>>>>>>
JUDGES
DOKUTAM
Best International Feature Documentary
Dario Domitrović
A Croatian film and television producer, Domitrović founded Zagreb-based Embrio Production to develop auteur-driven fiction, documentary projects and international co-productions. His work focuses on creative partnerships and films combining a strong artistic identity with social relevance and international reach.
His production credits include The Eighth Commissioner, Croatia’s submission for the 91st Academy Awards; The Kids from the Marx and Engels Street, Montenegro’s official submission; and The Tower of Strength, an international co-production representing Montenegro in the Academy Awards race. His recent feature documentary Behind One Smile received several international awards.
Alongside producing, Domitrović has extensive experience in film and television sound post-production, with credits including The Weekend Away (Netflix), Munich Games, Strike Back, London Spy, Dig and Castle.
Otilia Babara
Otilia Babara is a documentary filmmaker and audiovisual producer from Moldova, currently based in Brussels. She holds a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking from the Docnomads European Master’s program and was a 2013 Berlinale Talents fellow.
Her first feature documentary, Love Is Not an Orange, was screened at over fifty festivals worldwide, including Visions du Réel, DOK Leipzig and MoMA DocFortnight. It received the Silver Eye Award for Best East and Central European Documentary, the CEI Award at the Trieste Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the Tirana International Film Festival.
She is drawn to subjects that often pass unnoticed, particularly untold stories of women that expose social imbalances and question their roles in society.
Lesia Diak
Lesia Diak is a Ukrainian film director and producer whose work has earned recognition at international film festivals. Her films explore themes of human connection, inner conflict, trauma, and healing, offering intimate and thought-provoking narratives. With a background in Communication, she completed the DocNomads International Documentary Film Directing Master’s Program in 2022. She later founded DramaFree, a production company dedicated to author-driven storytelling and impact producing.
In 2024, Lesia premiered her feature-length documentary debut, Dad’s Lullaby, a Ukrainian-Romanian-Croatian co-production, at the Sarajevo Film Festival. As both director and lead producer, she balanced creative vision with production leadership to bring this deeply personal film to life. Currently dividing her time between Lisbon and Kyiv, she continues to create emotionally resonant and socially impactful films, collaborating with co-producers from Portugal, France, Poland, the UK, and beyond.
DOKUBOX
Best Debut Documentary Film
Cathy Barbash
Cathy Barbash is a cultural diplomacy specialist, independent producer and consultant focused on creative industry development in China and Cuba. She received the 2015 Silver Magnolia Award from the Shanghai government and the 2018 Patrick Hayes Award from the International Society for the Performing Arts for her contributions to cultural development and leadership in the performing arts.
A Harvard graduate, Barbash has spent four decades working with major cultural institutions, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the U.S. Department of State, the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, The Kennedy Center and The Juilliard School. She serves on the boards of Pink Fang and Early Music America and is President of the Barbash Arts Foundation, which organizes an annual J.S. Bach competition for young string players.
Since 2016, she has also developed cultural partnerships in Cuba, collaborating with theatre and dance companies and institutions including Casa de las Américas, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Havana International Jazz Plaza Festival.
Ramin Khalighi
Ramin Khalighi is an Iranian filmmaker, editor, and cinema researcher with an MA in Cinema from Tarbiat Modares University. For three years, he was Cinema Editor at the Iranian humanities publication Farhang Emrooz (Today’s Culture), where he developed critical perspectives on filmmakers and cinematic practices. He has also translated and edited works in cinema and the humanities, including the complete collection of interviews with Robert Bresson.
In 2024, he directed and edited his debut feature documentary, Inferior Shadows, developed as his master’s thesis. The film has received international recognition, including awards at the Brussels independent film festival, Ghent Viewpoint, and DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival.
Rodion Ismailov
Rodion Ismailov is an Azerbaijani-born film director and producer and a member of the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio, the Guild of Russian Film Directors and the Guild of Non-Fiction Film and Television. He graduated in film directing from the Saint Petersburg State University of Film and Television and has worked across film production, television and independent cinema. Since 2024, he has been General Director of Samur Cinema.
His award-winning films have screened at major international festivals, including Venice, Rotterdam, Shanghai, Istanbul and Almaty. His filmography includes the documentaries Mountain of Languages (2026), Keepers of Traditions (2024), Platzkart (2017), My Kin (2013) and Nomad Camp (2010), as well as the feature film The Iron Heel of the Oligarchy (1998), which he produced.
