Awards & Fellowships

Amman Film Festival Award

Jordan’s international fest held its 6th edition July 2—10.

✦ Farah Kassem’s We Are Inside won the Feature-Length Doc Black Iris Award.

Albie Awards—Maysles Documentary Center

The Albies honor filmmakers who inspire with their films and broader contributions as mentors, role models, and champions for social justice. This year's ceremony will take place September 24.

✦ Brittany Shyne’s Seeds ✦ Geeta Gandbhir's The Perfect Neighbor (AlumNest)

Antenna Documentary Film Festival   

Antenna's Rough Cut Lab pairs Australian filmmakers with mentors to support the completion of their feature documentaries and ran July 19—21.

✦ Elizabeth Lo was a mentor.

Giffoni Film Festival

The Italian international festival held its 55th program July 17—26.

✦ Cutting Through Rocks won the Griffin Award for Best Feature Documentary.

Festivals & Screenings

Blackstar Film Festival    

The 14th annual festival showcased works from Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers July 31—August 3.

✦ Brittany Shyne’s Seeds ✦ Brit Fyer and Lydia Cornett's Tessitura  ✦ Geeta Gandbhir’s The Devil is Busy (AlumNest) ✦ Contessa Gayles’ The Debutantes (AlumNest) ✦ Latajh Simmons Weaver’s Budget Paradise (AlumNest)

And in the pitch: ✦ Resita Cox presented Wahnish Keeps Me Free as a producer on the project ✦ Jess Devaney served as a panel judge

DokuFest

The 24th annual Kosovo festival takes place August 1—9.

✦ Brett Story: DO YOU MIND IF I ASK YOU A QUESTION? Artist Spotlight  ✦ Amber Fares's Coexistence, My Ass! (AlumNest) ✦ Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni's Cutting Through Rocks  ✦ Alisa Kovalenk's My Dear Théo ✦ Sasha Wortzel's River of Grass  ✦ Brittany Shyne's Seeds

The Dads Screening Fundraiser

Luchina Fisher’s The Dads screened in Santa Barbara on July 24. The event was sponsored by The Fund for Santa Barbara with proceeds going towards the film's completion. 

Hollyshorts Film Festival

This 20 year-old Los Angeles film festival celebrates shorts and will take place August 7—17.

✦ Aurora Brachman and LaTahj Simmons-Weaver’s Hold Me Close

International First Peoples Festival in Montreal

Also known as Présence Autochtone, this fest celebrates the cultures and histories of Indigenous peoples from the Americas. It will run August 5—14.

✦ Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler’s Bad Press ✦ Lisa Jackson’s Wilfred Buck (AlumNest)

La Biennale Di Venezia

The world's oldest film festival will run from August 28—September 7. ✦ Viv Li’s You Jian Chui Yan (AlumNest) ✦ Laura Poitras’ Cover-up (AlumNest)

Kochi-Muziris Biennale

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is the largest art biennale in South Asia.

✦ Miriam Chandy’s The Leopard’s Tribe screened on July 17. 

Vashon Island 2025 Film Fest

Celebrating independent cinema through curated screenings of notable and award-winning films, this fest will run August 7—10.

✦ Brittany Shyne’s Seeds 

Songs From the Hole screening at DCTV

Contessa Gayles’ Songs From the Hole had a sold-out theatrical run at DCTV in New York from July 25—31.

Streaming on Netflix

✦ Contessa Gayles’ Songs From the Hole (August 13) ✦ Petra Costa’s Apocalypse in the Tropics (available now) ✦ Isabel Castro’s Selena y Los Dinos (coming this winter)

Streaming on The Criterion Channel

Two documentaries by Brett Story are part of Criterion’s August 2025 lineup: 

✦ The Hottest August ✦ The Prison in Twelve Landscapes