The Grierson Trust has announced the nominations for the 2025 British Documentary Awards in association with All3Media.
The BBC tops this year’s awards longlist with 19 nominations across its channels and on iPlayer, followed by Channel 4 with eight, Sky Documentaries with five, Netflix with three, Prime Video, ITV, National Geographic and Mubi with two, and one each for Disney+ TNT Sports, and RTE.
This year’s nominations include entries made by 35 female directors, including all the films nominated for Envy Best Single Documentary – Domestic category, and 42 male directors (some productions are co-directed).
London and Glasgow-based Rogan Productions has three nominations: one for The Search for Nicola Bulley in the Envy Best Single Documentary – Domestic category and two for Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks (BBC) which is nominated in the Channel 4 Best Popular Culture Documentary category, with Rose Ayling-Ellis also up for Best Documentary Presenter.
Five production companies have two nominations each: Acme for The Trouble With Mr Doodle (theatrical release) and Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire (BBC), Curious Films for Boyzone: No Matter What (Sky Documentaries) and Shoot to Kill: Terror on the Tube (Channel 4), Fee Fi Foe for Apollo 13: Survival (Netflix) and This Is Endometriosis in the Best Documentary Short category, Firecrest Films for Murder Trial: Girl in the River and Poppy Jay in the Best Documentary category for Young, British and Anti-Abortion (BBC), and Lightbox for The Trouble With Mr Doodle (theatrical release) and What They Found (BBC).
Four documentaries have been nominated in multiple categories: Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park for Best Crime and Justice Documentary, and Netflix Best Documentary Series; No Other Land for the Broadcast International Best Single Documentary – International, and Sky Documentaries Best Cinema Documentary; Small Town, Big Riot – Episode 2 for the Televisual Best Current Affairs Documentary and Best Documentary Presenter, and Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks for the Channel 4 Best Popular Culture Documentary as well as Best Documentary Presenter.
The nominations for Best Presenter reflect the rise of diverse talent within UK broadcasting: Blindboy Boatclub for Blindboy: The Land of Slaves & Scholars; Mobeen Azhar for Small Town, Big Riot; Poppy Jay for Young, British and Anti-Abortion and Rose Ayling-Ellis for Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks
The two new categories for this year’s awards reflect one of the fastest growing documentary genres and recognise successful returning series. Nominations for the Best Crime and Justice Documentary award span UK and international subjects including the 7/7 attacks, how an innocent man spent 17 years in jail in one of Britain’s worst miscarriages of justice, institutional racism and police misconduct following the murder of two sisters, and the crackdown on reproductive rights in the US.
The Best Returning Documentary Series award celebrates the strength and importance of returning documentary formats to broadcasters, streamers and producers in today’s competitive television landscape. The nominations cover subjects including cutting edge surgery, police investigations, and the ethics of capital punishment.
Lorraine Heggessey, Chair of the Grierson Trust said: “This year’s Grierson Award nominations showcase the incredible talent of documentary filmmakers from a wide range of backgrounds. I’m especially pleased to see the growing number of female directors recognised, given how long this has been a challenge for our industry. The rise in documentaries directed by women reflects the efforts of commissioners, production companies and others who are working to redress the balance and support female creative talent. These nominations also highlight the continuing strength and appeal of observational documentaries, at a time when many in the industry have been questioning their role and relevance within an evolving television landscape.”
The 2025 awards ceremony takes place on 18th November at Roundhouse in Camden. Tickets at www.griersontrust.org/grierson-awards/ceremony.
The nominations in full
Envy Best Single Documentary – Domestic
Groomed: A National Scandal
Candour Productions – Channel 4
Anna Hall, Luke Rothery, Nicola Addyman, Imaan Labad, Mark Stokes, Joanna Wilcock
Groomed: A National Scandal, a powerful new film authored by filmmaker Anna Hall on the explosive issue of gang grooming, which puts the experiences of five women who have survived unimaginable abuse at the heart of a story which spans more than 20 years.
