We open on October 9 with SONGS OF SLOW BURNING EARTH by Ukrainian director Olha Zhurba. The film premiered at the Venice Biennale in 2024 and has since screened at major international documentary festivals. A remarkable work: aesthetically haunting, it renders the horror of Russia’s war against Ukraine emotionally tangible – without showing a single battle. A film not to be missed.

In November we continue with two screenings. On November 12, in collaboration with the festival ANALOGICA, we present TRAINS by *Maciej J. Drygas. Composed entirely of analog found footage, the work won both the International Competition Award and the Best Editing Prize at IDFA. An intense audiovisual journey that takes us by train through the upheavals of the 20th century.

On November 20 follows VALENTINA E I MUOSTRI by Francesca Scalisi, with cinematography by FAS member Stefania Bona. The film tells the tender story of a young woman’s emancipation in Niscemi, Sicily – a town marked by the US Navy’s MUOS satellite communications system and recurring wildfires. Among its awards are the Special Jury Award in Nyon and the FIPRESCI Award in Leipzig.

On December 11 we close the first half of DOC DAY with ALWAYS by Deming Chen. With his debut film, the Chinese director won the Grand Prize at CPH:DOX and the Best Editing Award in Barcelona. A coming-of-age story full of poetry – both in form and content.

In January, attention turns to the Neustadt Trilogy by Thomas Heise. Between 1992 and 2007, Heise followed the people of Halle-Neustadt, once a socialist model city that after reunification became a symbol of decline. Together, the three films form an unflinching yet deeply human chronicle of Germany’s transformation after 1989 – a work about the fragility of hope in times of upheaval and the roots of social divisions that still resonate today. There will be a special lecture at ZeLIG Filmschool on January 15th about Heise as well.

On February 19 we present 9-MONTH CONTRACT by Georgian filmmaker Ketevan Vashagashvili. Since its world premiere at CPH:DOX, where it received the Human Rights Award, the film has screened worldwide at festivals including Hot Docs, Sarajevo, Barcelona, and Munich. It tells the story of Zhana, a young mother who becomes a surrogate out of financial necessity – until the consequences become unbearable.

Finally, on March 19, we close the program with SEEDS by Brittany Shayne, winner of the U.S. Competition at Sundance 2025. Her film portrays Black farmers in the American South who, in the face of systemic inequality, fight for their very existence – a moving and politically urgent work.

We open on October 10 with THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES by Moroccan director Asmae El Moudir — in a special evening co-hosted by the FILMFRAUEN Roundtable and Filmclub’s FEMALE VIEWS. The film premiered at Cannes 2023, winning the Un Certain Regard Directing Prize and the Golden Eye for Best Documentary, and went on to screen at Sundance, Toronto and many other festivals worldwide. Using a handmade replica of her Casablanca neighbourhood and figurines, El Moudir excavates family memory, political silence and the stories we inherit — and those we suppress. A remarkable debut.

In November we continue with OMI NOBU by Cape Verdean director Carlos Yuri Ceuninck, presented in collaboration with the Ökoinstitut Südtirol/Alto Adige. The film premiered and won the Golden Standard at FESPACO 2023, and screened in the Luminous section at IDFA 2023. It follows Quirino — a 77-year-old man who for over thirty years has been the sole inhabitant of a ghost village on the island of São Nicolau, abandoned by all others after a series of disasters. A visually stunning meditation on time, solitude and the bond between a person and the land they call home.

On December 11, in collaboration with Unibz and the CLS, we present 1489 by Armenian filmmaker Shoghakat Vardanyan — in the presence of the director herself. The evening begins at 4pm at Unibz with a seminar, “When conflict and loss become form,” before continuing at 8pm at Filmclub with the screening and a Q&A. A professional musician with no filmmaking background, Vardanyan used her phone camera to document her family’s search for her younger brother Soghomon, who went missing on the seventh day of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. The film won Best Film and the FIPRESCI Award at IDFA 2023. Raw, intimate and devastating — and a unique opportunity to meet a filmmaker of rare courage.

In January we present FAVORITEN by Ruth Beckermann, in collaboration with Forum Prävention, with guests from the German Education Directorate and Network Elki Südtirol. The following day, cinematographer Johannes Hammel leads a Masterclass at ZeLIG Filmschool. Over three years, Beckermann observed a primary school class in Vienna’s working-class Favoriten district, where most students don’t speak German as their first language. The film premiered at the Berlinale 2024, where it received the Peace Film Award, and also screened at IDFA 2024. A quietly urgent portrait of childhood, education and what integration looks like in practice.

On February 13 we present AMOR by Italian director Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri, in collaboration with Lungomare — opening at 6:30pm with a talk on “Rivers and Art,” followed by the screening and a Q&A. The next day, the director and the producer join the IDM Film Jour Fixe at ZeLIG. The film screened Out of Competition at Venice 2023 and in the Luminous section at IDFA 2023. “When I look at Rome, I see my mother.” A deeply personal hybrid documentary — part elegy, part visual poem — about a daughter’s search for a mother lost to the Tiber twenty-five years ago.

We close on March 24 with KIX by Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész, in the presence of editor Yaël Bitton, followed by a Masterclass on editing at ZeLIG the next morning. The film world-premiered at CPH:DOX 2024 and won the Grand Prize and FIPRESCI Award at ZagrebDox 2024. A 12-year odyssey following Sanyi from a rowdy street kid in Budapest to a disillusioned young adult — visceral, morally complex and a powerful close to a remarkable season.

DOC DAY 2024/2025 is an initiative by FAS – Film Association of South Tyrol, supported by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen–South Tyrol.