"There's a huge difference between nothing and small things. But life is in fact made up of many, often unnoticed, small things. We need the sensibilities of artists to show us the greatness of the little things. This exquisitely shot chronicle of a rural farming family is alive with compassion and poetry. The DOX AWARD goes to ALWAYS, directed by Deming Chen."

"Home is where the heart is, in love and in pain. A 12-year-old, his mother and his father live in close quarters that involve constant back and forth, fighting, making up, and fussing over one another (and the cat). For its vision of living as a work-in-progress, squeezed by circumstances, the special mention goes to FLOPHOUSE AMERICA, directed by Monica Strømdahl."

"Penetrating a sunny pastoral landscape in single-take, Juliette Le Monnyer's video takes us through an unfolding yet unspecified moment of conflict. The shakey camera pans as if scaling a ziggurat from afar. Dated from 2018, this is a document of a just-past that refuses to give a comprehensive overview and yet, in its partial nature, reveals much about the moment we find ourselves in - the timing of this film's release: March 2025."

"Through an inventive use of associations the film weaves together childhood memories, eerie scenes from computer games, and glimpses of a post-apocalyptic future. Salvaging and cannibalising components of the coming of age drama and the road movie genre, we've been taken to look upon it with a different eye."

"Ultimately we give the F: ACT award to "2000 Meters to Andriivka" not just because it's a conflict on our doorstep, but because it's a masterpiece in filmmaking: a haunting, multi layered portrayal of war comparable to All Quiet on the Western Front. But this is not the First World War, it's today. The meaningless of war, and also its unsettling poetry are all on full display here. An artist in amongst bloodshed brings the reality home, and make an anti war film that forces us to reflect on the diginity of each human life lost."

"Our special mention is extremely powerful on a physical level. The choice to stay on the bodycam footage was brave, and it paid off. This shows enormous filmmaking skill. This is a devastating film about gun violence, but it's also a film about families, about every day life, and the connections between us. The triangle between the perpetrator, the police and the neighbors is woven together with great sensitivity. In its own way, The Perfect Neighbor is a restrained film, and that's what proves so shattering."

"Set in a northern forest, the film follows a community which emerged as a replacement for a lost past which perhaps never existed. For its immense respect and long-term commitment, nuanced approach to existential questions and ability to embrace an environment with so many contradictions, The Next:Wave award goes to Adobe of Dawn."

"Out of the periphery, armed with radical dignity in the face of a prolonged and harsh injustice, we bore witness to a pure flow of vulnerability, front and center, refusing to be cast aside. In the heartbroken cadence of its native tongue, we found an alignment of elements, an intuitive and steadfast tale of a feminine force of nature. Fresh like a gust of the Nordic wind, the healing powers of the film left us breathing hope and gentle triumph. A reminder of putting cameras in the rightful hands, demonstrating the difference between observational documentary and representational storytelling. For sending us off all the wiser, we present the award for Best Nordic Documentary to WALLS (Akinni Inuk) by Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg & Sofie Rørdam from Greenland."

"We also want to award a special mention to a film imbued with magic and mystery whose visual language and soundscapes impressed us. A film that blurs past and present to address issues around urbanisation, gentrification and the social landscape and troubled history of Spain. The film with the most beautiful name and title design, we award a special mention to Who Witnessed the Temples Fall."

"Because some of the hardest questions can sometimes be answered with the simplest of ideas and a whole lotta style, an honorable mention goes to THE NICEST MEN ON EARTH by Josefine Exner & Sebastian Gerdes."

"The winner in the Human Rights Competition is a film that portrays the relationship between a mother and her daughter with a radical intimacy and an outstanding tenderness. Through its visual poetry the film balances delicately between the harshness of their situation and the humanity of Zhana and her intense love for her daughter. The Human Rights Award goes to 9 MONTH CONTRACT directed by Ketevan Vashagashvili."

"The Special Mention goes to a hopeful and inspiring film that immerses you in the activism of students in times of conflict and oppression. While it was surprising for us that this was the only film in the Human Rights Competition that addresses the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, we are extremely happy to give the Special Mention to THE ENCAMPMENTS directed by Michael T. Workman & Kei Pritsker."