The Ecumenical Jury Prize in the International Competition went to ‘Moscas’ (Flies) by Fernando Eimbcke (Mexico 2026). In the Panorama section, the jury awarded its prize to ‘Bucks Harbor’ by Pete Muller (USA 2026) and in the Forum section to ‘River Dreams’ by Kristina Mikhailova (Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Great Britain 2026). The prizes in Panorama and Forum are each endowed with €2,500, donated by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK; Panorama) and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD; Forum).
The jury praised Moscas as a “delicate and poetic” film following an imaginative boy searching for his mother and an isolated landlady. Shot in black and white, Eimbcke’s Mexico City portrait uses flies, cosmic imagery, and malignant cells to evoke both decay and wonder amid stark inequality. Through the child-adult encounter, emotional barriers dissolve—imagination becomes a form of resistance against urban alienation.
Bucks Harbor shifts to Maine’s rugged coast, where Muller’s immersive documentary follows seasonal rhythms to question traditional masculinity. The jury commended its exploration of resilience and transformation, situating human fragility against nature’s overwhelming force. Rather than presenting masculinity as fixed, the film observes it in flux—subject to introspection and vulnerability.
River Dreams transforms Kazakhstan’s river into a spiritual axis where young women gather to share experiences, anger, and hopes. Against rigid gender stereotypes, sexualized violence, and constrained protest, the documentary offers what the jury called a courageous portrayal. The river emerges as both witness and refuge, contrasting natural beauty with social constraint.
The jury, composed of European film professionals and scholars, was led by Irish writer-director Douglas P. Fahleson, joined by theologian Stephen G. Brown (Britain), director-journalist Jean-Jacques Cunnac (France), religious studies professor Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati (Switzerland), media scientist Ingrid Stapf (Germany), and film scholar Lea Wohl von Haselberg (Germany).