The Search for Nicola Bulley
Rogan Productions – BBC
Rachel Rob Levyt, Mark Hedgecoe, James Rogan, Soleta Rogan, Xinlan Rose
The inside story of the search for Nicola Bulley told by her family and the police who investigated her disappearance.
Undercover: Exposing the Far Right
Tigerlily Films, Marking Films Inc, HiddenLight, Doc Society – Channel 4
Havana Marking, Natasha Dack, Fiona Stourton, Siobhan Sinnerton, Tom Turner, Tara Creme
A thrilling feature documentary goes undercover with the UK’s leading antifascist group as they undertake a secret investigation. Hidden cameras reveal how far right activists aim to radically shift mainstream politics, how vulnerable communities are targeted, and how a new generation of well-funded and media-savvy influencers are using discredited ‘race science’ to legitimise prejudice. Things get even more dangerous when they discover a million-dollar money trail to Silicon Valley.
Witches
Ardimages UK, Montgomery Avenue, Mubi, Garden Studios – Mubi
Elizabeth Sankey, Manon Ardisson, Chiara Ventura, Jeremy Warmsley, Chloë Thomson, May Davies
Witches is a profound exploration of the unexpected yet compelling connections between postpartum mental health and the portrayal of witches in western society and popular culture. Using her own experiences, Elizabeth Sankey intertwines personal narrative with historical and cinematic footage, featuring interviews with medical professionals, historians, and fellow sufferers, offering a multifaceted perspective on how women with mental health issues have been stigmatised and misunderstood over time.
Broadcast International Best Single Documentary – International
Black Box Diaries
Hanashi Films, Cineric Creative & Star Sands Production – Theatrical release
Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari, Hanna Aqvilin
Black Box Diaries follows director and journalist Shiori Ito’s courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Unfolding like a thriller and combining secret investigative recordings, verité shooting and emotional first-person video, Shiori’s quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country’s desperately outdated judicial and societal systems.
No Other Land
Antipode Films, Yabayay – Channel 4
Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
For half a decade, Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, films his community of Masafer Yatta being destroyed by Israel’s occupation, as he builds an unlikely alliance with an Israeli journalist who wants to join his fight.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
A Netflix Documentary. A Medieoperatørene Production and VGTV – Netflix
Production team
When gamer Mats Steen died at age 25, his parents mourned what they thought was an isolated life. It was only once they had access to his blog that they discovered the deep friendships he created virtually before passing away from a degenerative muscular disease. The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is a transformative journey proving how community can transcend the physical world.
Sugarcane
Kassie Films, Hedgehog Films, Impact Partners, Fit Via Vi – National Geographic
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn, Christopher LaMarca, Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life, Sugarcane, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning.
Televisual Best Current Affairs Documentary
Dead Calm: Killing in the Med?
BBC Current Affairs – BBC
Mike Radford, Ben Steele, Lucile Smith, Farah Karim, Alex Fry
Are EU agents killing migrants at sea? Powerful new evidence suggests masked state operatives may be responsible for the deaths of people who reach Europe before they can officially register as migrants.
Life and Death in Gaza
BBC Eye, BBC Storyville – BBC
Natasha Cox, Lara ElGibaly, Haya AlBadarneh, Sarah Keeling, Simon Cox, Mustafa Khalili
Life and Death in Gaza is a film made by four Palestinians living through extraordinary times. Filmed from the first days of the war, Khalid, Aya, Adam, and Aseel document their own lives as they endure bombing raids, multiple evacuations, family separations and reunions, deaths, and even the birth of a new life amidst the chaos. Self-shot over the course of a year, the film captures the fight for survival through direct, personal experiences. Interwoven with these are observational scenes filmed by other filmmakers on the ground, as well as personal archives from before the war. Together, they tell a uniquely human story about the first year of the war in Gaza, challenging assumptions about the conflict and those caught in it. The film showcases stories of resilience, loss, and hope amid a deep and desperate humanitarian crisis.
