The winners of the III International Documentary Film Festival SiberiaDOC were announced in Krasnoyarsk

The III International Documentary Film Festival SiberiaDOC has ended in Krasnoyarsk. From November 28 to December 7, at the three main venues of the city – the Krasnoyarsk House of Cinema, the Cinema Park cinema and the Kvadrat creative cluster – 67 film screenings were held to full houses.

In 2025, SiberiaDOC confirmed its status as a significant international platform for original documentary films. The competition received 504 entries from 55 countries, from Canada to Chile and from the Netherlands to Iran. The final program included 37 films from 15 countries.

The guests of the festival were 17 directors and representatives of the film industry – members of the jury and participants in the competition program, who held 3 master classes, 2 lectures, took part in a panel discussion and a round table, and also presented films and communicated with the audience at creative meetings.

The culmination of the festival was the closing ceremony, held on December 6 in the Great Hall of the Krasnoyarsk Cinema House. That evening, the names of the winners were announced and the main awards were presented – unique tactile “Branches” figurines created by Krasnoyarsk master Boris Potreba from Siberian poplar. The name of the prize is deeply symbolic: in the language of the Kets, an indigenous people of Siberia, the word “vetki” means “boats.” Thus, the figurines embody the mission of the festival – to be a conductor between cultures, stories and audiences, reflecting the very spirit of documentary cinema.

An expert jury headed by the famous documentary filmmaker, author of “The Book of the Tundra” Alexei Vakhrushev, as well as the first-time audience jury, determined the best works of this season.

The Grand Prix for the best film of the International Feature Film Competition was awarded to the film “Boats” directed by Vincent Boujon (France). This lyrical and visually exquisite work is not just a portrait of a Brazilian favela, but a sensitive exploration of a community of fishermen whose daily lives and age-old traditions balance between fragile beauty and harsh social reality.

A special mention by the jury of the International Feature Film Competition was given to the work “Apple Cider Vinegar” by Sophie Benot (Belgium, the Netherlands).

The Iranian film “Shadow of the King” by Hadi Shariati won the Short and Medium Film Competition. The Israeli film “Rachel and Me” by Hadar Yoselevitz received a special mention from the jury in this category for its perfect debut. This thesis project became more than academic work, changing the author’s life in many ways.

The best film of the Russian Film Competition was “Black Blizzard” by Mira Erkenova, a short documentary about a blizzard in Norilsk, presented as a metaphor for universal anxiety.

A special mention by the jury in the Russian program was given to the lyrical work “99 Letters About Everything” by Dmitry Zhukov, which explores the theme of love through a personal archive.

For the first time in the history of the festival, prizes were awarded to the Audience Jury, which included representatives of the creative professions of Krasnoyarsk. Their choice was the film “Strangers” by Nina Izotova – a powerful story about a new life after prison, which touches to tears.

Special mention was given to the film “The Postman” by Karen Gevorkyan – for its bitter documentation of the most pressing and painful topic in Russia today.

“Over the 10 days of the festival, we presented 6 world and 15 Russian premieres, which confirmed the enormous interest in the event both in Russia and abroad,” summed up the head of the SiberiaDOC festival, Nikolai Bem. — We discussed with experts strategies for promoting documentary films and ways to return viewers to the cinema. But the strongest side of SiberiaDOC is our team. These are people who put their soul and talent into organizing the festival. It is thanks to them, to the fact that we managed to captivate the first, second, tenth viewer, that we grew from a small film club to the big event that you see today.”

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