The Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival concluded its latest industry showcase on Friday with a slate of prominent awards, highlighting bold new voices in European and North American cinema. Among the highest honors handed out during the event was the New Visions Award for the most promising European project, which was claimed by the Belgian family comedy "6TM."
Directed by Karim Akalay and produced by Walid Bekhti, "6TM" is a vibrant feature film set against the backdrop of a scorching summer in the Cité Modèle, the largest housing project in Brussels. The narrative unfolds across three distinct chapters within a single family, blending magical realism with the gritty resilience of a closely knit urban community. In one storyline, two children chase a mythical magic lamp in a desperate bid to keep their wheelchair-using friend from being displaced due to chronically broken elevators. In another, a teenage girl assembles a mismatched team of local youth for a high-stakes soccer tournament. Meanwhile, a determined mother rallies her neighbors to solve a bizarre local mystery and uncover who stole the rain.
The international jury—comprising Katrine Kiilgaard, managing director of Denmark’s CPH:DOX; Anda Ionescu, managing partner and producer at Romania’s Tangaj Production; and Robert Y. Chang, co-producer of American Documentary at POV in the United States—praised the project for its inventive approach.
In their official statement, the jury commended the film, stating, "With its imaginative blend of magical realism, humor and social relevance, ‘6TM’ offers a fresh vision of European cinema. Rooted in lived experience and shaped through co-creation, ‘6TM’ challenges conventional representations and opens up new possibilities for who gets to tell stories, whose voices are heard, and who sees themselves reflected on screen. We believe this approach holds extraordinary promise for the next generation of both audiences and filmmakers, demonstrating how cinema can become more inclusive and participatory."
The victory comes with substantial industry backing designed to help bring the film to completion. The award was presented in cooperation with UPP, which contributed an in-kind grant for visual post-production valued at approximately 15,000 Euros, alongside Soundsquare, which provided sound mixing and a final sound master with an estimated value of 5,000 Euros.
Across the Atlantic, the New Visions Award for the most promising U.S. project was awarded to "Searching for SmarterChild," directed by Lindsey Sitz and Zan Gillies, and produced by Erin Williams-Weir.
The U.S.-Canadian co-production transports viewers back to 2003, revisiting the dawn of consumer-facing artificial intelligence through the creation of SmarterChild, an early online chatbot that operated as an accidental sounding board for an entire generation of internet users. Long before modern generative AI dominated daily discourse, millions of people confided in, insulted, propositioned, and sought companionship from the digital entity.
Now, two decades later, as artificial intelligence becomes inextricably embedded in the fabric of modern life, the documentary asks a probing and timely question: What does our treatment of the very first internet chatbot reveal about human nature? By revisiting cringe-worthy archived conversations, the film explores themes of accountability, the darker impulses of human behavior, and the difficult process of enacting genuine change—not only in the technologies society builds, but within ourselves.
The jury lauded the project’s thematic relevance, noting, "’Searching for SmarterChild’ takes us back to the early days of the internet to confront one of the most pressing questions of our time: what does our relationship with artificial intelligence reveal about ourselves? By revisiting their interactions with one of the earliest chatbots of their childhoods, the filmmakers offer a perspective on today’s fascination with AI, challenging us to reflect not only on the technologies we create, but also on how we treat them and each other. The jury wishes to recognize the project’s promise to engage audiences through an original, entertaining and thought-provoking approach to a subject that will profoundly shape our collective future."
Presented in partnership with AmDocs, the award for the U.S. project includes a $7,000 cash prize to aid in its ongoing production.
In addition to project pitching awards, the festival also celebrated lifetime and career achievements within the international documentary community. Renowned Danish producer Signe Byrge Sørensen was honored with the prestigious APA World Excellence Award. The distinction recognizes her extraordinary contributions to international film production and her remarkable, long-standing achievements in shaping world cinema.
The announcement of the top New Visions Forum winners was accompanied by a robust list of additional industry awards distributed across various international platforms and training residencies.
Among these additional accolades, the Cannes Docs – Marché du Film Award was presented to "Iridescence," directed by Dominika Kovácová and Kilhan Wittock, and produced by Matej Sotník and Klára Tasovská, representing Slovakia, Belgium, and Italy.
The DAE Award was granted to "Monument of Revolution," directed by Mladen Ivanović and produced by Tamara Puizina from Montenegro and Croatia. Meanwhile, the #Docs Connect Taskovski Training Award and the Jacob Burns Film Center Award both went to the United Kingdom project "Planet A," directed by Emelie Mahdavian and produced by Charlotte Hailstone.
Other notable winners included the Docs by the Sea Award, which honored "Daughters of the Pit" from Japan, directed by Anshul Chauhan and produced by Mina Moteki and Anshul Chauhan. The Eurodoc Award and the Bratislava Industry Days Award were both claimed by the Ukrainian project "If Only the Pines Could Speak," directed by Yelyzaveta Myshkalenko and produced by Diana Nazaruk.
The Lightdox Award was awarded to the United States project "Male Fantasies," directed by Max Bowens and produced by Ryan Krivoshey and Sam Hewison. The Meditalents Residency Award went to Montenegro’s "The 13th Fish," directed and produced by Sara Stijović alongside producer Marija Vlahović.
Furthermore, the Sheffield DocFest Networking Award was presented to "A Spectre Is Haunting Europe," a Slovakia and Czech Republic co-production directed by Robo Mihály and produced by Anna Mach Rumanová and Alena Kapinajová. Finally, the Raff Residency Award was granted to "Words We Never Say," directed by Agnieszka Zwiefka and produced by Zwiefka and Iza Igel across Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, and Spain.