Maternity: Broken Trust
Pulse Films (part of VICE Studios) – ITV1
Laura Warner, Tom Keeling, Becky Southworth, Charlotte Stordy, Rosie Taylor, Scott Holland-Jones
Maternity: Broken Trust exposes failures in and asks questions about maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, through the experiences of a group of bereaved and harmed families fighting for justice.
Small Town, Big Riot – Episode 2
Forest – BBC
Leo Fawkes, Stefan Mattison, Michael McGill, Mobeen Azhar, Jeremy Lee, Catey Sexton
Mobeen investigates how a protest outside an asylum seeker hotel turned into a riot, uncovering a blueprint for a national wave of violence that eight months later would affect us all.
Best Arts and Music Documentary
In My Own Words: Alison Lapper
Chalk Productions – BBC
Victoria Holden, Poppy Goodheart, Kira Phillips, Kate Spankie
Alison Lapper, artist, muse and mother, explores her life through art and archive in this visually rich and powerfully intimate film. Born with no arms and short legs, she is a formidable character, who defies preconceptions and breaks down barriers. As Alison works towards a new exhibition of her work, she confronts the most difficult aspects of her life: the loss of her son Parys, her disability and the challenging relationship with her own Mother.
Music by John Williams
Lucasfilm Ltd, Amblin Documentaries, Imagine Documentaries – Disney+
Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Justin Wilkes, Meredith Kaulfers, Laurent Bouzereau
A fascinating and insightful look at the prolific life and career of the legendary composer, featuring interviews with artists and filmmakers whose lives have been touched by his timeless music. From his early days as a jazz pianist, the documentary takes an in-depth look at his countless contributions to film.
The Trouble with Mr Doodle
Acme in association with Lightbox – Theatrical release
Jaimie D’Cruz, Ed Perkins, Andrew Hulme, Kevin Pollard, Andrew Stirk, Simon Chinn
Sam Cox was born to draw. By the time he went to school he was drawing all day every day, and all night too. As his life became an unstoppable stream of doodling, Sam created a fantasy world so compelling he couldn’t find his way out. This is the story of an extraordinary boy from an unremarkable English town and how a childhood passion threatened to take over his life, his home and his mind.
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
Manon et Jacob, Final Cut For Real, Fremantle, Louverture Films – Theatrical release
Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Mandy Chang, Joslyn Barnes, Estephan Wagner
When artist Maggie Barrett (75) breaks her femur, her husband Joel Meyerowitz (84), a world-famous photographer, becomes her caregiver. In the shadow of mortality, each with a long and dramatic life behind them, the hard truths of life together provoke in Maggie and Joel an attempt to find a shared inner peace while there is still time.
Best Crime and Justice Documentary
Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park – Episode 1
True Vision Productions – Sky Documentaries
Alex Thomas, Sian Guerra, Lindsay Konieczny, Jane Greenwood, Ian Watts, Brian Woods
Raw, emotional, and compelling, Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park unravels the shocking killings of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. Featuring powerful interviews with their mother, loved ones, and detectives, it reconstructs the sisters’ final hours, the desperate search for their killer, and the police misconduct that followed. With never-before-seen evidence and police recordings, the series offers a unique insight into the investigation, institutional racism and the injustices Bibaa and Nicole’s case exposed.
Shoot to Kill: Terror on the Tube – Episode 1
Curious Films – Channel 4
Charlie Russell, Andrew Slater, Dov Freedman, Faye Planer, Charlie MacDonald, Yasmin Heidary-Milic
Shoot To Kill: Terror on the Tube is a groundbreaking and critically acclaimed documentary series, twenty years after one of the most significant periods in British public life: the July 2005 London bombings and their aftermath. At the centre of the series is an extraordinary testimony from the Metropolitan Police specialist firearms officer who shot and killed Jean Charles de Menezes, who had never publicly spoken about the most controversial moment in British policing history.
