OPUS BONUM
Best World Documentary Film 2025
Main Award:
Silver (dir. Natalia Koniarz / Poland, Finland, Norway / 2025)
Jury statement: Some people in our winning film believe that their lives and deaths are governed by a ferocious demon-deity. But they're at the mercy of evils that are of this world too. Somehow, this enormously cinematic documentary makes gigantic issues like colonialism and economic disparity tangible, by telling its strange, sorrowful story — of a place as inhospitable as the surface of the moon — in images and soundscapes that even now remain scorched into our minds. Still practically feeling the grit beneath our fingernails and tasting the mineral dust on our tongues, the jury is honored to unanimously award the Best Documentary Film in the 2025 Opus Bonum Competition to SILVER, directed by Natalia Koniarz.
I. Special Mention:
Abysses and Wonders (dir. Jean Boiron-Lajous / France / 2025)
Jury statement: Philip Larkin has a famous poem that starts "They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had. And add some extra, just for you." Here all that fucked-up-ness is channelled into a bright, moving film that navigates real-life pain with impish fun and self-awareness, illuminated especially by the lovely, bickering relationship between the director and his blazingly cool and funny friend Christine. A Special Mention for Directing goes to Jean Boiron-Lajous for ABYSSES AND WONDERS.
II. Special Mention:
Power Station (dir. Hilary Powell, Dan Edelstyn / United Kingdom / 2025)
Jury statement: We can all feel overwhelmed into inaction when faced with oncoming environmental collapse. But here's a reminder that one person — or one funny, chatty, tirelessly energetic couple — can make a difference. For a how-to guide to staving off the end of the world, with humour, good-nature and fearlessness in the face of what the kids might call cringe, the jury awards a Special Mention for Social Impact to the inspirational Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell who prove that not just any house, but any person can become a POWER STATION.
Best Central and East European Documentary Film:
Bürglkopf (dir. Lisa Polster / Austria, Germany / 2025)
Jury statement: With a new acute crisis springing up every day to consume all our attention and compassion, it can be easy to forget about the longer, more drawn-out traumas and tragedies that are often ongoing right in our own back yards. For a stirring, intelligent, beautifully shot act of empathy towards a community of refugees enduring what is essentially psychological torture by isolation on an Austrian mountaintop while tourists ski nearby, the Award for Best Central and East European Documentary Film goes to BÜRGLKOPF, directed by Lisa Polster.
Best Documentary Film in the Visegrad Region:
Silver (dir. Natalia Koniarz / Poland, Finland, Norway / 2025)
Jury statement: Filmmakers are rightly wary of telling stories not their own. But cross-cultural understanding is not only possible, it is vital for bringing international attention to worker exploitation by the forces of global capitalism for which we are all responsible. For an outsider perspective that has nothing but respect for the dignity of a local population ensnared by an industry that both gives them their living, and all too often takes it away, the Award for the Best Documentary Film in the Visegrad Region goes to SILVER from Polish director Natalia Koniarz.
Original Approach:
Skyless Roof (dir. Diego Hernández / Mexico / 2025)
Jury statement: We have all at some point noticed how disrupted sleep can made reality feel a little less real. But not so many of us manage to respond to this phenomenon with creativity and charm. As an example of a youthful, irreverent approach to old, stale divisions — between documentary and fiction, between wakefulness and sleep, and even between what is my story and what is yours — the Award for Original Approach, especially in recognition of the collaboration between castmember Liz Felix and director Diego Hernandez, goes to SKYLESS ROOF.
Best Editing:
Abysses and Wonders (dir. Jean Boiron-Lajous / France / 2025)
Jury statement: The road movie structure can often be an excuse for a loose and untamed narrative. But here the cutting is as dynamic and witty as the touching, steadfast friendship it outlines. Following the rhythms of an eventful road trip that proves the truth that the journey is always more important than the destination, the Award for Best Editing goes to Xavier Sirven, for knowing just when to speed along the highway, and when to stop and smell the lavender, in director Jean Boiron-Lajous' ABYSSES AND WONDERS.
