A showcase of the best DOCUMENTARY films in the world today.
AUDIENCE AWARDS:
Best Feature Film: Nado
Best Short Film: For Aysia
Best Direction: Bedouins of the Wind
Best Micro-Short: Almost Zero
Best Sports Film: Rounding the Corner
Best Human Interest Film: Wings
Best Science Film: Only Human – Fairness and Justice
Best Family Film: A Letter to Mom
Best New Media Film: Ask an Iranian
Best Nature Film: Depth Nomads – Kazakhstan
ALMOST ZERO, 5min., USA
Directed by Saam Gabbay
Rana faces the devastating aftermath of the January fires that ravaged her neighborhood and consumed her home. As Rana learns to redefine her identity beyond the loss of her home, she ultimately finds a renewed sense of purpose and belonging, proving that even in the darkest times, the human spirit can rise from the ashes. “Almost Zero” is a poignant tale of healing, resilience, and the indomitable power of hope.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-almost-zero
Rounding the Corner, 11min., Canada
Directed by Quinn O’Connor
“Rounding the Corner” follows the motivational story of former Olympic sprinter, Molly Killingbeck, and her devastating setback at the 1988 Olympics. She recounts the event that marked a turning point in her life, and the end of her career as an athlete. Years later, she returns to the track as a coach, using her experience and unshakable resilience to inspire a new generation of athletes.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-rounding-the-corner
For Aysia, 7min., Canada
Directed by Dani Alexandria
Aysia-May has a grandmother she will never meet
and a family that won’t talk about her. When the
family finally opens up, years of trauma begins to
unravel.
https://instagram.com/DaniAlexandriaMusic
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-for-aysia
Wings, 10min., USA
Directed by Jia Xu
A young girl gets inner growth through the accidental death of her pet.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-wings
NADO, 68min., Italy
Directed by Daniele Farina
NADO is an intimate and powerful journey through the life and work of one of the greatest Italian sculptors of the twentieth century. A story of resistance and courage, a human parable of will and joy that spans a whole century.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-nado
Only Human – Fairness and Justice, 2min., UK
Directed Yasmin Godo
Many communities are alienated by and distrustful of advances in genetics. It’s only human to fear, distrust and hesitate when scientists say they are working for your benefit – how do you know? The Only Human film tells Brenda’s experience of having sickle cell disease and uses this to ask scientists working on inherited disease to question whether they are really serving the patients they claim to support. The film pushes for a closer connection between science and society.
https://www.instagram.com/kcespcambridge/
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-only-human
A Letter to Mom, 12min., Maynmar
Directed by Hung Ra
Hting, a Burmese immigrant, full-time sushi chef, and film student, shares a letter to his mom in which he describes the challenges, sacrifices, and experiences that shaped his education — including moving away from home and adapting to new environments — as he navigated the journey from a small village in Burma to becoming a film student in Philadelphia.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-letter-to-mom
Ask an Iranian, 15min., USA
Directed by Elliot Feld, Jonny Pottins
In this fast-paced piece, Iranian-Americans will speak to camera and reveal what life is truly like under the Iranian regime.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-ask-an-iranian
Depth Nomads – Kazakhstan, 78min., France
Directed by Arnaud Palu
Laurent was once an elite French judoka. In 2008, he participated in the Beijing Olympics, carrying the hopes of a nation only to walk out moments later, defeated in his first fight. What followed wasn’t just the end of a match, but the quiet burial of a dream. He gave up on judo, silenced by shame, convinced that failure defined him. When we invited him to join us in the forgotten steppes of Kazakhstan, he accepted, not to return to the sport, but to finally confront the part of himself he had abandoned.
@gmail.com
https://www.instagram.com/depth.nomads/
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-depth-nomads
Bedouins of the Wind, 48min., UAE
Directed by Danish Farhan
A filmmaker lives for 100 days in the desert of his childhood to quietly witness a Bedouin tribe, their camels, and a poetic culture divided between glittering Dubai and desert winds — set against 100 days to the nation’s biggest race, as two generations wonder what it means to remain Bedouin in a vanishing world.
https://instagram.com/filmsbydf
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-bedouins-of-the-wind
Documentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto 