Nearly 70 guests from the international documentary industry gathered in Sofia for this year’s edition of the Balkan Documentary Market, which took place as part of the sixth edition of the Sofia DocuMental festival from September 30 until October 4. The event built upon its established training initiatives – BDC Discoveries and the Balkan Watchers program. A special highlight this year was the competition for Bulgarian documentary podcast projects held in collaboration with Storytel. The total prize fund for film and podcast projects reached nearly €100,000.

Each of the film projects awarded under the Balkan Watchers program received €25,000 in additional support, while podcast projects were each granted €5,000. In addition, the BDC Discoveries program presented two special distinctions: the award for best project presentation, supported by the State Institute for Culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the LightDox Award, which offers a year of mentoring support for marketing and distribution.

Together, Balkan Watchers and BDC Discoveries once again confirmed their role as a major regional hub for creative collaboration, professional dialogue, and long-term support for documentary storytelling across Eastern Europe and beyond.

As part of this year’s edition, the Balkan Watchers program also featured several podcast projects from Bulgaria developed through an open call in partnership with Storytel. The creators took part in training sessions and gained access to an international professional network. Following the pitching forum, two projects were selected for production, supported by Storytel with a 5,000 BGN advance each.

The winners among BDC Discoveries are:

Best Pitch Award (2000€ provided by the State Institute for Culture):

A LAND THAT TIME FORGOT Director: Denis Pavlovic, Producers: Denis Pavlovic, Julia Meyer-Pavlovic

Lightdox Award (1000€ worth of consultancy and support):

LIFE ON PAUSE Director: Antoniy Hristov, Producer: Svetla Turnin

The BDC Discoveries jury consisted of  Anna Berthollet (CEO, Lightdox), Christilla Huillard-Kann (Producer and CEO, ELDA Productions), Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova (State Institute for Culture), Victoria Ivanova (PR Manager, Warner Bros. Discovery / HBO MAX Bulgaria), Simone Baumann (Managing Director, German Films), Uldis Cekulis (Producer VFS FILMS), Denis Karam (Producer, ProudCloud Productions), Christine Camdessus (Artistic Director, FIPADoc), Glib Lukianets (Producer, Gogol Films), and Lefteris Fylaktos (Commissioning Editor, ERT).

The winners among the Balkan Watchers podcast projects are:

HOW THEY SEE US: BALKAN HISTORY THROUGH THE EYES OF THE OTHER

Director: Orestis Seferoglou
Producer: Alex Katsomitros
Production Company: Liquid Media
Country: Greece

THE HOUSE OF ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN BORDER
Director/Creator: Marlena Hovsepyan
Producer: Gita Elibekyan
Country: Armenia, Georgia
Production Company: AliQ Media
Co-producer: Marlena Hovsepyan

THE QUOTA
Director/Creator: Iulia Hau
Producer: Andreea Lacatu
Country: Romania

The Balkan Watchers podcast jury consisted of:

Yordan Zhechev (Podcast host and producer, Govori Internet), Curtis Galland (Production Adviser, The Whickers Foundation), Velislava Popova (Editor-in-chief, Dnevnik.bg)

The winners among the Balkan Watchers film projects are:

FROM RADVANKA
Director/Creator: Tomi Hazhlinsky
Producers: Valeria Sochyvets, Sabina Asadova
Production Company: Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema
Country: Ukraine

SYMBOLS OF WAR

Director/Creator: Nenad Mikalacki
Producer: Nead Mikalacki and Jelwna Marjanovic
Production Company: Druid
Country: Serbia

MY SISTER AND THE ETERNAL FEMININE
Director: Rati Tsiteladze
Producer: Olga Slusareva
Country: Georgia
Production Company: ArtWay Film

The Balkan Watchers film jury consisted of Margje de Koning (Artistic Director, Movies That Matter), Ondrej Kamenicky (Director of One World Prague), Venelin Petkov (Independent Media Consultant).

The winners of the Storytel Competition for Bulgarian podcasts are:

RANA, created by Maria Cheresheva and Georgi Totev

UNNAMED, created by Emilia Milcheva