We are excited to announce the 2026 DOK Industry award winners. 11 prizes were presented to projects across three DOK Industry formats: the DOK Co-Pro Market, DOK Short n’ Sweet, and DOK Preview Germany. Congratulations to the winning teams and big thanks to our award partners!
DOK Co-Pro Market
A total of seven awards were handed out. Jūratė Samulionytė’s “Two of Us” won the Saxon Award for the Best Documentary Project by a Female Director, endowed with €5,000 and sponsored by the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK).
Rami Farah’s “A1” scooped the Verità Films Award for Best Project, which comes with €2,000. The award recognises an outstanding creative vision for a documentary with universal appeal and strong potential to succeed globally across platforms and at major festivals.
Farah’s “A1” also received the Jacob Burns Film Center Residency Award, which comprises two- to four-week residencies and includes a $500 weekly stipend, travel support, and housing, as well as access to the JBFC arthouse cinema and Media Arts Lab with editing, audio, animation, and screening facilities.
The Deutsche Welle Award, carrying a cash prize of €1,500, went to Isaac Knights-Washbourn’s “Fallout”. The awardrecognises a project that tackles some of the most pressing issues of our time, and supports directors and producers at every stage of development, production, or post-production.
Sophie Ataya’s “Who We Are” received the No Nation Films Fellowship Award. The six-month fellowship includes a bespoke mentorship and consultancy package, customised to guide film teams during the development or production stages. The fellowship is offered to exceptional documentary film teams from around the world facing challenging and precarious circumstances.
Shorena Tevzadze’s “Concrete Grassland” picked up the Unifrance Doc Award, in partnership with TitraFilm, which comes with subtitling services worth €2,300, sponsored by TitraFilm, as well as a Unifrance membership worth €1,590 for the project’s French producer.
Almira Saifullina’s “Dala” won the GRAP Archive Award, which comes with an initial consultation with a GRAP archive producer valued at €500. The award honours a project in development distinguished by its extensive use of archival material.
DOK Short n’ Sweet
The Square Eyes Festival Consultation Award went to Anna Dziapshipa’s “Daughter of the Moon”. Square Eyes provides the winning project with a tailor-made consultation on festival strategy.
Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) presented the DAE Talent Encouragement Award to Elza Gubanova’s “Black Waters”, which includes a tailor-made mentoring session with a DAE senior consultant. Gubanova’s “Black Waters” also received the Ohrfilm Award, which offers comprehensive music support services to a short documentary film.
DOK Preview Germany
D-Facto Motion presented the D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize, which comes with post-production services valued at €10,000, to Julius Gintaras Blum’s “EASTKIDS”.
