Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival
Location: Baku / Azerbaijan
Foundation date: 2017
Founder: Imam Hasanov
Director: Imam Hasanov
DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival (BSFF) is a film festival held annually in Baku since October 2017. As the first documentary film festival in Azerbaijan, DokuBaku BSFF consists of dozens of film screenings and master classes with the participation of foreign film professionals.
The festival was started by a group of film professionals and enthusiasts on a voluntary basis. The idea and founders of the festival belong to Azerbaijani director Imam Hasanov (festival director) and Czech director and producer Veronika Yanatkova (programmer).
The main goal of the festival is to develop documentary film in Azerbaijan as a means of self-expression and reflection, to support local directors working in this genre, and to connect the country's film scene with the international film community.
1st Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2017)
Winners:
Coridor – director Igrar Gurban
Humble room ADO – director Leyli Gafarova
To Monica – director Oktay Namazov
II Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2017)
III Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2018)
IV Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2019)
Date: October 2-6, 2019
181 films from 32 countries were accepted for the festival. 43 of the films are full-length and 138 are short films. 38 films were presented at the festival.
Winners:
Best full-length documentary - The disappearance of my mother - Beniamino Baresse (Italy / USA)
Best short documentary - In between - Samir Karahoda (Kosovo)
Best local film - Once upon a time in Shanghai - Leyli Gafarova
Special Jury Commentary - Save Salaam! (Save Salaam!) - Orkhan Adigozalov
Audience Review - Taste of Hope - Laura Coppens
5th Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2021)
The festival screened 56 films from 30 countries.
The main theme of the festival was "Senses ±".
Jury: Vitaly Manski, Christian Feigelson
Winners:
Best International Documentary Short Film - Fantasy - Maija Blafieldin (Finland)
Best International Documentary Short Film - Special Jury Mention:
The Rhythm of Oblivion - Ginou Choueir
Best Local Documentary Short Film - The Last - Fariz Ahmadov (Azerbaijan)
Best Local Documentary Short Film - Special Jury Mention: The Butcher's Daughter (Leylakhanim Ganbarli)
No Main Competition - From the Neighborhood - Diogo Varela Silva (Portugal)
No Main Competition - Special Jury Mention: My Quarantine Month - Veycia Man / Taming the Garden - Salome Cashi / I'll Be by Your Side - Virginia Vareykite, Maximilien Dejoin / 80,000 Schnitzels - Hannah Schweyer
Memorial Awards: Mirsadiq Agazade, Murad Ibrahimbeyov, Khamis Muradov, Nizami Abbas, Ali Isa Jabbarov
"iCyborg" special awards: Vitaly Manski, Vagif Mustafayev, Chingiz Rasulzade (posthumously)
VI Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2022)
Date: September 21-25, 2022
The theme of the festival is “Revolution against Evolution”.
The festival screened more than 60 documentaries from 33 different countries. The program also included a retrospective of the films of documentary filmmaker Sergey Dvortsevoy.
Jury: Sergey Dvortsevoy, Reza Degati, Kirstin Barfod
Special guest: Pavel Lozinski
Winners:
Best International Short Film - Hey, Sun - Marita Tevzadze, Ana Jegnaradze (Georgia)
Best Local Short Film - 12/35 - Matlab Mukhtarov
Best Local Short Film - Special Jury Prize - House on a Volcano - Amil Amal
Special Awards: Festival Poster - Rishi Chandna (India) / Childless - Sarah Bahramjahan (Iran)
Best Feature Documentary in the “No-Main” Competition: I am looking for a hero - Ilkin Yusif (Azerbaijan) / A Thousand Flames - Said Taji Farouki (France)
Best Short Documentary in the “No-Main” Competition: Pacha Stories - Milen Guiard-Schmid (Belgium)
Special Jury Prize - Mamodi, the last baobab digger - Cyril Cornu (France)
Best Feature Documentary - Balcony - Pavel Lozinski (Poland)
Special Jury Prize - Gods of Mexico - Helmut Dosantos / Alice - Nicolas van Hemelrik, Claire Weiskopf
Special iCyborg Awards: Sergey Dvortsevoy, Pavel Lozinski, Reza Degati, Jeyhun Mirzayev (posthumously)
Special “iHuman” Award: Alakbar Huseynov (posthumously)
Traditional Award of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan - I am looking for a hero - Ilkin Yusif
VII Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2023)
Winners:
Best Foreign Short Film: Piblokto - Anastasia Shubina, Timofey Glinin (Russia)
Best Azerbaijani Short Film: Hadis - Nazrin Aghamaliyeva
Best Short Film in the “DokuDarwin” nomination: Sanatorium Melodies - Leylakhanim Ganbarli
Best Foreign Short Film in the “DokuDarwin” nomination: Golden Thread - Nistha Jai (India)
Best Feature Film: Mr. Graversen - Michael Graversen (Denmark)
No Main Best Film: After the Bridge - Davide Rizzo, Marsia Toscana (Italy)
Special Jury Prizes: Dancing on the Edge of the Volcano - Cyril Aris (Lebanon) / No Winter Break - Rajan Kathet, Sunir Pandey (Nepal)
Special Jury Prize: Behind the Fences - Azad Alizadeh, Dog Doc - Dadash Musayev, Sitara Ibrahimbeyli / Hear the Sounds from Home - Sabina Abubakirova
Special “iCyborg” Prize: Rahman Badalov, Togrul Juvarli
VIII Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2024)
Date: October 2-8, 2024
The festival program, dedicated to the theme of “iCosmos”, will screen more than 70 films selected from more than 200 works from more than 30 countries. In addition to the film screenings, the festival also hosted a photo exhibition titled “Changing Reality: Echoes and Dreams” in collaboration with the photography platform “f37Union”. The exhibition featured works by local and international artists and photographs on the themes of identity, transformation and sustainability.