The Wrong Man: 17 Years Behind Bars
Two Step Films – BBC
Jemma Gander, Fran Robertson, Danny Collins, James Pounce, Shona Thompson, Kevin Macdonald
Filmed over three years, The Wrong Man tells the shocking story of how Andrew Malkinson was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a horrific crime he didn’t commit and of his 20-year fight for justice.
Zurawski v Texas
HiddenLight Productions, Story Force, Out Of Nowhere – Eventive – Together Films
Production team
Women denied abortions under Texas’ ambiguous and unforgiving abortion bans band together with a fearless attorney to sue Texas. The extent of their traumatic experiences is revealed as they wrestle to regain their reproductive futures and set a precedent for millions of other women and families. Zurawski v Texas reveals the dire impact of losing access to healthcare and the extraordinary efforts of the women and men fighting on the frontline to regain those rights.
Best Sports Documentary
Four Kings – Rise of the Kings
Workerbee – Prime Video
Rick Murray, Kevin Macdonald, Jared Wright, Hassan Ghazi, Stewart Kyasimire, Benjamin Hirsch
This is the definitive story of the golden age of British Boxing – through the eyes of those who were wearing the gloves, Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Lennox Lewis. Featuring unprecedented access to the boxers and their families, we chart the highs and lows in their quest to out-do one another, battling for their place on the throne.
Sven
Whisper and Up&Away Film Entertainment – Prime Video
Claudia Corbisiero, Chris Grubb, Drew Masters, James Quinn, Jamie McIntosh
Think you know everything about Sven-Goran Eriksson? Think again. This is the revealing and heart-warming story about one of football’s most enigmatic yet recognised characters, following the rise (and tabloid-emblazoned fall) of the first foreign manager of the England National Team. Intertwined with moving and intimate personal insight, and a portrait of the man by those closest to him, Sven comes to terms with his terminal cancer diagnosis.
Unbreakable: England 2003
TNT Sports, Buzz 16 – TNT Sports
Chris Hay, Andrew Hewitt, James Leith, Nichola Adams, Tom Boswell, James Turner
Unbreakable: England 2003 is a powerful, intimate exploration of untold stories from England’s Rugby World Cup-winning squad. Through exclusive access and unseen archive footage, the documentary offers an unflinching portrayal of masculinity, mental health, and male friendship –unveiling a side of these national heroes the public has never seen before. The result is a deeply original piece of journalism, sparking national conversation and inspiring personal change.
Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire
Acme – BBC
Andy R. Worboys, George Grafton, Jaimie D’Cruz, Miriam Walsh, Luke Flight, Oliver Schofield
In 1985 a fire ripped through the stand at Bradford City’s Stadium claiming 56 lives. And then, as the years passed, the story of one of the worst disasters in footballing history faded quietly away. Now, to mark its 40th anniversary, the Bradford City fire is remembered, and its victims and survivors commemorated, through the compelling personal testimony of those who were there and who won’t let it be forgotten.
Best History Documentary
Atomic People
Minnow Films – BBC
Benedict Sanderson, Megumi Inman, Morgan Matthews, Otto Burnham, Sonia Khan Emma Alldis
Combining their personal accounts with archive footage, Atomic People features a significant number of voices from the only people left on Earth to have survived a nuclear bomb, whilst exploring how their experiences continue to affect them to this day.
Children of the Cult
DM Productions – ITV1
David Modell, Ben Ferguson, Maroesja Perizonius, Alice McShane, Victoria Hollingsworth, Ella Newton
Children of the Cult is an investigation into the Rajneesh movement, the world’s biggest cult. Until now, a central truth about the organisation has remained hidden. Filmmaker Maroesja Perizonius, herself a child of the communes, has decided to change that. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh built a society with its own moral code, where terrible crimes against children were normalised. Maroesja unmasks perpetrators and demands answers from the closest members of the Cult’s inner circle.