Best Cinematography:
Silver (dir. Natalia Koniarz / Poland, Finland, Norway / 2025)
Jury statement: Deep underground, where there is little air and less light, it is hard to imagine there can be any beauty. Yet somehow, despite the forbidding conditions, lit only by flickering torchbeams, fizzing fuses and glowing cigarette tips, images of startling power emerge. For stunning, risky camerawork that sparkles darkly like the soot that clings to the slick torsos of the miners working in this wildly hostile environment, the Award for Best Cinematography goes to Stanislaw Cuske for SILVER, directed by Natalia Koniarz.
Best Sound Design:
The Beauty of the Donkey (dir. Dea Gjinovci / Kosovo, Switzerland, France, United States / 2025)
Jury statement: If you listen carefully you can always hear the sounds of the past echoing in our present – whether it's the hammering of construction work for buildings that have long ago been torn down, the chatter of children now become adults, or the long silences that follow bursts of gunfire. Reflecting the high production values on display throughout this deeply personal yet ambitious work of family history, the Award for Best Sound Design goes to Henry Sims for director Dea Gjinovci's THE BEAUTY OF THE DONKEY.
Student Jury Award:
While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts (dir. Peter Mettler / Switzerland, Canada / 2025)
Jury statement: The jury recognizes a film that, in today's fast-paced world, reminds us of the power of standstill, silence, and the present moment. With courage and creative freedom, it leads us to reflect deeply on time, memories, and our place in the world. The award goes to While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts by director Peter Mettler.
FIRST LIGHTS
Best World Documentary Feature Debut or Second Feature 2025
Main Award:
So Close, So Far (dir. Yudi Zhu / Hong Kong, China / 2025)
Jury statement: This film shows how confrontation can also be care. It tells stories of great, looming systems of corruption without having to refer to them head on, making their telling all the more powerful.
Special Mention:
The cats, the sea, and everything between. (dir. Karel Malkoun / Lebanon, Canada / 2025)
Jury statement: We liked the way she brought us into her family, her frailty, her joy and grief.
Original Approach:
Taste of Salt (dir. Raaed Al Kour / Germany / 2025)
Jury statement: For its unique depiction of masculinity, especially under pressures of dramatic otherness in fortress europe. Encountering daily horrors through performance and play.
Best Cinematography:
Minimum Love (dir. Maja Penčič / Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: This director uses the camera as a way to meet people where they are, in spontaneous yet intimate scenes. The film shows how much can be made with the tools at hand, with curious angles, surprising closeups, and a singular voice.
CZECH JOY
Best Czech Documentary Film 2025
Main Award:
Time to the Target (dir. Vitaly Mansky / Latvia, Czech Republic, Ukraine / 2025)
Jury statement: Mansky's film is a kaleidoscope of collective memory and a true tribute to documentary film. It is also a work which sensitizes our attention in an exceptional way. Attention to time itself, attention to the fates of the inhabitants of Lviv. It reminds us that the war in Ukraine is not over, and that our need for honest reflection on it should never end. As a native of the city, Manský is able to not only observe many situations and plot twists, but also predict them. He also gives an objective voice to his city, space for freedom of life against the dogmatism of schematic interpretation, allowing social life to determine its own fate. It is, in fact, a unique love letter that maps and observes the question "what is independence" without pathos, yet with an intensity that is almost physically painful.
Special mention:
What About Petey? (dir. Martin Trabalík / Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: In the film WHAT ABOUT PETEY?, a powerful individual story is confronted with the complicated situation of caring for disabled people in remote areas of the Czech Republic. However, the problem is not only outlined through the story of a specific family, but also through other persons who are involved in searching for solutions and helping the vulnerable. It is a strong and socially responsible film equipped with empathetic documentary language, which attempts not only to describe specific issues, but also to address the loneliness of people abandoned to their fate.
