The 37th Trieste Film Festival has announced its full list of award winners following the closing ceremony on 24 January.
In the main feature-film competition, the festival’s top prize, the Trieste Award for Best Feature Film, went to Fantasy by Slovenian director Kukla (Slovenia/North Macedonia, 2025). The jury cited the film’s blend of imagination and realism and its empathetic focus on the challenges young women face in a traditional environment. The jury also granted a special mention for best directing to Vytautas Katkus for The Visitor (Lithuania/Norway/Sweden, 2025).
The Alpe Adria Cinema Award for Best Documentary in Competition, supported by Opificio Neirami, was awarded to Welded Together by Anastasiya Miroshnichenko (France/Belgium, 2025). The documentary jury described the film as an observational work with an unusually strong narrative pull and noted its independent production context. A special mention went to Active Vocabulary by Yulia Lokshina (Germany, 2025).
In the short-film competition, the TSFF Corti Award, donated by Fondazione Osiride Brovedani, went to The Spectacle by Bálint Kenyeres (Hungary/France, 2025). The shorts jury awarded a special mention to The Road Home by Marian Fărcuț (Romania, 2025).
Festivalgoers selected the Audience Awards: Best Feature Film went to Brat by Maciej Sobieszczański (Poland, 2025); Best Documentary to Militantropos by Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, and Simon Mozgovyi (Ukraine/Austria/France, 2025); and Best Short Film to Found&Lost by Reza Rasouli (Austria, 2025).
Among the festival’s partner and special prizes, the CEI Award (EUR 3,000) went to Electing Ms Santa by Raisa Răzmeriță (Moldova, 2025). The Corso Salani Award was awarded to Nella Colonia Penale by Gaetano Crivaro, Alberto Diana, Silvia Perra, and Ferruccio Goia (Italy, 2025). The Eastern Star Award was presented to Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, and the Cinema Warrior Award went to U Cinemittu, described as Italy’s smallest cinema.
Additional jury distinctions included the In Direzione Donna Award to White Lies by Alba Zari (Italy/Belgium, 2025), and the Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa Prize for best documentary in competition to The Kartli Kingdom by Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebre (Georgia/France/Qatar, 2025). Cineuropa’s jury awarded its Cineuropa Prize for best feature in competition to Fantasy.
Youth and critical prizes were also announced: the Young People’s Jury Award for best short in competition went to Coldness by Lena Jaworska (Poland, 2025). In the Corso Salani category, the Oubliette Magazine Award went to White Lies. The SNCCI Critics’ Choice Awards named One Battle After Another as Best Film of 2025, and Le Città di Pianura by Francesco Sossai as Best Italian Film of 2025.