What They Found
Lightbox in association with Neal St and Imperial War Museums, distributed by All3Media – BBC
Sam Mendes, Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, Andy R. Worboys, Gaby Aung, Pippa Harris
Directed by Sam Mendes, What They Found follows two soldier-cameramen from the British Army’s Film and Photographic Unit who filmed the liberation of Bergen-Belsen in April 1945.
The Zelensky Story – Episode 1
72 Films, Open University – BBC
Michael Waldman, Jecca Powell, Louis Lee Ray, Martin McDonnell, Ben Brown, Jonathan Smith
With unique access to Volodymyr Zelensky and Olena Zelenska, this is the extraordinary journey of a comedian playing the president who became the real president of his country.
Best Science and Natural History Documentary
Apollo 13: Survival
A Netflix Documentary, Insight TWI Films Presents in association with Fee Fie Foe – Netflix
Production team
Just nine months after Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, NASA faced its greatest crisis – three astronauts stranded halfway to the moon on a spacecraft that had suffered a catastrophic explosion.
Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story
Hardcash Productions – BBC
Simon Rawles, Esella Hawkey, Steve Williams, Susie Boniface, Liz Knowles, Alex Booth
This powerful documentary investigates the hidden human and scientific legacy of Britain’s Cold War nuclear tests. Drawing on rare archival footage, expert analysis and intimate testimony, the film uncovers the genetic, medical and environmental consequences of exposing thousands of people to dangerous levels of radiation. It reveals how scientific evidence of harm was ignored or suppressed by authorities, leaving veterans, descendants and Indigenous communities to suffer the long-term fallout of one of Britain’s darkest experiments.
Nocturnes
Metamorphosis Film Junction, Sandbox Films – Theatrical release
Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan, Greg Boustead, Jessica Harrop
In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, moths are whispering something to us. In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on a secret universe.
Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey
A Netflix Documentary, An Anonymous Content, Dog Star Films, Water Creature Film Production – Netflix
Production team
A man finds new purpose when he helps rescue a baby pangolin, one of the most trafficked animals in the world, in a sting operation in South Africa. He leaves the city and embarks on a heartfelt mission to rehabilitate and prepare the vulnerable animal for a life of freedom in the wild.
Best Returning Documentary Series
24 Hours in Police Custody
The Garden – Channel 4
Simon Ford, Amber Ronowicz, Georgie Emary, Jermaine Blake, Tess Mawle, Carys Laws
The landmark documentary series that captures real life drama at its most intense, following police detectives around the clock as they investigate major crimes.
Life and Death Row
BBC Studios Documentary Unit – BBC
Production team
Life and Death Row returned for a new series in a changed world, exploring the uniquely modern issues now relevant to capital punishment. Editorial neutrality enabled exploration of how true-crime podcasts, the latest neuroscience and even celebrity endorsements have influenced individual cases, with the potential to alter the course of justice.
The series evolved to take a multi-camera approach to observational filming, enabling the capture of unique, unfolding moments from multiple perspectives.
Murder Trial: Girl in the River
Firecrest Films – BBC
Iain Scollay, Vari Innes, Matt Pinder, Kirsty MacFarlane, Audrey McColligan, Maxene Purdie
One of the nation’s biggest cold cases – the murder of Caroline Glachan, a schoolgirl who never came home. Three suspects stand accused of brutally killing the teenager, more than two decades after her body was found in the River Leven. Shocking and chilling revelations unfold for the first time.
Surgeons: At the Edge of Life
Dragonfly Film & Television Productions – BBC
Production team
The surgeons of NHS Lothian perform high-risk procedures for patients across Edinburgh and beyond, bearing the ultimate responsibility for transforming and saving lives.
