26_Best Student Documentary

Mumbai has experienced intermittent episodes of human-leopard conflict over several decades. The Rescue team of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) go above and beyond to mitigate this conflict where the leopards are voiceless victims. This film unravels the story of interwoven lives of the leopards and people that care for them at the SGNP Rescue Centre. This is an unseen story that showcases the themes of dedication, compassion and tragedy that exist beyond the obvious conflict.

In a Hungarian park of communist-era statues, four children interview tourists—and themselves— trying to understand the meaning of memory.

Under the shadow of a hill, Slavka navigates a life of slow rituals and care for her mother Miluša, as she waits for the light of a new day to come.

A short documentary film that takes the viewers on a thought-provoking journey into the daily life of a food delivery rider, in Estonian harsh winter. The observational approach with its focus on visual composition emphasize minor details, allowing us to observe a society that has turned its back on the most vulnerable. The film portrays the rider’s struggle without excessive words or narration, capturing perfectly the isolation and uncertainty of their everyday lives.

Logline: A hundred years ago, a factory in the village of Anhovo promised prosperity, but delivered a slow death. Synopsis: Nestled by the banks of the Soča River, the village of Anhovo carries a legacy buried beneath layers of history and dust. More than 100 years ago, an asbestos cement factory was built. Through shifting wars, regimes, and borders from fascism, socialism, and capitalism. From Italy, Yugoslavia, to Slovenia, the factory endured. It gave people jobs, homes and hope. But soon, it began to take their breath, their health, and eventually, their lives. Today, it is still belching smoke, as time stands still under the White Veil. The film gives voice to those silenced by progress and asks what remains when the skies clear.

"Butterfly" takes us inside an orphanage in Bijela, Montenegro, where children are given cameras for the first time. What began as a joyful introduction to film and an attempt to spark their desire for education grew into something deeper—a shared journey of hope, discovery, and the quiet strength of those longing to love, be loved, and belong.

Sexual desire among Maria’s (70) circle of same-aged friends varies widely: some can’t imagine a relationship without sex, while others no longer talk about it at all. The film focuses on Maria and her husband Werner, as it explores the evolution of their sexuality and intimacy — what it is that continues to keep their relationship strong, and what physical closeness means in their current stage of life. Still Sexy is an honest, documentary portrait of a couple in later life, capturing both the everyday and the private moments of their relationship, ultimately seeking to answer a question that touches the fears of all generations: How important is sexuality in love and how long can it last?

Miguel and his family are preparing to emigrate from Cuba to Italy where part of his family is already living. While they wait, they begin to take the first step in the life of every migrant: learning the language of the country they want to go to.

A film about the discrepancy between productification and beauty, taking place on an Ecuadorian rose farm. Stepping into the shoes of roses and immersively living through the production process, the film takes on a morbid perspective on human‘s way to appropriate nature.

What memories lie hidden in abandoned houses? The rooms stand still as untouched time capsules – lifeless yet full of stories. Who were the people who once called this place home? All that remains is the echo of their existence: An invisible imprint on the walls, in the dust, in the silence. It is the spirit of the place, floating between decay and oblivion. It murmurs through the faded wedding photograph, drifts through the scattered notes on the desk, and lingers in the wine glass covered in ash. What endures is fertile ground, breathing new life into the space.

This film is about public space. This film is about the destruction of culture. This film is about fountains that have had enough. What would happen if fountains could speak?

A harsh, callous environment, a forest covering the mountain slopes and the thunderous crash of falling trees, interrupted only by the heavy breathing of horses. In these conditions, the relationship between humans and animals is put to the test. Where is the line between exploitation and humane treatment? How do we define our place in the natural world? This film certainly does not provide clear answers.

For a long time they were an integral part of our society, today they live neglected in our cities and are deemed a problem. The pigeon is a relic of the past that still affects us today.

After a traumatic encounter shatters a young director’s relationship with men, she stages a casting call as an experiment—using performance, observation, and dark humour to interrogate masculinity and her proximity to it.

After forty years, Milutin and Mica returned to the school where they began their teaching careers. The dilapidated walls and dim shadows inside the school awakened memories of pupils from the distant past, as well as a way of education that seemed to have disappeared forever.

A female iso-polyphonic group in Albania transforms rehearsals into a shared space of womanhood, collectivity, and resistance.