The awards of the 21st edition

The jury of the International Competition section consisted of Francesca Andreoli (jury president), Léa Pernoliet and Samina Seyed.

The Best Film Award | International Competition, the prize for the best film in the international competition, went to Girls & Gods, by Arash T. Riahi and Verena Soltiz. The jury give this recognition to the film for "its poetic and powerful portrayal of female resistance. Inna Shevchenko’s fearless presence and Arash Riahi and Verena Soltiz's sensitive direction create a film that speaks directly to our time. As Iranian women and others around the world fight for freedom, this story becomes a mirror and a call. Rooted in the spirit of “Woman, Life, Freedom,” the film is urgent, human, and profoundly moving".

A special mention from the international jury went to The Last Ambassador by Natalie Halla, "for its deep emotional resonance and powerful testimony to exile, identity and the price of war. Filmed with clarity and sensitivity by Natalie Halla, the film follows Manizha Bakhtiyari, a former Afghan diplomat and one of the few women to hold such a position, as she faces displacement and the collapse of her homeland. In an unforgettable moment, Manizha recovers at the Afghan border. In a trembling voice, she says that her country is so close, yet so far away and impossible, like a mahe shabe 14, the full moon of the 14th day, big, close, bright, but far away... This moment alone says so much. It captures the pain of separation, the suffering of watching from the outside and the beauty of resilience. We recognise The Last Ambassador as a work of human courage, crafted with compassion and poetic strength. It gives voice to those who have been silenced and memory to what history often forgets".

The Hera “Nuovi Talenti” Award for the best first feature in the International Competition was awarded to Flophouse America, by Monica Strømdahl. The jury said: "We were shocked but also deeply moved by Monica Strømdahl's direct yet empathetic look at young Mikal and his parents, showing us the truth about the marginalised in today's American society. Flophouse America also struck us as a universal cry for child protection".

The Hera "Nuovi Talenti" special mention for the International Competition to Balomanía by Sissel Morell Dargis. A film that "offers a rare and engaging glimpse into the hidden world of Brazilian ball makers, revealing a tradition rich in beauty, passion and a sense of community. With an empathetic and judgement-free gaze, the film explores how an illegal practice becomes an act of cultural resistance and belonging. The jury was impressed by the film's delicate portrayal of the need for expression and freedom and its ability to shed light on a misunderstood world with urgency and grace".

The jury of the Biografilm Italia section is composed of Lucia Tralli (president of the jury), Matteo Bisato and Alessandro De Bon.

The winner of the Best Film BPER Award | Biografilm Italia 2025, for the best film in the Biografilm Italia Competition, is Il Pilastro by Roberto Beani. The jury wanted to award "a local story that becomes universal thanks to the use of rich and varied archive material. Il Pilastro knows how to tell the story of the country by valorising a fascinating and in-depth research work and the protagonists of the district's life".

A BPER special mention from the Biografilm Italia Jury went to A luci spente, by Mattia Epifani: "An honest film, which does not try to turn its protagonist into what he is not, it does not smooth out his angles but underlines his fragility. The images manage to tell the story of a character suspended at the highest moment of his career in the fight that he has failed to win but which he is continuing to fight".

The Hera "Nuovi Talenti" Award for the best first work in the Biografilm Italia section was awarded to Radio Solaire - Radio Diffusion Rurale, by Federico Bacci and Francesco Eppesteingher. For the jury, "Radio Solaire is that cinema that reminds us of the importance of films to enrich our memory with stories that would otherwise be lost. The film is faithful to its protagonist, who never puts himself at the centre but is at the service of the communities whose voice he amplified. Giorgio Lolli's work was work and revolution yesterday, and teaching today".

The Hera “Nuovi Talenti” special mention in the Biografilm Italia 2025 competition was awarded to Felix Rier's Despite the Scars. "The film, without being consolatory, puts Thea at the center by letting her deal with her trauma in the times and ways she chooses. 'Despite the Scars' shows a world that accompanies and supports the protagonist on her journey of processing without demanding a narrative conclusion.”

Once again this year the Manifesto Award was given to the best Contemporary Lives film by the jury made up of representatives of a number of organisations that stand out in the area for the social impact of the projects they carry out. Specifically, Lydia Buchner (Associazione Oltre), Lara Conte (Casa delle donne per non subire violenza di Bologna), Valentina Corona (Extinction Rebellion), Dani Bettini (Gruppo Trans), Suraya Aktur (Next Generation Italy), Valentina Bazzarin (Period Think Tank), Stefano Forlivesi (Plat), Mariana E. Califano (Resistance in Cyrenaica).

The jury awarded the prize to De la guerre froide à la guerre verte (Green Is the New Red), by Anna Recalde Miranda, for "the ability to recount the intersectional character of contemporary struggles starting from the activation of the criminalisation of ecological activism in Latin America. A testimony that transforms from a personal dimension into a collective narrative; stimulating reflections on how national borders do not exist in capitalist exploitation and on the need to rethink the categories of thought with which we experience the contemporary".