Channel 4 Best Popular Culture Documentary
Boyzone: No Matter What
Curious Films – Sky Documentaries
Production team
They were one of the most successful and iconic boybands of all time, but behind-the-scenes conflict and rivalry, betrayal and tragedy led to their falling apart. Now, thirty years on, all four remaining members – Ronan, Keith, Shane and Mikey – plus estranged manager Louis Walsh reveal the truth of what really happened, the extraordinary highs of their meteoric rise to fame, and the huge costs that being in a boyband had on each of them.
Grand Theft Hamlet
Rebecca Wolff, Julia Ton – Mubi
Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, Julia Ton, Rebecca Wolff, Mark Oosterveen
Amid COVID-19, two out-of-work actors, Sam and Mark, face a bleak future. Desperate for purpose, they stumble upon an idea: stage Shakespeare’s Hamlet within the ultra-violent world of Grand Theft Auto Online. Shot entirely in-game, Grand Theft Hamlet explores their attempt to merge classical theatre with a chaotic digital landscape. This engaging documentary examines how ancient cultural narratives can resonate in new, virtual spaces, raising questions about the digital world’s potential for storytelling.
Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks
Rogan Productions – BBC
Teresa Watkins, James Rogan, Dan Hall, Simon Gilcrest, Soleta Rogan, Camilla Arnold
This heart-warming and thought-provoking series follows Rose Ayling-Ellis as she embarks on an incredible experiment teaching a group of retirees British Sign Language. Rose takes on this mission impossible with the help of her friend and teacher recruiting a group of self-described “recycled teenagers” at a retirement village and together they go on a riotous and laugh-out-loud journey complete with bingo trips, deaf raves and signed karaoke.
Virgin Island – Episode 6
Double Act Productions – Channel 4
Rob Davis, Tom Garland, Joe Wildman, Mel Walden, Matt Bailey, Sarah Carnie
In this groundbreaking series, Virgin Island follows twelve adult virgins as they attend a unique intimacy course at a luxury retreat to help them overcome the fears that are holding them back. The age young people are losing their virginity is higher than ever due to social media, pornography and loneliness. Through therapy from world-leading sexologists, this heartwarming, thought-provoking and zeitgeist series explores these young people’s issues as they take their first steps towards sex.
Netflix Best Documentary Series
Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park
True Vision Productions – Sky Documentaries
Alex Thomas, Sian Guerra, Lindsay Konieczny, Brian Woods
Raw, emotional, and compelling, Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park unravels the shocking killings of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. Featuring powerful interviews with their mother, loved ones, and detectives, it reconstructs the sisters’ final hours, the desperate search for their killer, and the police misconduct that followed. With never-before-seen evidence and police recordings, the series offers a unique insight into the investigation, institutional racism and the injustices Bibaa and Nicole’s case exposed.
Chimp Crazy
HBO Documentary Films presents A Goode Films Production – Sky Documentaries
Jeremy McBride, Eric Goode, Lissa Rivera, James Liu, Tim Moran, Evan Wise
Former nurse-turned-exotic animal broker Tonia Haddix, who refers to herself as the “Dolly Parton of chimps,” spends her days caring for animals in captivity. However, her limitless love for one chimpanzee in particular spins into a wild cat-and-mouse game with authorities and an animal rights group. Through Tonia’s and other “chimp mom” experiences, Chimp Crazyreveals the singular bonds that form between owners and their highly intelligent great ape pets.
Kill List: Hunted by Putin’s Spies
Passion Pictures, Bellingcat Productions – Channel 4
Production team
A gripping, urgent series telling an unfolding, inside story of journalists targeted by Russian spies; Christo Grozev, revealer of multiple assassination plots, faces a kill threat himself. The hunters become the hunted.
Tsunami: Race Against Time
Blast Films – National Geographic
Daniel Bogado, James Parris, Tanya Winston, Danny Horan, Laura Miller, Siobhan Harvey
A massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean sets off a tsunami that, within minutes, arrives in the bustling city of Aceh, causing unprecedented havoc and devastation. This film follows the desperate struggle to survive of city-dwellers in Indonesia and tourists in Thailand caught in the unfolding catastrophe.