Original Approach:
Is It Worth It!? (dir. Jan Strejcovský / Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: Director Jan Strejcovský brilliantly captures the absurdity of today's world, where the distinction between consumer goods, art, and experimentation is blurred. His film IS IT WORTH IT!? delightfully exposes the nonsense that accompanies such debates. He works with mystification and explores the relationships between the individual actors in a detective-like manner. It is an exciting game that constantly draws the audience into the story, as the film is not confined to just one ethical dimension. In both the literal and figurative sense of the word, it even reveals a kind of "vanity fair" – after all, not only the value of any work of art, but also human life is all too often expressed in terms of money.
Best Editing:
Unborn Father (dir. Michal Böhm / Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: The film by director and editor Michal Böhm recaps his family and relationship stories, but he also looks ahead to his own future, honestly moving between the past, the future, and the collected and filmed material itself. The work is experimental in form, seeking hidden depth in the banality of fragmented moments, uncovering new layers, stripping away random moments to reveal deeper connections. The experiences of one partnership or one seemingly ordinary family are thus imprinted on the deeper collective memory of the last seven years of all of us.
Best Sound Design:
Kapralova (dir. Petr Záruba / Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: In the film KAPRÁLOVÁ, the story of composer and conductor Vítězslava Kaprálová is brought to life and revived primarily through sound and musical composition. Kaprálová's face and artistic identity are perfectly conveyed through sound, with Antonie Martinec Formanová's voice and the sound dramaturgy creating a perfect unity. The creators have succeeded not only in showing how Kaprálová's music enlivens and permeates the lives of performers and fans, but the music directly plays out specific lives and, across cultures, personifies the legacy of an exceptional artist who is unfortunately unknown to a wider audience.
Best Cinematography:
Chronicle (dir. Martin Kollár / Slovakia, Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: In his film CHRONICLE, director Martin Kollár demonstrates his ability to be attentive and patient, but also his sense of a broader context that transcends the individual perspective. Kollár's Chronicle helps us remember the fleeting moments of the last eight years and also introspectively search our own memories, looking for ideas of small and large events in our lives. The camera shots are universal, but in a way also altar-like, meditative, and yet often simple and civil. And although the camera is distanced from the subjects, it is still very empathetic and non-manipulative.
Student Jury Award:
What About Petey? (dir. Martin Trabalík / Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: A film which deals with a strong and serious topic. A film which opens up a discussion about how important it is to maintain dignity even in the most challenging situations. A film which shows the unimaginable. The award goes to What About Petey? directed by Martin Trabalík.
TESTIMONIES
Best Film Testimony 2025
Main Award:
The Tree of Authenticity (dir. Sammy Baloji / Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium / 2025)
Jury statement: For its fearless illumination of the intertwined roots of colonization, race, nature, and slavery—revealing the wounds of our shared past with haunting truth and poetic power. With its breathtaking imagery, immersive sound design and the use of the non-human perspective of a tree the movie makes a powerful statement about the importance of acknowledging extractive colonial practices on personal, political and environmental levels. The Best Film on Politics, Knowledge and Nature in the Testimony section of 2025 goes to The Tree of Authenticity, directed by Sammy Baloji.
Special Mention:
Coexistence, my Ass! (dir. Amber Fares / United States, France / 2025)
Jury statement: For being fearless and unapologetic by giving a needed and important prospect on an extremely painful and dividing topic the movie offers a possibility to find compassion and eventually reconciliation through the sense of humor and self-irony. The special mention in the Testimony section of 2025 goes to Coexistence, My Ass!, directed by Amber Fares.
Special Mention for Best Film on Politics:
Poland versus History (dir. Joanna Grudzinska / France, Poland / 2025)
Jury statement: The movie addresses a sensitive and often silenced issue — the involvement of parts of Polish society in the persecution of Jews during World War II. By combining personal testimonies and historical research, it calls for a more truthful understanding of the past and challenges lingering myths in education and public discourse. We would like to award this movie for its profoundly important contribution to the public debate on historical memory. The Special Mention for Best Film on Politics in the Testimony section of 2025 goes to Poland versus History, directed by Joanna Grudzinska.