The prize awarded by the Young Jury, composed of students from Bologna's DAMS and CITEM degree courses, also returns. The Young Critics Award for the best film in the International Competition went to Home Game by Lidija Zelovic. "A documentary work that represents a personal identity crisis that is profoundly inseparable from the collective crisis experienced by the people of Yugoslavia at the moment of its split. A representation capable of restoring to the spectator not only a mise-en-scène as far from descriptive and objective as possible, but also the extraordinary evolution of the cinematographic-technological medium through the evolution of history itself. For its ability to resurrect in our generation the forgotten collective memory of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and its consequent social, political and economic effects; for its identity as a warning to contemporary Europe about the metastatic nature of any kind of nationalism and about the constant risk of our society forgetting history; finally, for its moving affinity with the socio-political ideals that have permeated the soul of the Biografilm Festival since its inception, we, the students of the Young Critics Jury, have decided to recognise Lidija Zelovic's Home Game as the best film in the International Competition section".

As part of Tutta un'altra storia, the educational social inclusion project dedicated to boys and girls in marginalised situations, two juries worked to award their prizes.

The Tutta un'altra storia Pratello Award, given by the jury composed of a group of children from the “Pietro Siciliani” Juvenile Detention Institute in Bologna, was presented to Il Castello Indistruttibile by Danny Biancardi, Stefano La Rosa and Virginia Nardelli. The jury chose this film because "it is in touch with our lives and because the children protagonists have the power to transform an abandoned kindergarten into a castle. We were impressed by how the children cleaned up to create a fantasy, but real place. The key words are: strength, love, fantasy and transformation".

The Tutta un'altra storia 2 agosto Award, given by the jury composed of a group of girls from the Oikos and Towanda educational communities in Bologna, went to Dear Audience by Enrico Baraldi. "We decided to give the award to the film Dear Audience to give visibility to people who are unfortunately in a war situation and to those who tell their stories. We know that this film will send a message of strength and resilience to all those who are in difficult situations. It will do so because we know that art and culture always save and this film is the perfect example".

The Tutta un'altra storia 2 agosto jury also awarded a special mention to Home Game by Lidija Zelovic, with the following motivation: "we award a special mention to the characters of director Lidjia and her son Sergej, for their courage in sharing their intimacy and for their ability to create a film with their own private story that speaks to all people".

The Arci Ucca Special Jury, founded by members of Arci Ucca, awarded the distribution prize "L'Italia che non si vede. Rassegna Itinerante di Cinema del Reale" and 1000 € to the best film of the Biografilm Italia Competition. The winning film was Felix Rier's Despite the Scars, "for having courageously and sensitively tackled the theme of sexual violence, Despite the Scars is an intense work that recounts a path of personal and collective rebirth. With an empathetic and respectful gaze, the film focuses on the body as a place of suffering but also of redemption, showing the transformative power of art, love and sharing. A powerful example of social cinema that breaks the silence, invites cultural change and promotes responsibility and hope".

The TOP DOC - Il bello del documentario distribution award, presented by the jury composed of content creators Cristian Micheletti, Martina Ghiringhelli and Silvia Clo Di Gregorio for the best film in the Biografilm Italia Competition, went to Radio Solaire - Radio Diffusion Rurale, by Federico Bacci and Francesco Eppesteingher, "for its skilful use of archive material and editing, which powerfully restores radio as an instrument of aggregation, revolution and free thought. A heartfelt and necessary homage to a charismatic and surprisingly little-known protagonist, through a story that celebrates collectivity as a profound expression of humanity". The film will receive a 12-month digital distribution on TOP DOC Prime Video Channel.

TOP DOC special mention for Claudia fa brutti sogni, by Eleonora Sardo and Marco Zenoni, "for the strength of an authentic, intense and deeply human narrative. Claudia and Eleonora's story strikes at the heart for its courage, sincerity and ability to recount, without filters, family complexities. An essential but powerful film, where the roles of director and protagonist merge in a double biographical portrait, capable of moving with the sole force of feelings".

The DocPoint Helsinki | Biografilm Italia 2025 Award goes to Claudia fa brutti sogni by Eleonora Sardo and Marco Zenoni. The film will be part of the programme of the 2026 edition of DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, and the filmmakers will be invited to present it.

Moving on to the Festival audience's favourite films, the Audience Award | Concorso Internazionale, the audience prize for the best film in the Concorso Internazionale, went to Mr. Nobody Against Putin, by David Borenstein and Pavel Ilyich Talankin.

The Audience Award | Biografilm Italia 2025, audience prize for the best film in the Biografilm Italia Competition, went to Il Rospo e il Diamante, by Beniamino Casagrande.

The Audience Award | Biografilm Contemporary Lives 2025, audience prize for the best Contemporary Lives film, went to De la guerre froide à la guerre verte (Green Is the New Red), by Anna Recalde Miranda.

The Audience Award | Biografilm Art & Music 2025, Audience Award for the best Art & Music film, went to Il faro - Il fantastico viaggio della Banda Rulli Frulli, by Gianluca Marcon and Diego Gavioli.

Finally, the Audience Award | Biografilm Beyond Fiction 2025 goes to Alpha, by Julia Ducournau.

Once again this year, during the Festival days, Celebration of Lives Awards were presented to personalities and professionals who, with their lives and work, have left an important mark on contemporary history. The prize was awarded to Maurizio Nichetti, a transversal figure of Italian cinema to whom Nichetti quantestorie by Stefano Oddi, in its world premiere, is dedicated, and to Radu Jude, a brilliant author who brought to the Festival the Italian premiere of Kontinental '25.

The awards of the 11th edition of BIO TO B, the industry event that Biografilm Festival dedicates to business-to-business networking among audiovisual professionals, were also assigned.

The Make it Real Award, a prize for professionals who have distinguished themselves in the field of documentary film production and distribution, this year went to Tom Quinn, founder and CEO of Neon, director, producer and screenwriter.