Sky Documentaries Best Cinema Documentary
Agent of Happiness
Match Frame Productions, Sound Pictures – Theatrical release
Noémi Veronika Szakonyi, Máté Artur Vincze, Arun Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurbó
Amber, a happiness agent, travels the Bhutanese Himalayas surveying people’s happiness. On his remote mountain journey, he searches for fulfilment.
Mediha
LoveWorld Media, Enderby Entertainment, Rhino Films, People in The Park, Together Films – Theatrical release
Hasan Oswald, Mediha Alhamad, Annelise Mecca, Fahrinisa Oswald, Alexander Spiess, Stephen Nemeth
A powerful testament to the human spirit, Mediha turns her camera on herself to process her trauma while rescuers search for her missing family members, revealing the strength and determination of a young survivor.
Motherboard
OKRE, First Person Films, Autlook Film Sales, Tull Stories – Theatrical release
Victoria Mapplebeck, Debbie Manners, Oli Bauer
At 38, film director Victoria Mapplebeck found herself single, pregnant, and broke. That was 20 years ago, she’s been filming her life ever since. Victoria captures a life where she and her son Jim, survive two generations of absent fathers, her breast cancer diagnosis and Jim’s rollercoaster teen years. Motherboard is an honest, funny and relatable film for anyone who wants to see a portrait of love and family life in all its unfiltered glory.
No Other Land
Antipode Films, Yabayay – Theatrical release
Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
For half a decade, Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, films his community of Masafer Yatta being destroyed by Israel’s occupation, as he builds an unlikely alliance with an Israeli journalist who wants to join his fight.
All3Media Best Student Documentary
Hooked
National Film and Television School – University/college screening
Bettina, Carrie Penn, Tom Moss, Domantas Jakubauskas, Carmen Boettcher, Glen Fulthorpe
Hooked follows Glen as he deals with the aftermath of his father’s heroin addiction and overdose. Through honest conversations with people connected to his father’s life, Glen faces the confusion, anger, and grief caused by addiction, while also reflecting on how it has impacted his own life. The film is a personal journey exploring pain, forgiveness, and the search for meaning in a life shaped by addiction.
One More Cup of Coffee for Ambe’
University of Manchester – University/college screening
Shinta Retnani, Angela De Souza Torresan, Andy Lawrence, Andarias Parapak, Ferry Adita Purnama
One More Cup of Coffee for Ambe’ offers an intimate glimpse into a Torajan family’s daily life as they continue to share space with their late father’s body awaiting the funeral. They are deeply rooted in a culture where death is not seen as an end, but as extension of life itself. The film quietly observes love, loss, and the cultural entanglement between traditional Aluk to Dolo beliefs and Christian practices in contemporary Indonesia.
Two Days on the Interstate
National Film and Television School – University/college screening
Tatiana Stark, Esther Thompson, Dominique Del Fuego, Tanya Singh, Blanca Romeo de la Higuera, Benet Serra
As thousands of people travel to see the total solar eclipse in Texas, one woman drives from Dallas to New Mexico in search of a legal abortion. Concurrently, people in a town off the interstate she is driving along decide whether to crack down on ‘abortion traffickers’ like her.
Welcome Home Freckles
National Film and Television School – University/college screening
Huiju Park, Benjamin Kodboel, Clare Maleeny, Edoardo Vella, Levi Giger, Nathan Hendren
After four years apart, a daughter returns home to confront the unresolved family conflicts and deep-rooted domestic violence that plagued her childhood. She discovers the generational cycle of abuse and realises that only she can break it.
