– Ivana Todorović’s short documentary The Divine Feminine has scooped three trophies, while Yugo Goes to America went home with the Audience Award
The winners of Beldocs 2026 (© Luka Milanovic)
The 19th edition of the Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival (20-26 May) showcased over 100 films and immersive experiences across 19 sections and on seven screens. The award winners were announced one day before the closure of the festival, at a ceremony held at the Museum of the Nineties in central Belgrade. Artistic director Marko Grba Singh summarised this year’s edition: “It has shown that we can grow, even in almost impossible conditions, without institutional support and in a system that has not announced open calls for film development or production for more than a year and a half. Despite this, we managed to refresh the festival programme. A new selection, Day 0, with eight short films, was introduced one week before the start of the festival. The winning auteur receives a wild card, allowing their next film to be shown at Beldocs. Also, Meteors and Fireworks have become competitive programmes, with an award given out for the greatest visual and narrative innovation.”
According to the jury, consisting of producer and professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade Ana Martinoli, assistant director of the Yugoslav Cinematheque Radiša Cvetković and filmmaker Szabolcs Szirony, Srđan Kovačević’s The Thing to Be Done was deemed to be Best Film in the International Competition. It also got prize money of €2,000, donated by the DoxTV channel. Two Special Mentions were awarded, to Andrés Livov’s The Blueberry Blues and Natalia Koniarz’s Silver.
In the Serbian Competition, Miloš Jaćimović’s Sunset was crowned as Best Film by the jury composed of artistic co-director and programmer of RIDM Festival in Montreal Marlene Edoyan, and filmmakers Miguel Eek and Nikola Stojanović. The Award for Best Editing went to Mina Simendić for her short film This Desirable Device, while Ivana Todorović’s short The Divine Feminine snagged a Special Mention and the Award for Best Cinematography (Maša Drndić). Todorović’s film also triumphed in the shorts competition, therefore becoming the title emerging from the festival clutching the most awards.
The Teen Competition was conquered by A Fox Under a Pink Moon by Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya Akhalaghi, with the opening film, Yugo Goes to America by Filip Grujić and Aleksa Borković, scooping a Special Mention. Grujić and Borković’s documentary also won the Audience Award. As noted above, prizes were also introduced in the Fireworks and Meteors programme sections, and it was Waking Hours by Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini as well as the short How to Listen to Fountains by Eva Sajanová that were crowned as their respective champions. The jury for the brand-new additional competitive selection for short films mentioned above, Day 0, singled out Margeaux Fournier’s If You Don’t Like It, Look Away as the standout work.
Here is the full list of award winners:
International Competition
Best Film
The Thing to Be Done – Srđan Kovačević (Croatia/Slovenia/Serbia)
Special Mentions
The Blueberry Blues – Andrés Livov (Canada)
Silver – Natalia Koniarz (Poland/Norway/Finland)
Serbian Competition
Best Film
Sunset – Miloš Jaćimović (Serbia/Montenegro/Croatia)
Best Cinematography
Maša Drndić – The Divine Feminine (Serbia) – short film
Best Editing
Mina Simendić – This Desirable Device (Germany/Serbia) – short film
Special Mention
The Divine Feminine – Ivana Todorović
Meteors Competition
Best Film
Waking Hours – Federico Cammarata, Filippo Foscarini (Italy)
Special Mention
Kukata Miti – Daniel Kötter (Germany)
Fireworks Competition
Best Film
How to Listen to Fountains – Eva Sajanová (Slovakia) – short film
Special Mention
Memory – Vladlena Sandu (France/Netherlands)
Shorts Competition
Best Short Film
The Divine Feminine – Ivana Todorović
Special Mention
Ferrari Student Grand Prix – Vasilije Sekulović (Serbia)
Teen Competition
Best Teen Film
A Fox Under a Pink Moon – Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya (Iran/France)
Special Mention
Yugo Goes to America – Filip Grujić, Aleksa Borković (Serbia/Croatia)
Day 0 Competition
Best Film
If You Don’t Like It, Look Away – Margeaux Fournier (France) – short film
Other awards
Audience Award
Yugo Goes to America – Filip Grujić, Aleksa Borković
