The awards ceremony took place tonight at Culturgest and was followed by a screening of Eugène Green’s The Tree of Knowledge, the festival’s closing film. In the International Competition, the City of Lisbon Award for Best International Competition Film was awarded to The Night Is Fading Away / La Noche Está Marchándose Ya, by Ezequiel Salinas and Ramiro Sonzini (Argentina), a work that, according to the jury, “celebrates cinema as the ultimate collective adventure, where imagination and solidarity light the way in the darkness.” The Doclisboa Jury Prize in the International Competition went to Tell Me a Fairy Tale / Ji Min Re Çîro Kek Beje, by Ebrû Avci (Turkey), “an elegant, honest, and disarming film in its simplicity, which reveals how much can be said with so little, finding depth in silent gestures and truth in restraint.” The Médicos Sem Fronteiras – Portugal Award for Best Director in the International Competition went to Fantasy / Fantaisie, by Isabel Pagliai (France), “an intimate, tender, and visceral portrait of grief, love, and longing, a raw poetry that remains alive in its fragility.”
In the Portuguese Competition, the Doclisboa Award for Best Film went to Água Mãe, by Hiroatsu Suzuki and Rossana Torres (Portugal), “an elegant and courageous work that elevates everyday life to the sublime, inviting us to experience a world beyond cinema.” The Portuguese Authors’ Society Award from the Portuguese Competition Jury went to As Estações / The Seasons, by Maureen Fazendeiro, “a tactile and engaging film that combines a rediscovered past with an almost timeless present.”
The ETIC School Award was also given to Gil, Let’s Explode São Paulo / Explode São Paulo, Gil, by Maria Clara Escobar, “a collaborative work of punk sensibility and generosity, where dream and reality coexist in a gesture of pure cinematic vitality.” Complô, by João Miller Guerra, received an honorable mention. In the Green Years Competition, the Conserveira de Lisboa Award for Best Film went to Ping Pong, by Tianji Yu, and the Pedro Fortes Award for Best Portuguese Film went to Se Eu Não Morresse Nunca! (If I Never Died!), by David Falcão. I Lit the Fire! by Valeria Lemeshevskaya (Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan) received an honorable mention.
In the Transversal Competition, the Revelation Award – Doclisboa for Best First Feature Film went to Under the Flags, the Sun / Bajo las Banderas, el Sol, by Juanjo Pereira (Paraguay), while Do You Love Me (France, Qatar, Lebanon, Germany), by Lana Daher, received an honorable mention.
The Award for Best Short Film went to Baumettes Studio / Studio Baumettes, by Hassen Ferhani (France), and the Safe and Healthy Workplaces Award – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was presented to Wishful Filming, by Sarah Vanagt (Belgium). In the audience awards, Aurora, João Vieira Torres won the Legal Partners Rights and Freedoms Audience Award, while Punch for Punch, by Diogo Varela Silva, won the TVCine Channels Award.
The 23rd edition of Doclisboa closes on a very positive note, establishing itself as a vibrant celebration of cinema in its most varied forms and expressions. Over eleven days, the festival brought together around 20,000 spectators, with sold-out sessions, conversations with directors, and meetings with the public. Tonight, there was also a tribute to filmmaker, editor, and actress Patrícia Saramago, who passed away last Thursday.
The screenings of the award-winning films from this edition of Doclisboa will take place on October 27, 28, and 29 at Cinema Ideal. Doclisboa will return in 2026, from October 15 to 25, with Greece as the guest country.
