best Feature Documentary Film)
Montreal Women Film Fest (Best Feature Documentary)
SILENT TREES, dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka
Slamdance Film Festival (The Breakouts Feature Grand Jury Prize)
9th Aswan International Women Film Festival (Special Jury Prize)
4th Amsterdam Koerdish Film Festival (Special Mention)
Docs Ireland International Documentary Film Festival (Maysles Brothers Award)
14th Festival International du Cinéma Mémoire Commune (Best Documentary Award)
CHILD OF DUST, dir. Weronika Mliczewska
Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (Special Mention from the Jury of the International Competition)
Visioni dal Mondo (Best International Feature Documentary)
Chania Film Festival (Audience Award for the International Feature Length Documentary)
The 61st Chicago International Film Festival (Audience Award for Best Documentary)
International Festival Signs of the Night, Portugal (Mention for The Night Award)
International Festival Signs of the Night, Germany (Signs Award, Documentary Competition)
NYLA International Film Festival (Honorable Mention)
San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival (Excellent International Feature Film)
WHEN THE WIND BECOMES SILENT, dir. Mateusz Gołębiewski
International Sport Film Festival (Best Documentary Feature Film)
KOKA, dir. Aliaksandr Tsymbaliuk
44th Jean Rouch International Film Festival (Special Mention)
In the Palace International Short Film Festival (Award for Best Medium-Length Documentary)
Rhodope International Film Festival (Best Mid-Length Documentary Award)
17th edition of the International Film Festival "Pêcheurs du monde" (Young Jury Award, Best Film Award)
DOUBLE TROUBLE, dir. Emilia Śniegoska
DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival (Special Mention)
FOREST, dir. Lidia Duda
BIDF – Budapest International Documentary Festival (Main Award for Best Documentary)
LIFT LADY, dir. Marcin Modzelewski
27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival 2025 (Audience Award for Best International Documentary under 50 minutes)
“Autumn in Voronet" International Film Festival (Gran Prix for Best Documentary)
The Pigeon International Film Festival (Best Directing in Documentary Film)
Chania Film Festival (Grand Prix for Best Documentary Short Film, Audience Award)
LETTERS FROM WOLF STREET, dir. Arjun Talwar
Neisse Film Festival (Audience Award, Award fo the Best Feature Documentary)
Filmkunstfest Schwerin (Award For Best Documentary Feature and Best Cinematography)
Transilvania International Film Festival (Special Mention)
Fünf Seen Filmfestival (Best Documentary Film)
FilmPolska Festival in Berlin (Best Film)
Beyond Borders Documentary Festival (Silver Wreath of Megisti)
Inconvenient Films Festival (Special Mention)
Human Rights Film Festival Lugano (Jury Award)
THE TOWN THAT DROVE AWAY, dir. Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski
Visions du Reél (Special Youth Jury Prize for Best Medium-Length Film)
Festival CinemAmbiente (Asja Award)
International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra (Audience Award for Best Documentary)
Filmambiente - International Environmental Film Festival (Best Cinematography)
25th Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (AFFR) (King Kong Award)
Bozcaada International Festival of Ecological Documentary (Jury Honorable Special Mention Award)
CineEco – International Environmental Film Festival of Serra da Estrela (The Award for Best Film in the International Competition)
MY PLACE OZERNA, dir. Karina Będkowska
MujerDOC - VIII International Film Festival on Gender in Soria (Grand Prix)
MY DEAR THEO, dir. Alisa Kovalenko
DokuFest, the International Documentary and Short Film Festival (Human Rights Dox)
JUMP!, dir. Michał Cysewski
Stavanger Indie Film Festival (Best Short Documentary)
UNSPOKEN, dir. Maciej Adamek
Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente (Best Sound)