His films have received numerous international awards, including Best Documentary at the Der neue Heimatfilm Festival in Austria and the Magnolia Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival for Platzkart.
DOKUECHO
Best Documentary about Nature
Aygün Aslanlı
Aygün Aslanlı is an Azerbaijani film critic and journalist. She holds a master’s degree in Art Studies from the Azerbaijan State University of Arts and Culture and began her career at Kino+ newspaper in 2004. In 2005, she co-founded the START Short Film Festival, which later became the Baku International Film Festival.
She is Deputy Chair of the Azerbaijan Film Critics and Film Scholars Guild and Editor-in-Chief of kinoyazar.az, a platform dedicated to film criticism and scholarship in Azerbaijan. She also contributes to the film magazine Focus.
Aygün has served on international festival juries, including as NETPAC Jury Chair at the Jeonju International Film Festival in 2023 and on the debut feature competition jury at the Baiqonur Film Festival in 2025. She also regularly participates in international film forums, presenting research on contemporary Azerbaijani cinema and documentary filmmaking.
Mojtaba Bahadori
Mojtaba Bahadori is a filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist whose poetic and conceptual works explore the intersection of nature, identity, and art. He received the IBDAA Award for his anothopological photography. His film On Melting Snow was awarded at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29)— and has been screened at over 40 festivals worldwide, earning multiple awards along the way.
Ramil Alakbarov
Ramil Alakbarov was born in Azerbaijan. He studied Radio, Television, and Cinema at the Faculty of Journalism at Ankara University and pursued a master's degree at the Faculty of Journalism at Baku State University. He has worked as a producer/text-editor at Public Television, a leading specialist in the Audiovisual and Interactive Media (Cinema) Department of the Ministry of Culture, and as the Head of Marketing and Public Relations and Press Secretary at the "Azerbaijanfilm" film studio. He served as the program director of the Baku International Tourism Film Festival. He is the editor of the film news website "kinoinfo.az" and the director of "Kinobiz" LLC. He works in Azerbaijani television and is engaged in teaching at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts.
DOKUKIDS
Best Documentary for Kids
Nel
Nel González Iglesias (born October 25, 2004) is a Spanish director and screenwriter. His debut short film, Beatus Ille, premiered at the 61st Gijón International Film Festival. His next project, the mockumentary western All Said, has been selected for over 20 festivals and won the Special Mention of the CERES Jury at Novos Cinemas 10. He developed the video essay 'Disconnection' under the mentorship of Álvaro Gago, also at Novos Cinemas. He is a member of the Galician Union of Screenwriters and the Association of Independent Audiovisual Creators of Asturias.
Ulviyya Ahmadova
Ulviyya Ahmadova is an Azerbaijani film director and producer. Currently she is a Film Screenings Producer at the Azerbaijan Union of Filmmakers.
In 2025, her feature-length documentary project My Home won the AKİDocs Pitching Program. The project was subsequently selected for WARM Academy & Festival in Sarajevo and the CHANGE Co-Production Training 2025–2026. It was also pitched at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. In June 2026, My Home was officially selected for CEDOC Market, held within the framework of the 66th Krakow Film Festival.
Vasily Ovchinnikov
Vasily Ovchinnikov is an award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter and creative director whose work combines documentary storytelling, visual experimentation and emerging technology. He wrote and directed the documentary short 4:30, which received 13 festival prizes and was presented at 30 international film festivals across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Its distinctions include awards for Best Film, Best Documentary and Best Director.
Alongside his filmmaking practice, Vasily has more than fifteen years of experience in advertising and technology. He is a Creative Lead at Yandex and previously held creative leadership roles at FCB, BBDO and Ogilvy. His work has been recognised by the Art Directors Club of Europe, The One Show, Cannes Lions, Effie, Golden Drum and other industry organisations.
DOKUMUSE
Best Documentary about Music, Dance, Rhythm
Diane Marois
Diane Marois is a French journalist, author, documentary filmmaker and music curator whose work explores the connections between music, culture, identity and society. Her perspective was shaped by hip-hop and its creative and social energy, which continues to inform her work across journalism, film, radio and live artistic projects.
