19/05/2025 - While the Award for Best Documentary in the international section went to Bulgarian director Eliza Petkova’s film, the VIKTOR Dok.horizonte gong went to Rashid, the Boy From Sinjar

Dagmar Biller (Bayerischer Rundfunk), DOK.fest Munich director Daniel Sponsel, film director Eliza Petkova, camerawoman Constanze Schmitt and DOK.fest Munich deputy director Adele Kohout after the awards ceremony (© DOK.fest Munich)

The physical edition of this year's DOK.fest Munich took place from 7-18 May, and now, for one more week, audiences will be able to catch a few titles online. Among them will be the various winners of this edition. To determine the victors, various juries were put together. For the international competition, the three members of the jury were film scholar and inclusion programme and strategic partnerships manager at Eurodoc Leonard Cortana, sales agent at Cat&Docs Aleksandra Derewienko, and British producer and filmmaker Charlie Phillips.

The VIKTOR DOK.international, endowed with €10,000 and sponsored by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), went to Silent Observers [+see also:
film review
interview: Eliza Petkova
film profile] by Eliza Petkova. The German-Bulgarian production uses the perspectives of six animals to explore the everyday life of a Bulgarian village located in a remote part of the mountains. The jury said of its decision: “With a wry and clever approach, it brings together folk stories, superstition and a real story of a remote, ageing village in decline, questioning what we know to be real and what is imaginary narrative. In a thrilling creative approach, we look at animals looking at people, and the animals look back at us through the screen. Ultimately, the multilayered metaphor of the silent observers invites us to venture into uncharted territories, reimagining the human experience as an expansive web of creative possibilities.” The international competition jury also granted a Special Mention to The Invisible Contract by Luciana Kaplan, which follows the life of female cleaners in Mexico City.

As for the VIKTOR Dok.deutsch (endowed with €7,500 and sponsored by Sky), which is awarded to a film that deals with people or topics from the German-speaking area, the winner was We, the Inheritors by Swiss director Simon Baumann, which can already look back on a considerable film-festival run and which won this year's Swiss Film Award for Best Documentary (see the news). The jury of three comprised political advisor Hamado Dipama, journalist Katja Kraft and artistic director of Doc NYC Jaie Laplante. Justifying their decision on the winning film, they said: “The protagonists speak openly, and the perspective shifts to those who will leave an inheritance. What remains of a life? What does one wish to leave behind? With a coherent dramaturgy that draws on extensive archival material from his parents, Baumann simultaneously highlights generational differences and traces how lives and life plans have changed since the boomer generation were young. […] This film cleverly draws attention to injustices and also reveals the contradictions of those who fight against inequality on a political level, but in their personal lives tend to think of themselves first.”

The third-most-important competition was the “Horizonte – Cinema of Urgency” section. The ten films nominated in this category “focus on countries with unstable structures”. The award, endowed with €5,000, is sponsored by the Petra Kelly Foundation. The international jury of three – namely, producer Florian Schewe (Film Five GmbH), editor Susanne Mertens (ZDF/ARTE Current Affairs) and film officer Julian Etienne (Doc Society) – awarded the VIKTOR to Rashid, the Boy From Sinjar by Jasna Krajinovic. They stated: “With stunning cinematography and nuanced storytelling, this fantastic, deeply moving film engages a wide audience while bringing renewed attention to a persecuted people's plight. It leaves a lasting emotional impression and opens a space for viewers to reflect on parallels with other oppressed and threatened communities worldwide.” The film also won a second award: the DOK.fest Award of SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit, endowed with €5,000 and donated by BOA Videofilmkunst. 

Here is the complete list of award winners at this year’s DOK.fest Munich:

VIKTOR DOK.international Main Competition
Silent Observers [+see also:
film review
interview: Eliza Petkova
film profile] – Eliza Petkova (Bulgaria/Germany)
Special Mention
The Invisible Contract – Luciana Kaplan (Mexico)

VIKTOR DOK.deutsch
We the Inheritors – Simon Baumann (Switzerland)

VIKTOR DOK.horizonte
Rashid, the Boy From Sinjar – Jasna Krajinovic (Belgium/France)

FFF Talent Award Documentary Film
Das fast normale Leben – Stefan Sick (Germany)

megaherz Student Award
Woman/Mother – Klara Harden (Germany)
Special Mention
The Disappearance of our Moments - Ahmad Siyar Noorza (Afghanistan/Germany/Turkey)

Dok.edit Award – presented by Adobe
A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things [+see also:
film review
interview: Mark Cousins
film profile] - Mark Cousins (UK)

kinokind Audience Award
Writing Hawa [+see also:
film review
interview: Najiba Noori, Rasul Noori
film profile] – Najiba Noori (Afghanistan/France/Netherlands/Qatar)

VFF Documentary Film Production Award
Das fast normale Leben – Stefan Sick

German Documentary Film Music Award
Freight – Max Carlo Kohal (Switzerland)

DOK.fest Award of SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit
Rashid, the Boy From Sinjar – Jasna Krajinovic