Recommended for ages 18 and up

Kuba és Alaszka

Jegor Trojanovszkij ukrán filmrendező, forgatókönyvíró és operatőr. Szilárd szakmai tapasztalattal rendelkezik az audiovizuális szektorban, filmgyártásban, televíziós műsorokban, reklámokban és zenei videókban dolgozott ukrán és amerikai televízióknak. Első rövid dokumentumfilmjét, a Reart (amely részt vett a VI. Odesszai Nemzetközi Filmfesztiválon) írta és rendezte is. Első egész estés dokumentumfilmje, a Demon részt vett a XI. Odesszai Nemzetközi Filmfesztiválon, és elnyerte a Fipresci-díjat a legjobb film kategóriában. Társalkotója a kritikusok által elismert, Collapse: How Ukrainians Destroyed the Evil Empire című történelmi dokumentumfilm-sorozatnak.

Rashid, the Boy From Sinjar

Jasna Krajinovic was born in the former Socialist Republic of Slovenia, in Yugoslavia. Before studying at the Academy for Theatre and Cinema, she studied French and English literature at the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Moving to Brussels, she studied film directing at the National Institute of Performing Arts. Since graduating in 1999, she has devoted her life to independent filmmaking. Her films were produced by the Dardenne brothers for 13 years, and she still works with their production house Dérives. She has received numerous awards. Following Damian’s Room (2009) and Summer with Anton (2012), Rashid, the Boy from Sinjar (2025) completes her series of portraits about teenagers transcending the limits of complex life conditions.

Militantropos

Alina Gorlova is a Ukrainian film director. She graduated from Karpenko- Kary Kyiv National University of Theatre, Film & Television. She co-founded a production company, TABOR. Her documentary, No Obvious Signs, won the MDR film award for Best Eastern European Film at DokLeipzig.

Yelizaveta Smith is a film director, co-founder of TABOR and a member of the Ukrainian and European Film Academy. Her documentary, School Number 3, co-directed by Georg Genoux, won the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International Jury at the Berlinale 2017.

Simon Mozghovyi is a Ukrainian film director. He studied Cinema and Television Arts at the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, and then went on to study an advanced-level course in dramaturgy in Kyiv, where he began acting.

The Longer You Bleed

Ewan Waddell is a Berlin-based director whose debut feature, The Longer You Bleed, premiered at Hot Docs 2025. His style blends mixed media and experimental approaches to examine the modernity crisis. Waddell now develops his second film, exploring the therapeutic use of psychedelics in war-torn Ukraine.

2000 Meters to Andriivka

Mstyslav Chernov is a Pulitzer Prize–winning Ukrainian filmmaker, war correspondent, and novelist. He is known for his coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as wars in Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan. His film 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL won Best Documentary Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Trains

Maciej J. Drygas is a renowned film and radio director, screenwriter, producer, and professor at the Polish National Film School in Łódź. His works have received numerous prestigious awards, including the European Film Academy Award for Best Documentary for “Hear My Cry” (1991).

Niñxs

Kani Lapuerta is a trans filmmaker and researcher. He studied a Masters in Documentary Film at the Escuela Nacional de Estudios Cinematográficos de la UNAM in Mexico. His work explores projects and spaces that challenge hegemonies around gender, sexuality and corporealities, while opening new possibilities through the audiovisual medium. In 2023, he wrote and directed “La UNAM sin Límites”, a miniseries produced by UNAM and Procine CDMX, which proposes narratives of sex-gender dissidence within Mexico's largest university. In 2021, he released “La Fuga”, a short documentary film that explores masculinity and the prison experience. The film debuted at the Morelia International Film Festival and received awards at several international festivals. In addition, Kani teaches film workshops in institutions and cultural centers in Mexico and abroad, sharing his passion for audiovisual language as a tool for creation and transformation.

The Shards

Masha Chernaya studied journalism at MSU, poetry at Maxim Gorky Literature Institute, and post-documentary photography at Docdocdoc school of photography. She works as a director-cinematographer, photographer, scriptwriter and tutor. Her filmography includes:
Crooked Ray District (2019) The Well Man (2019) R2CC (2020). Gasping For (2022) Breaking Character, documentary web series (2022) To Kill What Lives Inside Me (2022) Here Is To The Absent Ladies! (2023)"

Sally!

Deborah Craig is an award-winning documentary director and producer whose films use compelling personal stories to raise awareness about the challenges and strengths of underrepresented communities. Her work has played at LGBTQ+, women’s and documentary film festivals in the U.S. and internationally. Deborah’s most recent short, “A Great Ride,” a 33-minute documentary about lesbians and aging, premiered at the Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festival in San Francisco in 2018, was picked up for distribution by Frameline, has screened at over 50 film festivals around the globe, and has won multiple awards. “Sally” will be her first feature-length documentary. Deborah has a BA in history from Columbia University, did undergraduate work in photography at California College of the Arts, and has a Master of Public Health from San Francisco State University, where she currently teaches in the Public Health Department.

Ondine Rarey is a filmmaker, editor, and writer. Her documentary “Fools and Heroes” was a Grimme-Preis nominee (the German equivalent of an Emmy), airing on ARTE in France as well as stateside on PBS. She has edited well over a dozen documentary features and shorts, including “Now en Español” (for PBS), “A Great Ride,” “Who Will Write Our History” and, “Rebel Hearts,” an official selection at Sundance 2021. She has edited on multiple TV series, including “Keeping up with the Kardashians” and “Alien Encounters.” Ondine received a BA from UC Berkeley in History and a BFA in Documentary and Journalism from the Munich University for Television and Film in Germany. She currently resides in Southern California, where she teaches Documentary Editing at Chapman University.

Jörg Fockele is an award-winning filmmaker with a career spanning over 25 years. He has written and directed over 10 short films, four feature documentaries, and numerous music videos and PSAs. Of the awards and distinctions Jörg has received, the most important ones are retrospectives at the Goethe Institutes New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Mexico City, two Emmys and a special prize from the International Film Festival in Berlin. In addition, Jörg is a critically acclaimed television producer of award-winning shows such as Bravo’s “Queer Eye,” ABC ’s “Wife Swap,” the Sundance Channel’s “Big Ideas for a Small Planet” and AMC’s “Small Town Security.” He has also directed and produced shows for MTV, CBS, Oxygen, Discovery Network, PBS, Fine Living Network, and the SciFi Channel.

Cuba & Alaska

Yegor Troyanovsky is a Ukrainian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He has solid professional experience in the audiovisual sector working in film production, television programs, advertising, and music videos on Ukrainian and American TV. Yegor is the author and film director of his first short documentary film Rear (participated in the VI Odesa International Film Festival). His first full-length documentary film Demon was a participant in XI Odesa International Film Festival and received the Fipresci award for the Best Film. Yegor Troyanovsky is also one of the creators of the critically-acclaimed historical documentary series: Collapse. How Ukrainians Destroyed the Evil Empire.

23rd Verzió

17-25 NOVEMBER 2026.