In 2013, she wrote and directed Les Chroniques d’Orphée, a documentary series examining the impact of the Internet on music and creativity, featuring artists including Pedro Winter, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. She later created Cuba Underground for ARTE and Funky Diary for RTBF, following funk artist Dabeull through Los Angeles and its Chicano communities.
From 2019 to 2026, Diane hosted Le Feel de Diane on RTBF, a radio show dedicated to emerging artists and contemporary currents in funk, soul, hip-hop, jazz and electronic music. She is now co-founder of TheMerode Music Club in Brussels and founder and creative director of TIQOUN, where she develops live music and multidisciplinary projects.
Ilqar Quliyev
Ilgar Rafik oglu Kuliyev is an Azerbaijani filmmaker, film critic and editor based in Baku. Born in 1986, he studied film directing at the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts from 2006 to 2010.
He began his career at BAKIFILM and the Azerbaijan State Film Studio, later working at CineAlliance as a second unit director, first assistant director, screenwriter, script editor and casting director. He also worked as a director and editor at Mədəniyyət TV.
Ilgar currently works as an SMM specialist and website editor at the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan. He is a member of the Guild of Azerbaijani Film Critics and Film Scholars and an editor and contributor to kinoyazar.az. In 2023 and 2026, he served on the NETPAC jury at international film festivals in Kolkata and Baikonur.
Ena-Sanan Hdagha
Ena-Sanan Hdagha is an award-winning Croatian-Libyan film and theatre director, producer, writer, actress and author. Her work explores human rights, empathy and human connection, often through socially engaged stories.
Her feature documentary debut, Behind One Smile, premiered at the 41st Alexandria Mediterranean Countries Film Festival, where it received the Special Jury Award and Best Debut Award. The film went on to win the Golden Spike for Best Documentary at Italy’s Social World Film Festival, as well as Jury and Audience Awards at the International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra in Greece and awards at the Impact DOCS Awards in Los Angeles.
Ena-Sanan has also worked across short film and theatre, and has been involved in humanitarian projects supporting refugees and migrants, particularly children. She holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Zagreb.
DOKUSHORT
Best International Short Documentary
Eldar Albertsson
Eldar Albertsson is a director, creative producer, and founder of the Atrium Art House Cinema Club. He graduated from the International Cinema School of Rustam Ibrahimbekov in 2010 and has participated in film project competitions at international film festivals in Baku, Kyiv, Tbilisi, Prague, and Locarno.
He has contributed to several local film productions and two international film anthologies: the feature-length 4.1 Urban Motives as Creative Producer, and the documentary anthology BAKU from Dawn till Dusk (60 min), for which he directed two episodes. Since 2012, he has also been one of the founders and producers of the Cinemarathon Azerbaijan project, based on the international Cinemasports format. In 2022, he founded the Atrium Art House Cinema Club, dedicated to promoting independent and auteur cinema.
Tauan Sloboda
Tauan Sloboda is a Rio de Janeiro–based filmmaker and screenwriter working across writing, directing, editing, and cinematography. His work combines technical precision with a strong visual and poetic sensibility, focusing on rhythm, atmosphere, and emotional storytelling.
In 2025, his short film Beyond The Breakers was selected for the Student Academy Awards® (Oscars®), becoming the first film produced entirely within a Brazilian university to reach the program in 52 years. The film also received a Best Director nomination at the Buenos Aires International Film Festival (BUEIFF®), alongside Official Selections in Madrid, Rome, and Mexico, and won Best Screenplay at the Tietê International Film Festival in Brazil.
Alongside his authorial work, Tauan has extensive experience in advertising and institutional production. He continues to develop original projects exploring memory, consciousness, and transcendence, combining intimacy and imagination through a distinctive cinematic voice.
Roberto Ortiz
Roberto Ortiz director, screenwriter, and producer from the north of Mexico. His debut feature, Ángeles FC, was selected for development programs such as Plataforma MX, Residencia Zanate, Campus Latino, Chile Conecta, and Talents Project Market (FICG). He won the Jury Prize at the 2021 Reto DOCS MX with the short film Los días que no lo tengo, and in 2025, the Press Award at GIFF for Ángeles FC. He is currently developing Entre Corridos y Silencios, a documentary project supported by PECDA Baja California and selected for Plataforma MX and Doklab Navarra 2024.
