The documentaries of dok.incubator 2025 bring a truly international mix of voices and views, coming from New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, many European countries, and the United States. Besides the countries of origin, the eight selected films also vary in terms of the topics - there are very personal coming-of-age stories, poetic journeys of liberation and womanhood, but also scientifically, legally, and environmentally focused documentaries showing attempts and determination to make a change. “This year we anticipated that the challenges documentary filmmakers face today might lead to a decline in both the quantity and quality of submissions to dok.incubator. However, the reality proved quite the opposite. This year’s selection was among the strongest in our history, with an outstanding lineup of films from five continents. The sheer quality of submissions made the selection process incredibly difficult, and I regret that we couldn’t accommodate every deserving film in our workshop.”, says Andrea Prenghyová, the CEO of dok.incubator.
The well-established rough-cut training will bring teams of eight film projects to work together with international editors, producers, and sales representatives. For the upcoming eight months, their goal is to sharpen each film’s cut, shape its dramaturgy, and create a marketing strategy, preparing the films for a festival premiere in late 2025 or 2026. All eight projects demonstrate different filmmaking approaches, cultural backgrounds, and themes. Among them is the coming-of-age story of nine young Nigerians who discover their voice in sci-fi filmmaking, titled Crocodile. Growing up and finding one’s identity is one of the main topics of What Would Mom Say?, following a charismatic rural middle-schooler who becomes a rap star. But fame is a double-edged sword, and it comes with a lot of expectations and pressure. The theme of personal transformation and identity mirrors in Alias La Mona which traces a remarkable journey of a fighter in Colombia’s FARC rebel group as she leaves a life in the jungle and becomes a civilian and a mother. In River Dreams, womanhood and resilience intertwine, following a river in Kazakhstan and interviewing women who live nearby, politically and personally embodying the river in them.
No matter what the narrative is, documentaries help us to better understand what is going on around us and how the world is changing. The creative ways of adapting to a new reality is the main topic of Brothers in the Hunt, represented by a team behind a debt collection agency that operates in grey areas and navigates not only the political challenges but also personal ones. In Smoking Shores, a unique community of surfers seeks joy and solace in the waves, shadowed by the UK’s last great steelworks and uncertainty about the future. The topic of climate is also captured in La pietà looking back at the story of seven siblings who isolated themselves at the foot of Europe's largest glacier at the beginning of the past century. They explored and worshipped it before anyone talked about the melt, and today their voices echo as a warning. Science, more specifically a magical cosmic dust, is the core of Stardust, in which a jazz musician and amateur geologist shows what we are all made of.
dok.incubator 2025 selected projects:
Alias La Mona /US, CZ/
directors: Nadja Drost, Bruno Federico, editor: Marianna Rudas, producers: Michal Sikora, Juliána Horváth
"La Mona," a fighter in Colombia’s FARC rebel group since she was a teen, lays down her weapon in a peace deal to end 50 years of war. ALIAS LA MONA traces her remarkable journey from guerilla to civilian, as she leaves a clandestine life in the jungle to reunite with her son. Filmed with rare access over 7 years, this is the powerfully resonant story of a mother and ex-fighter torn between grief and revenge who pays the ultimate price for peace.
Brothers in the Hunt /LV/
director: Ieva Ozolina, editor: Jurgis Locmelis, producer: Madara Melberga
The debt collection agency Arvik began operations in the late 1990s. Its founders shared a common past—years in prison. When Latvia joined the EU, legal changes forced them to adapt. The team takes cases where the legal system is powerless, operating in grey areas and using methods only God knows. Viktor and his team attempt to navigate this transition but face something inevitable—aging.
Crocodile /NG, NZ/
directors, producers: Pietra Brettkelly, The Critics, editor: Chia Chi Hsu, producers: The Critics, Pietra Brettkelly
Armed with a single mobile camera, failing electricity and wild imaginations, CROCODILE is the coming-of-age story of nine young Nigerians who discover their voice in sci-fi filmmaking. Saturated in Christianity, in a country with political and economic hardships, predators lurk. But the group talks biblically of their sci-fi films and filmed over 12 years CROCODILE reveals their wider world view as they stretch beyond their Nigerian town.
La pietà /ES, IS, LT/
director: Rafa Molés, editor: Pepe Andreu, producers: Natalia Maestro Ruiz, Alba Santos Cloux, co-producer: Arūnas Matelis
Seven siblings isolated themselves at the beginning of the past Century at the foot of Europe's largest glacier. They explored and worshipped it before anyone talked about the melt. Their farm is now an empty skeleton. But their voice will echo again like a litany, like a warning. On the wall, the image of a 'pietà', with the great white shroud twisted over the corpse of the dying son.
River Dreams /KZ, FR, CH/
director: Kristina Mikhailova, editor: Arya Rothe, producer: Dana Sabitova
Close your eyes and see river dreams. Director Kristina Mikhailova explores womanhood in Kazakhstan by following a long river, interviewing women under 30 who live nearby, politically and personally embodying the river in these women. Kazakhstan is 30 years old as a country, the age of realizing its own maturity.
Smoking Shores /UK/
director: David Roland Warwick, editor: Richard Gorman, producer: Dewi Gregory
In the shadow of the UK’s last great steelworks, a unique community of surfers seek joy and solace in the waves, despite mounting uncertainty about the future.
Stardust /NO, DK/
director: Elisabeth Rasmussen, editor: Ash Jenkins, producers: Ulrik Gutkin, James Hever
When jazz musician and amateur geologist Jon Larsen discovers billion-year-old stardust on his balcony, he embarks on a 10-year underdog journey from the Arctic Circle to the streets of NYC to prove to the skeptical scientific elite that this magical cosmic dust can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Stardust is a poetic and humorous story about curiosity, persistence, and our shared origin: we all are made from Stardust.
What Would Mom Say? /HU/
director: Olivér Márk Tóth, editors: Zsófia Érdi, Tamás Hegyvári, Tamás Szabó, producer: László Józsa
A charismatic rural middle-schooler becomes a rap star in a few months thanks to his incredibly outspoken lyrics. With fame comes expectations, and under the pressure he becomes addicted at a young age. While his parents support him, they are deeply worried as they have no control over his lifestyle. But how does he keep his feet on the ground, when success sends him flying?