Jury: Polish director Pavel Lozinski, Tajik film critic Sharofat Arabova, Serbian producer and art historian Mara Peohaska Markovic, Romanian film critic Alin Ludu Dumbrava, screenwriter, writer Nargiz Bagirzade, director, producer Seyran Mahmudoglu, director, producer, AKI secretary Oleg Safaraliyev, director of the Tbilisi Contemporary Dance Festival Tamuna Gurchiani, Russian director, historian, screenwriter Yevgeny Symbal
Winners:
Best Short Documentary: Since Then I've Been Flying - Aylin Gökmen (Switzerland)
Best Short Documentary - Special Jury Prize: 4:30 - Vasily Ovchinnikov (Russia)
Best Local Short Documentary - First Place: Kaifu's Call - Aghaali Sadirli
Best Local Short Documentary - Second Place: Seasons - Parviz Hasanov
Best Local Short Documentary - Special Jury Prize: God's Hand of Salvation - Babek Abbaszadeh
Best Feature Documentary: The Faces of Agatha - Malgorzata Kozera (Poland)
Special Jury Prize: The Mother of the Snow Cranes - Iris Harma / (Finland) / Searching for a Stranger - Andrea Gatopoulos / (Italy)
Out-of-Competition Documentary: These Wild Cats - Steve Patri / (Canada)
Special Mention: Alice On & Off - Izabela Tent (Romania) / Mrs. Buica - Eugene Buica (Romania)
Out-of-Competition Best Short Documentary: Getting to Know You - Ioanna Krzewska (Poland)
Special Mention: Estabana - Hector Almeida (Cuba)
Audience Choice in category: I Didn't Woke Up Dead Today - Erin McPherson (Belgium)
IX Dokubaku International Documentary Film Festival (2025)
Date: October 13-19, 2025
This year, DokuBaku received more than 200 films from around the world. Of these, 57 films, including 5 local documentaries, were included in the festival program.
Jury:
DOKUTAM - Best International Feature Documentary: Giuseppe Gariazzo Italy, Polina Herman Ukraine, Tue Steen Müller Denmark
DOKUBOX - Best Debut Documentary: Oktay Namazov, Dinorath Ramírez González Mexico, Kamran Gasimov
DOKUECHO - Best Documentary about Nature: Ruslan Mollayev, Emin Efendiyev, Richard James Allen
DOKUKIDS - Best Documentary for Children: Rúben Gomes, Aysel Amirova, Nikolay Flotskiy
DOKUMUSE - Best Documentary about Music and Rhythm: Katerina Tarbo-Ignatenko, Basilio Maritano Sailer, Javad Taghizadeh
DOKUSHORTS - Best International Short Documentary: Ali-Sattar Guliyev, Kazuhiko Mizushina, Leyli Salayeva
Winners:
DOKUTAM competition - Main prize - iMystic: Who will knock on the door of the house? - Maja Novakovic – Serbia
DOKUTAM Competition - Special Jury Mention: My Home - Seyran Mahmudoglu - Azerbaijan / Father's Lullaby - Lesia Diak - Ukraine / Double Trouble - Emilia Sniegoska - Poland
DOKUSHORTS Competition - Main Prize - iMystic: Grape Season - Ebrahim Hesari - Iran
DOKUSHORTS Competition - Special Jury Mention: Ready to Die - Basilio Maritano Sailer - Germany / Metin - Sam Soleymani - Iran
DOKUMUSE Competition - Main Prize - iMystic: After the Dance - Sebastiao Varela - Portugal
DOKUMUSE Competition - Special Jury Mention: Maestro: On Lightning Paths - Huseynaga Aslanov - Azerbaijan / Songs - Pablo Guarise - Belgium
DOKUECHO Competition - Main Prize - iMystic: Herd Walk - Ankit Pogula - India
DOKUECHO Competition - Special Jury Mention: Prasha-Kriti - Araz Guliyev – Azerbaijan / The Silence After the Storm - Alina Rizvan – Pakistan / Green Grey Black Brown - Yuyan Wang – China, France, Korea
DOKUKIDS Competition - Main Prize - iMystic: Hexagonal Beehive and Mouse in the Maze - Bartek Dziadosz, Tilda Swinton - United Kingdom
DOKUKIDS Competition - Special Jury Mention: Dancing Girl - Parvana Guliyeva - Azerbaijan / Bali - Amoli Birevar - India / To the Garden, La La La - Kajetan Lukasz Pochylski - Poland
DOKUBOX Competition - Main Prize - iMystic: Lower Shadows - Ramin Khaliqi - Iran
DOKUBOX Competition - Special Jury Mention: Migration to Nowhere - Nikolay Flotsky - Norway
