Nepatogus kinas 2025 – COMPETITIONS

This year, the main prize goes to… the three best films in the festival’s competition programmes, chosen by an international jury. It is made up of film industry professionals and members of the cinema community, cultural figures and experts in their fields.

Each of the jury members brings a unique perspective and range of experience. Each year, it is up to the festival programmers and the festival director to nominate specific jury members for that year.

New for the 18th edition of the festival are three competitions, created to discover the work of young, first or second-time filmmakers with innovative visual expressions, to reflect on issues of pollution and sustainability and to uncover hidden truths and dive deeper than the surface towards change.

The Emerging Filmmakers Competition programme is dedicated exclusively to aspiring filmmakers who made their first or second feature documentary. Films were selected based on their artistic value, filmmaking skills and revelation of human rights issues. These films showcase a strong belief in cinema as a means of reflecting and reacting to the numerous global issues.

Simon Mozgovyi

Ukrainian film director and film editor, a member of the National Filmmakers Union of Ukraine. His debut documentary, The Winter Garden’s Tale (2018), premiered at Ji.hlava IDFF and then participated in DOK Leipzig, won the Best Ukrainian Film Award at Docudays UA IHRDFF. His ﬁlmography includes the documentaries Salt from Bonneville (2021), Orpheus Is Standing On The Bank Of The Styx (short, 2022), and Militantropos (2025).

Romas Zabarauskas

He established himself as a provocative Baltic storyteller with a politically engaging and visually lush body of work. Zabarauskas holds a BA in film (2012) from Saint-Denis University (Paris) with an exchange year at Hunter College (New York), and an MA in communication (2016) from KSU (Vilnius). Since 2025, he has been studying for a doctorate in cinema at the National Film School of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater. The director’s fifth feature film, the detective story “Aktyvistas” (The Activist), is currently showing in Lithuanian cinemas.

Vivian Schröder

Co-founder of The Good Media Network and herself an Impact Producer and field builder. In the past she has worked on the impact campaigns for the film TOTAL TRUST, directed by Jialing Zhang as well as NOT JUST CELSIUS, a campaign amplifying the voices and stand of the World Youth 4 Climate Justice and Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change. She has organised and co-hosted a Climate Story Lab in Berlin in 2020 as well as a Climate Justice Story Lab in May 2024 in The Hague. She now heads the Good Media Lab & Pitch program together with Anna Ramskogler-Witt, Germany’s first film and impact program. Under the umbrella of their joint company Anna and Vivian also organise the Doxumentale, International Documentary and Media Festival Berlin. Vivian is a member of GIPA.

The Earth is becoming increasingly resistant to the control of civilization. And civilization is trying ever harder to reshape the world according to its own desires. Is positive change even possible in a conflict of this magnitude? The films in the Green Competition program tell us about phenomena, places, people, and other beings whose stories allow us to see ecological challenges and their possible solutions in a new light.

Aurelija Plūkė

An expert on the world of mushrooms, educator, creator of the blog grybupasaulis.lt, and author and host of the first TV program about mushrooms „Jei ne grybai“ (If Not for Mushrooms). She leads educational walks in forests, gives lectures, and develops programs that help people discover mushrooms as an integral part of ecosystems. Her mission is to spark curiosity and open the door to the mysterious world of fungi that shape our environment and daily lives. As an ambassador and volunteer for the Ancient Woods Foundation, she also contributes to the preservation of Lithuania’s old-growth forests.