Special Mention for Best Film on Knowledge:
Teenage Life Interrupted (dir. Åse Svenheim Drivenes / Norway / 2025)
Jury statement: For shedding light on the struggles, confusion, and resilience of adolescence. The movie serves as a heartfelt alarm and a lesson for parents and society—to listen, to learn, and to understand the unseen battles their children face in the journey to adulthood. We would like to award this movie for its profoundly important contribution to the public debate on mental health. The Special Mention for Best Film on Knowledge in the Testimony section of 2025 goes to Teenage Life Interrupted, directed by Åse Svenheim Drivenes.
FASCINATIONS
Best Experimental Documentary Film 2025
Main Award:
Land of Barbar (dir. Fredj Moussa / Tunisia / 2025)
Jury statement: We honour this work for it’s poetic and ironic portrayal of a socio-political reality that still endures — a mirror fragment reflecting the Chimaera, that collective western illusion of the ever-feared “barbarians”.
I. Special Mention:
Transparencies (dir. Mario Blaconà / Italy / 2024)
Jury statement: For it’s perspective on a more pressing-than-ever subject and it’s attempt to discuss evil without reducing it to the obvious or the trivial, creating a space for reflection.
II. Special Mention:
Branching Light and Flickers of a Dawn (dir. Paula Malinowska / Slovakia / 2025)
Jury statement: This work combines the lyrical and the scientific, weaving a surreal, science-fiction–like tale that ultimately draws us back to the fragile beauty of our natural world.
FASCINATIONS: EXPRMNTL.CZ
Best Czech Experimental Documentary Film 2025
Main Award:
tiny film about rape (dir. Nebe Motýlová / Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: A delicately woven collage gives voice to a girl’s confession of the sexual violence she endured, underscoring the vital importance of consent and the scars left in its wake. And yet the film traces a path of healing.
Special Mention:
The Totalitarian Society of the Image (dir. Zbyněk Baladrán / Czech Republic / 2025)
Jury statement: The film presents a dark critique of society’s obsession with consumption of goods and information, reflecting on the power structures of global capitalism.
AUDIENCE AWARD 2025
Main Award:
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (dir. David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin / Denmark, Czech Republic / 2025)
SHORT JOY
Best Short Documentary Film 2025
Main Award:
wedLOCK tradWIFE (dir. Gabriele Neudecker / Austria / 2025)
This section’s jury was general public, which has voted online for the films in competition.
BEST VR PROJECT
Main Award:
The Exploding Girl (dir. Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel / France, Greece / 2025)
Jury statement: The work stands out for its layered metaphors of monstrosity and despair that reflect the challenges of women – and, more broadly, of the individual – in contemporary society. We recognized the film’s immersive and imaginative world, open to multiple readings, which drew on popular culture artifacts without resorting to straightforward intertextual references, and which evocatively conveys themes of loneliness and isolation.
I. Special Mention:
Shelter (dir. Sjors Swierstra, Ivanna Khitsinska / Netherlands, Ukraine / 2025)
Jury statement: We were impressed by the direct depiction of a reality often only perceived through the media. We particularly resonated with the scenes that allow viewers to feel the Ukrainian lived experiences of the people filmed and the deliberate claustrophobic emotions the technology enhances.
II. Special Mention:
Trans-composition (dir. Shiuan Yan / Taiwan / 2025)
Jury statement: We particularly enjoyed the interplay of light and shadow and its deep connection to the author’s culture and its symbolic underpinnings. The ties to idealized and rarefied personal memories that become, in turn, universal. The intricacies of an architecture that mirrors the intricacies of the self. And the narrator's voice that guides you throughout on a journey of amazement and wonder.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD CINEMA AWARD 2025
Fundación Grupo Ukamau
