02/02/2026 - Bipuljit Basu's film wins the international competition and Gabrielle Stemmer's The Strike wins the National Grand Prix

At the end of the festival held from 23 to 31 January in Biarritz, which brought together numerous professionals (who are very concerned about tensions surrounding public funding in France), the 8th edition of FIPADOC announced its winners. The jury (Miguel Eek, Petra Seliškar and Per K. Kirkegaard) for the international competition crowned the Indo-Finnish-Latvian co-production Redlight to Limelight by Indian director Bipuljit Basu. Unveiled in Sheffield, the filmmaker's first feature film delves into a brothel in Calcutta where Nupur, the son of a sex worker, runs a video workshop. He writes the scripts and offers the women and children of the neighbourhood roles that are more or less inspired by their lives. They all embrace the unlikely opportunity to perform in front of the camera and enjoy a liberating space of self-assertion. The catharsis reaches its peak during the public screening of the film... The film was produced by the Indian company Bindubot Communication and co-produced by the Finnish company JW Documentaries and the Latvian company VFS Films.

The French competition (whose jury includes Andreï Kourkov, Sonia Kronlund and Yolande Zauberman) was won by the only medium-length film in the running: The Strike by Gabrielle Stemmer. Through a montage of archival footage of women in everyday life, and a reading of Ovidie's text, Flesh is Sad, Alas, this collage film tells the story of the deconstruction of the heterosexual model: a narrative that is both intimate and political. The film was produced by the French companies Blue Monday Productions and Belleville Production, in co-production with INA and Ciclic.

It should be noted that the music documentary competition was dominated by Nous, l'orchestre de Paris by French director Philippe Béziat. Produced by Les Films Pelléas the feature film, which immerses itself among the 80 musicians of the Paris Orchestra conducted by the young prodigy Klaus Mäkelä, will be released in French cinemas on 22 April via Pyramide (which is also handling international sales).

The winners:

Grand Prix - International Documentary
Redlight to Limelight – Bipuljit Basu (India/Finland/Latvia)

Grand Prix - French Documentary
The Strike - Gabrielle Stemmer (France, medium-length film)

Grand Prix - Musical Documentary
Nous, l’orchestre de Paris - Philippe Béziat (France)

Grand Prix - Impact Documentary
An Eye for an Eye - Tanaz Eshaghian and Farzad Jafari (Iran/France/Denmark/US)

Other awards

Human Rights in Motion Award
Trade Secret - Abraham Joffe (Australia/UK)

INA-madelen Audience Award
The Extraordinary Journey of Mister Jack – Sarah Moon Howe (France/Belgium, medium-length film)

Smart-Biarritz Immersive Award
Impulse: Playing With Reality - May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy (UK/France)

Short Film Award
What Does The Mud Whisper? - Dea Tcholokava (Georgia)

Sacem Award for Original Score
Pierre Lucas - Zone Grise (France)

Young Europeans Award
Le Château indestructible [+see also:
trailer
interview: Danny Biancardi, Virginia N…
film profile] - Danny Biancardi, Virginia Nardelli and Stefano La Rosa (Italy)

New Talent Award
Drawn in Water - Heta Jokinen (Finland, short film)

Tënk Award
Elysian Fields - Anna-Maria Dutoit (Germany/Greece, short film)

Michel Mitrani Discovery Award
Agnus Dei [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Massimiliano Camaiti (Italy)

Prix Coup de cœur dans les murs
Maïmouna, The Voice of The 9-3 - Anouk Burel and Antonin Boutinard Rouelle (France)

FIPADOC PRO

Best French Pitch Award
Not So far Away Places - Renato Borrayo Serrano and Yulia Vishnevetskaya (France)

Best International Pitch Award
Inner Landscape - Krajobrazy Z Winetrza (Poland)

Public Sénat Award
Taken By The White Man - Ana Sofia Fonseca (Portugal)

CAT&DOCS Award
Reclaiming Time - Fuad Hindieh (France/Palestine)

Docs Up Fund Award
Inner Landscapes - Zofia Sawicka
The Bamboo Family - Sein Lyan Tun (France/Netherlands)

DocsBarcelona Award
Queens Ballroom - Siyi Chen Hansen Lin (USA/France/Belgium)

Dok.fest München Award
Landfall - Peter Middleton (UK)

San Sebastián Award
The Island in Silence - Mario Trujillo (Mexico)

Doc Around Europe Award
Live Till Death - Xuban Intxausti (Spain/France)

Lightdox Award
Praise and Sand - Annina Lehmann (Germany)

First Film Pitch Award Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nightvision - Thea Capitanio and Paul Lajus (France)

Writing grant KANALDUDE
Ainsi meurent les étoiles - Virgile Valère

Writing Grant TV7
Côte sauvage - Florence Peyrard

(Translated from French)