Monica Lazurean-Gorgan

Producer, a filmmaker and a member of the OSCAR and EFA. Monica is the producer of Acasa, My Home by Radu Ciorniciuc, winner of the Sundance Cinematography Award in 2020 and other 40 international awards; producer of Tata by Lina Vdovii and Radu Ciorniciuc, selected at Toronto IFF 2024, awared as Best Documentary at Trieste 2025 and of IDFA’s 2024 archive movie Bright Future by Andra MacMasters. Monica is the director for the film Wood premiered in CPH:Dox and HotDocs in 2020. She is the producer for the film Between Revolutions by Vlad Petri, winner of FIPRESCI award at Berlinale Forum 2023; delegate producer for Berlinale Golden Bear winner in 2018 Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie. Monica is the director for the film A Mere Breath, opened at Visions du Reel, winner of Best Doc at Sarajevo IFF 2016 and 10 other international awards, screened on Mubi, Amazon.

Margje de Koning

She began her career as a documentary director, creating films for various broadcasting companies for 12 years after completing her studies. She also spent several years teaching documentary filmmaking at the University of Amsterdam. In 2004, she became Commissioning Editor for a slot dedicated to 52-minute documentaries, producing and co-producing creative works on pressing social, cultural, and moral issues with a strong human-interest perspective. While often focused on Dutch topics, these films also covered subjects from around the world. In 2005, she took charge of the Television Department at IKON, later becoming Head of TV, Radio, and New Media in 2012. When IKON was integrated into EO in 2016, she continued as Head of Documentaries for EOdocs. Since 2019, she has been the artistic director of the Movies that Matter film festival. Margje is also a voting member of DAFF (Dutch Academy), EFA (European Film Academy), and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars).

The Impact Competition is dedicated to documentaries that explore crucial political issues through compelling films. They invite us to go beyond the surface, uncover hidden realities, and highlight critical topics that are uncomfortable but ignite the change through revelations.

Ivan Sautkin

Ukrainian film director, cinematographer, artist, and curator. He studied at the Taras Shevchenko State Art School in Kyiv, the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Theatre, Cinema and Television University, and Utrecht State Art Academy in the Netherlands. In addition to filmmaking, he has taught directing courses at KAMA (Kyiv Academy of Media Arts) and later at the Zhovid Directors Campus. In 2012, he founded Zhovid the Residence, a cultural institution in Chernihiv region that hosted art exhibitions, residencies, concerts, screenings, and performances until its activities were halted by the war. Sautkin is also a co-founder of Babylon’13, a collective of Ukrainian filmmakers created during the Revolution of Dignity, and of the Non-Fiction Film Association of Ukraine. His selected filmography includes “Uncle Siroja’s Neighbours” (2012), “Stronger Than Arms” (2015), “A Poem for Little People” (2023), and “Animals in War” (2025).

Tommy Gulliksen

Norwegian filmmaker and director, best known for his award-winning documentaries. He studied arts and journalism at Oslo University College before beginning his career in film. Gulliksen’s work focuses on historical and contemporary social issues, often exploring war, conflict, and human experiences. His notable films include the documentary En liten øy i verden (2011), the series Da vi styrte landet (2017), and the award-winning documentaries Liberation Day (2016) and War of Art (2019). In addition to directing, he is a co-founder of the Norwegian production company DOX Division, which produces creative documentary films and series for international audiences. Gulliksen’s films have received critical acclaim and numerous awards at both national and international film festivals, establishing him as one of Norway’s leading documentary filmmakers.

Charlie Phillips

Documentary film producer, commissioner, programmer, and consultant. He works with documentary makers from all across the world as producer and consultant on creative and financing strategies. His most recent feature documentaries are Blue Has No Borders and Our Land (both Sheffield DocFest 2025). Charlie was previously the Head of Video at The Guardian, overseeing all moving image for the Guardian’s platforms, including its award-winning documentaries, which included the winner of the short documentary Oscar in 2021, and best short at the BAFTAs 2022. He is currently Head of Stories for Lyfta, the main programmer for Folkestone Documentary Festival, was previously Deputy Director and EP Industry Participation at Sheffield Doc/Fest, and has led training programmes and mentored filmmakers all across the world.

COMPETITIONS

AWARDS OF INTERNATIONAL JURY

Emerging Filmmakers Competition