EXCLUSIVE: DOC NYC announced its awards for the 16th edition of the festival today, with Déni Oumar Pitsaev’s Imago earning the Grand Jury Prize for International Competition.
It’s the latest major award for Pitsaev’s film, a documentary that sees him return to an area of Georgia settled by Chechen refugees where his family expects him to conform to a narrow lifestyle the filmmaker has outgrown. Imago premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, winning the L’Oeil d’or prize for the best documentary in the festival, as well as the Critics’ Week Jury Prize.
Filmmaker Déni Oumar Pitsaev with his mom in ‘Imago’
Triptyque Films/Need Productions/Arte Cinéma/RTBF
“The jury was deeply moved by Imago’s daring intimacy,” wrote the judging panel comprised of Steve Maing (UNION, Crime + Punishment), Emma D. Miller (Mistress Dispeller), and Igor Myakotin (Queendom). “Through cinematic layering, vulnerability, and lyricism, the filmmaker turns the camera inward to rebuild identity and familial bonds with rare honesty and grace. Each frame feels intentional and emotionally charged, inviting viewers into a Chechen community seldom seen on screen. The film lingers long after viewing and resonates as both personal confession and cultural revelation.”
Imago was produced by Alexandra Melot, Anne-Laure Guégan, and Géraldine Sprimont.
The jury awarded a Special Mention to 9-Month Contract, directed by Ketevan Vashagashvili, and produced by Anna Khazaradze and Nino Chichua. “The jury praises 9-Month Contract’s sensitivity and craft, a masterful example of cinéma vérité anchored by trust built between filmmaker and subject. Through precise editing and quiet observation, the film draws us into an intimate portrait of a mother and daughter bound by love and survival, revealing tenderness and dignity amid hardship.”
Imago and 9-Month Contract will be available for streaming in the U.S. on the DOC NYC viewing portal through November 30, joining over 90 features on the platform including 14 of the festival’s award winners and more than 100 of the festival’s short films.
Scroll for the complete list of DOC NYC winners.
DOC NYC
The Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Competition went to Traces of Home, directed by Colette Ghunim, and produced by Sara Maamouri, Dan Rybicky, and Capella Fahoome, a film that held its world premiere at DOC NYC.
“The jury was moved by the film’s vulnerability,” wrote the panel comprised of Patricia E. Gillespie (The Fire That Took Her, The Secrets We Bury), Hugo Perez (Omara), and Mars Verrone (UNION). “Using an intimate family lens, it offers a powerful portrayal of parenthood and identity. With tenderness and courage, the filmmaker uses the camera as a tool for reconciliation that bridges generations and cultures. In a time of division, this Traces of Home stands out for its compassion and timely representation of Mexican and Palestinian experiences united by love and resilience.”
The jury awarded a Special Mention to Wayumi, which also held its world premiere at the festival. The film is directed by Andrew Balcof, and produced by Andrew Balcof,David Good, and Elius Kim.
“Film participant Yarima shines in this strikingly honest two-way fish-out-of-water story about family, belonging, and the effort to bridge two worlds,” jurors wrote of Wayumi. “The jury appreciated the film’s heartfelt and homespun approach. The filmmaker repeatedly chooses to play moments others might be tempted to turn from, sanitize, or push to resolve, offering audiences a refreshingly honest look at a uniquely complex mother-and-son relationship. It’s the kind of film you’ll remember for a long time.”
‘The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control’
DOC NYC
The Audience Award went to The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control, a DOC NYC world premiere directed by Aisling Chin-Yee, and produced by Julie Bristow and Abby Greensfelder. Logline: “An advocate fights to bring a proven female sexual desire pill to market, exposing systemic neglect and double standards in a male-centered medical establishment.”
The Grand Jury Prize in the Shorts Competition was awarded to A View from Home, directed by Mingzhe Zhou, and produced by Yiqian Zhang and Mingzhe Zhou. The prize automatically qualifies the short for Oscar consideration.
“The jury appreciated this film’s inventive and poetic approach to observing everyday life,” wrote the panel of judges comprised of Sean Glass (filmmaker and producer), Sam Sarowitz (owner of Posteritati Movie Posters), and Caroline Suh (award-winning director, producer, and showrunner). “Blending humor and sharp editing, it transforms simple moments into a witty reflection on human connection and memory. With echoes of Chantal Akerman, yet a voice all its own, the film finds beauty in the ordinary and meaning in the mundane. It’s an engaging, artistic film that celebrates creativity and the quiet theater of the world around us.”
Jurors awarded a Special Mention in that category to A Color I Named Blue, directed by Sybilla Patrizia, and produced by Mai Hosomura and Sybilla Patrizia.
DOC NYC
“The awards announcement comes as DOC NYC wraps one of the most successful editions of its in-person festival ever,” writes the festival, “with more than 24,000 attendees having watched films over nine days in New York alongside more than 1,500 filmmaker and industry guests participating in screenings and panels.”
