18.–21.09.2025
18.–21.09.2025
Competition
We are delighted to announce the results of the 2025 short film competition. These include the main prize and the audience award, as well as the short film programme curated by the jury, which will be sent on a cinema tour all over Switzerland in winter.
The main prize is endowed with a cash prize of CHF 2,500 and an award designed and created by artist Clémence Fankhauser. The winning film was selected after careful discussion by our jury, consisting of Stephanie Kuchler, Simon Baumann and Michael Berger. Stephanie Kuchler is responsible for film distribution at cineworx. Simon Bauman is a Swiss filmmaker who last directed the film “Wir Erben”. Michael Berger is a film journalist and produces KulturPur at Radio Kanal K.
The main prize was awarded to the film ‘Velux’ by Salomé Crouzet. Congratulations!
The short film VELUX takes us into a small room and at the same time opens up a wide resonance chamber of memories and longings. The filmmaker tells us honestly about her life, allowing us to share in her open reflections on freedom and self-assertion. The Velux skylight becomes an interface between inside and outside, between the self and the world, between connectedness and emancipation.
Filmmaker Salomé Crouzet demonstrates a keen sense of unconventional image composition and uses simple technical means to create a melancholic yet hopeful and light-hearted mood. In less than six minutes, VELUX touches on central questions of our coexistence and the role of artists in society – with an honesty and vulnerability that we cannot escape.
– Jury Brugger Dokumentarfilmtage 2025
The Audience Award was chosen by our viewers and is endowed with a cash prize of CHF 500. The Audience Award went to the film ‘Le Chant du Saz’ by Naomi Goldziuk. Congratulations!
In addition, the Jury curated an amazing short film programme, consisting of the two winning films in combination with four other films from this year’s short film competition. This programme will be screened in several Swiss cinemas in the coming winter. Half of the ticket proceeds will be divided between the filmmakers of these six films. The venues and dates will be published on an ongoing basis.
The films selected by the jury for this specially curated programme are:
‘Velux’ by Salomé Crouzet
‘Le Chant du Saz’ by Naomi Goldziuk
‘Les Mystères de l’Horizon’ by Mathieu Sauvat
‘Abseits – Ein ungleiches Spiel’ by Katja Stirnemann
‘Houdini’ by Vanessa Hüppin
‘Devenir Fantôme’ by Marion Le Taillandier
Congratulations to these young filmmakers!
The competition for young documentary filmmakers, which was launched in 2023, has become an integral part of the festival. The competition aims to give young filmmakers and their films a platform to be seen by a broad audience and is intended to create a stepping stone on the journey to professional filmmaking. In 2025, 15 films were screened, offering an exciting and diverse insight into the world of Short Documentaries. The films were shown in three blocks:
Block 1:
Im Stau – Alan Sahin, Switzerland, 17 min
Hang am Baum – Lucas Dülligen, Germany, 13 min
Les mystères de l’horizon – Mathieu Sauvat, France, 29 min
Velux – Salomé Crouzet, Switzerland, 6 min
Le chant du saz – Naomi Goldziuk, France, 19 min
Block 2:
Fight to nowhere – Jules Brussel, France, 10 min
Mikado: Vida De Via – Miquel Gomila, Spain, 15 min
Camarades – Ulysse Sorabella, France, 30 min
Terrarium – Ambroise Cousin, France, 15 min
Abseits – ein ungleiches Spiel – Katja Stirnemann, Switzerland, 14 min
Block 3:
Houdini – Vanessa Hüppin, Switzerland, 13 min
Vers l‘absolu – Clara Mirabel, France, 28 min
Maestri di sci – Aureliana Bontempo, Italy, 13 min
Devenir fantôme – Marion Le Taillandier, France, 14 min
Boatman – Audrey Lejeune, France, 17 min