Best Documentary Short
Chernobyl: My Promised Land
Story Films – Sky Documentaries
Mark Dominic Devlin, Kateryna Voropai, Bruce Fletcher, Anton Short
This film follows Vadim, an eccentric engineer and refugee who, after losing his home to Russian airstrikes in 2015, starts anew in the last place anyone expects – Chernobyl. With big plans, he clashes with the village mayor and powerful locals while trying to transform the area. But when war returns, Vadim doesn’t flee. This time, he takes the Russians head-on in battle and unites with the village locals after years of conflict.
Equal Play
Harder Than You Think – Channel 4
Lily Ahree Siegel, Robert Ford, Laura Spini, Calum Campbell, Barnaby Spurrier, Jack Thorne
Equal Play explores the transformative power of sports for disabled people through the stories of two British children. Marley discovers confidence through boxing, and Tammy is inspired by a Paralympian to explore wheelchair racing. Both face discrimination in their access to sports and PE, and the film follows their fight against these systemic barriers. By capturing the joy and empowerment that sport brings to disabled individuals, Equal Play highlights the positive change that inclusion creates.
Songs from Inside
BBC 100 Women, BBC World Service – BBC
Production team
Thousands of Iranian women have been arrested since the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, for protesting for women’s rights. Evin Prison is one of the jails where women are sent. Despite torture and threats of execution, they continue to fight, finding courage and camaraderie in the face of oppression. Pieced together from multiple reliable accounts, this is the story of life inside these walls, that the world never sees. And three women: Nasim, Rezvaneh, and Vida.
This Is Endometriosis
Fee Fie Foe – Minute Shorts ‘Minute Shorts Presents’ Playlist
Georgie Wileman, Matt Houghton, Harriette Wright, Lauren Frankfort, Anna MacDonald, Vanbur
Combining deeply private, self-documented material, intimate family archive, observational footage and a collection of reconstructive memories, This Is Endometriosis is an intimate, expressive story of a young photographer’s battle to stay in the present while facing a wall of disbelief. Seen through the lens of Georgie’s beautiful, brutal photography, This Is Endometriosis is a human insight into the realities of living with the disease and a story about the power of community.
Best Documentary Presenter
ROSE AYLING-ELLIS for Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks
Rogan Productions – BBC
Teresa Watkins, James Rogan, Dan Hall, Simon Gilcrest, Soleta Rogan, Camilla Arnold
This heart-warming and thought-provoking series follows Rose Ayling-Ellis as she embarks on an incredible experiment teaching a group of retirees British Sign Language. Rose takes on this mission impossible with the help of her friend and teacher recruiting a group of self-described “recycled teenagers” at a retirement village and together they go on a riotous and laugh-out-loud journey complete with bingo trips, deaf raves and signed karaoke.
MOBEEN AZHAR for Small Town, Big Riot – Episode 2
Forest – BBC
Production team
Mobeen investigates how a protest outside an asylum seeker hotel turned into a riot, uncovering a blueprint for a national wave of violence, that eight months later would affect us all.
BLINDBOY BOATCLUB for Blindboy: The Land of Slaves & Scholars
Connla’s Well Productions – RTE
Blindboy Boatclub, James Cotter, Sally Roden, Amelie De Buyl Pisco, Emer O’Clery, Mark Bennett
Writer and podcaster, Blindboy Boatclub explores the evolution of Irish society during the spread of Christianity in this lyrical and unique documentary.
POPPY JAY for Young, British and Anti-Abortion
Firecrest Films – BBC
Poppy Jay, Nicole Kleeman, Vari Innes, Grace Kirkwood, Audrey McColligan, Naomi Buchanan
The abortion rate in Britain is at the highest on record. While opposition to abortion remains a minority view, a recent British poll found nearly 90% of respondents saying they were pro-abortion. Filmmaker Poppy Jay wants to explore whether there is a new demographic galvanising the UK anti-abortion movement: Gen Z. Poppy meets the young British people leading anti-abortion campaigns, asking difficult questions and fighting to end access to abortion.
Jon Creamer
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