Portoviejo Film Festival (Best International Documentary Feature Film)
9th Maracay International Film & Video Festival (Best Documentary Film)
Rhodope International Film Festival (Special Mention)
Trujillo International Film Festival (Best Feature Film Documentary)
International Film Festival “Privi Kadr” / “First Frame” (Best Film in the TV in Focus selection)
International Film Festival with Alternative Media (FICMA) (Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary)
Concepcion Independent Film Awards (Award For Best Documentary Feature)
14th Balkan Nordic Film Festival (Special Mention)
THROUGH THE WINDOW, dir. Daniel Stopa
International Ethnographic Film Festival OKO (Special Mention)
KO:SH Film Fest (Special Mention)
TRAINS, dir. Maciej Drygas
ArtDocFest/Riga (Grand Prix in the Baltic Focus section)
UnArchiveFest (Best Use of Archive Footage)
Neisse Film Festival (Special Jury Award)
Apricot Tree International Documentary Film Festival (Filmadaran NGO Special Prize)
POLAND VERSUS HISTORY, dir. Joanna Grudzińska
29th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Special Mention)
A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE COUNTRY, dir. Tomasz Wolski
25. Festival of Central and Eastern European Film goEast (FIPRESCI Award)
SILVER, dir. Natalia Koniarz
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Best Documentary Film Opus Bonum, Best Documentary Film in the Visegrad Region, Best Cinematography)
MY GRAY WORLD, dir. Petro Aleksowski
Eastern Europe Film Festival (Honorable Mention - Best Cinematography)
Kodaikanal International Film Festival (Best Documentary Film, Best Cinematography)
Athvikvaruni International Film Festival (Best Documentary Film)
THE SUN IS LOW, dir. Marta Ojrzyńska
Beast International Film Festival (Special Mention)
THE LIGHT OF IMMORTALITY, dir. Mikołaj Janik
Black Cat Film Festival (Best Short Documentary Script)
FRESHMAN, dir. Michał Edelman, Tomasz Pawlik
Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival (Best Documentary Short)
IT'S ONLY/NOT ONLY A BODY... OR A SHORT FILM ABOUT FREEDOM, dir. Maciej Hytroś
Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival (Best Hybrid Documentary Film)
BASIA: THREE SHORT STORIES, dir. Mateusz Pietrak
Opavský páv - International Student Film Festival in Opava (Best Documentary Film Award)
Seoul International Senior Film Festival (SISFF) (The Excellence Award of the Best International Short Film)
FACES OF AGATA, dir. Małgorzata Kozera-Topińska
New Jersey Film Festival (Special Mention)
YOU RIVER, dir. Izabela Zubrycka
34. International Festival of Ethnological Film Belgrad (Special Mention)
10. Winter Apricots Prilep International Movies Festival (Award For Best Sound)
18. Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival (Special Mention)
International Student Documentary Film Festival “Bistre Reke” (Cinematography Award for Merlijn Willemsen)
THE LAST EXPEDITION, dir. Eliza Kubarska
BBVA Torelló Mountain Film Festival (Grand Prize)
Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival (Best Feature Film)
Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival (Special Jury Prize)
Cervino CineMountain (PREMIO C.A.I. – The Best Mountain Film)
Chamonix Film Festival (Best Storytelling)
Les RDV de l'Aventure (Against the Current Prize)
Festival gorniškega filma (Best Mountaineering Film)
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) (Jury Special Mention)
IN LIMBO, dir. Alina Maksimenko
BIDF - Budapest International Documentary Festival (Special Mention)
"One Shot" 23rd International Short Film Festival (Best Film Award)
EVERYTHING NEEDS TO LIVE, dir. Tetiana Dorodnitsyna, Andrii Lytvynenko
ArtDocFest/Riga (Best Director)
International Documentary Film Festival of Mexico City DocsMX (Special Mention)
DEBTORS, dir. Andrzej Danis
Bogota Film Festival (Mejor Corto Periodistico Award)
AS LONG AS THEY DON'T FIND US, dir. Maja Górczak
International Film Festival of Larissa "Art Fools" (Third Award in the Competition)