Along with those outlined above, these are the prize winners from the 16th edition of DOC NYC:
Metropolis Competition: The jury selected from among six films in this section, which is dedicated to stories about New Yorkers and New York City.
Grand Jury Prize: Artists in Residence, directed by Katie Jacobs, produced by Henry Hayes. (World Premiere)
Jurors’ statement: “The jury was inspired by this moving portrait of women who chose art and independence over convention. The film uses honesty and vérité style to capture the emotional complexity of balancing creativity and identity. It invites reflection rather than easy answers, revealing how friendship, place, and persistence shape a life’s work. A deeply resonant New York story that would have been forgotten if it was not for the making of this film. Artists in Residence celebrates the courage to live authentically and the power of art to define a lifetime.”
Special Mention: Museum of the Night, directed by Fermín Eloy Acosta, produced by Ramiro Pavón, Pablo Ingercher, and Fermín Eloy Acosta. (North American Premiere)
Jurors’ statement: “The jury admired this film’s striking sense of style and consistency. It sets its own rules and follows them with confidence, transporting viewers into a world of art, memory, and self-expression. Through its rich use of archival footage and cinematic tools, the film evokes nostalgia while celebrating the fearless creativity of a bygone era. This is a fascinating, deeply felt journey through the intersections of art and identity.”
Jurors: Felipe Estefan (executive producer of Apocalypse in the Tropics, The Territory, Igualada), Lisa Immordino Vreeland (filmmaker of Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, Unknown Beauty, Jean Cocteau), Ted Passon (Emmy-award winning filmmaker of Patrice: The Movie and Philly D.A.).
Kaleidoscope Competition: The jury selected from among five films in this section, which showcases essayistic and formally adventurous documentaries.
Grand Jury Prize: Shifting Baselines, directed by Julien Elie, produced by Andreas Mendritzki. (NYC Premiere)
Jurors’ statement: “The jury was impressed by how the film expands beyond expectations into a haunting reflection on human ambition and the natural world. Its striking black-and-white cinematography and bold artistic choices draw the viewer into a story that feels both urgent and universal. Balancing power and subtle humor, it transforms the impact of the SpaceX project into a vivid portrait of displacement, border politics, and the cost of progress.”
Jurors: Bill Morrison (Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Incident); Karol Piekarczyk (artistic director, Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival), and Tiffany Sia (artist, writer, and filmmaker).
AUDIENCE AWARD
Audience Award Winner (as noted above): The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee, produced by Julie Bristow and Abby Greensfelder. (World Premiere)
Audience Award Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
Beyond, directed and produced by Asia Johnson, Michael Kleiman. (World Premiere)
The Big Cheese, directed by Sara Joe Wolanksy, produced by James A. Smith, Sara Joe Wolansky. (World Premiere)
The Nutcracker at Wethersfield, directed by Anne Sundberg, produced by Julie Seureau, Anne Sundberg. (World Premiere)
PRETTY DIRTY: The Life and Times of Marilyn Minter, directed by Jennifer Ash Rudick, Amanda M. Benchley, produced by Debi Wisch, Jennifer Ash Rudick, Amanda M. Benchley. (NYC Premiere)
Subject Matter: DOC NYC partnered with Subject Matter to present a $25,000 grant from Subject Matter to Nuns vs. The Vatican, directed by Lorena Luciano, to support the film’s audience outreach and impact efforts, along with a corresponding grant of $25,000 to the nonprofit BishopAccountability.org.
Subject Matter additionally awarded a $20,000 grant to Sandra Winther’s debut feature Lowland Kids, with a corresponding $20,000 grant to the First People’s Conservation Council, a nonprofit organization. Both films made their U.S. premiere at DOC NYC.
The Louies: DOC NYC announced a $100,000 fund for short films that will make its debut in the 2026 season. To be known as The Louies, and named after Louis Wolfson, a pioneer in television and media, the fund will award three U.S.-based producers with short documentaries in various stages of production, toward completion and release in 2026. Details and an open call for applications will be made public in late spring 2026.
The Louies will be proudly presented by DOC NYC and sponsored by the Lynn & Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation.
DOC NYC PRO Pitch Day Awards
AJH Films Pitch Day Award
The AJH Films Pitch Day Award of $6,000 was awarded to director Frank Martin for his work-in-progress project Son of Lazio. AJH Films is an international filmmaking company founded by award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Holder dedicated to navigating provocative spaces through equitable and dynamic storytelling.
Pitch Day Audience Award The Pitch Day Audience Award was given to co-directors Sam Cullman and Chris Frierson for their work-in-progress film Cop City. This film follows Atlanta, once celebrated as the cradle of civil rights, as it becomes a new frontline for democracy and dissent, where activists pushing back against a massive police training facility find themselves charged as terrorists. The Pitch Day Audience Award includes a gear bag from Think Tank and a suite of consultations with a range of industry professionals.