DOTS International Documentary Film Festival 2026

DIDFF 2026 was successfully completed!

Catch a glimpse of what happened during the festival.

Three days full of great stories, QnA's and masterclasses.

Image credit: Dimitris Kapantais / SOOC / DOTS Festival.

A big thank you to everyone who collaborated with us to make DOTS Festival happen again. What a great story!

Elysian Fields | Anna-Maria Dutoit | Greece, Germany 2025 • 27:57
Strong winds brush through drought-stricken trees in the ancient olive grove near Delphi, reminding of the wildfires that are engulfing the country every summer. Among the trees, a family of olive farmers struggles to recover from past flames and a persistent lack of water. Named after the paradise in ancient Greek myth, ELYSIAN FIELDS explores landscapes of both devastation and hope, in search of the strength to begin again.
Palace on Mount Grammos | Filippa Tsiara | Greece, 2026 • 15:58

In an isolated mountainous region of Greece, a couple lives with simplicity and purpose, far from the fast pace of the modern world. The documentary explores love, companionship, survival, and a way of life that is slowly fading away, set against landscapes of wild natural beauty.

The Wedding of the Pirs | Yalçın Çiftçi | Türkiye, 2025 • 20:00

The Gorani Kurds living in the Hawraman region of Iran continue to keep a millennium-old tradition alive today. Every winter, the people gather to commemorate Pir Shaliyar, who lived in the village of Uraman Taht in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, and ritually re-enact his legendary wedding. Inspired by the region's deep-rooted culture, this ceremony, interwoven with prayers and dhikr, is repeated annually as a spiritual journey that has survived through the ages.

Beware of the Southern Stars | Christos Karteris | Greece, 2025 • 26:23

Master Kostas, continuing the naval tradition of his homeland and family as a ship engineer, spent years sailing across the vast oceans. Now, forced into retirement on land, with the marks of time weighing heavily upon him, he lives amidst his memories and the singing of his canaries. With eyes still filled with the salt of the sea, he waits for the ocean to call him once again, on a final voyage.

Haliotis | Anastasia Koutsonanou | Greece, 2024 • 10:00

As the waves carry her to unfamiliar shores, a mermaid finds herself stranded among humans, far from her aquatic sanctuary. A forgotten childhood memory, born from the imaginative escapism of a little girl longing to flee reality.

Love in the time of my Grandma | Zoi Stavridi Michalopoulou | Greece, 2024 • 29:56

How did women of a not so distant generation experience love - both the romantic and physical dimension of it? Through their narration, silences, glances and their gestures, this documentary explores some of the facets which made up the world of our grandmothers.

After the water | Davide Marchesi | Italy, 2025 • 23:00

Through a poetic lens, After the Water explores the lived experiences of migrants stranded on the Greek island of Lesvos, as well as the political, historical, and environmental stratifications of the territory. The film’s narrative unfolds around a series of swimming lessons offered to refugee youth, framing the story through gestures of movement, breath, and resistance, where learning becomes a subtle form of reclaiming space and dignity.

Between a rock and a hard place | Thanos Liberopoulos | Greece, 2024 • 17:48

A small class of Afghan children in a refugee school in Athens, Greece will take a stand as the Taliban rise in power in their country. Are their voices loud enough to draw the world’s attention or will their families and friends face the dangers of this brutal regime?

Closed doors day | Sofia Keler | Russian Federation, 2025 • 23:00

The film tells about the life of a group of schoolchildren. About their life, entertainment, routine , which they invent for themselves in a practically completely deserted village. There is only one hope: either the village will start functioning again, or all the young people will leave for big cities.

Masterclass | Documentary doesn't describe. It reveals.

Eva Stefani | Director

Documentary belongs to the realm of poetry. Potentially, it can reveal what is visible without describing it. Through film examples, we will explore the differences between a documentary that focuses on covering an event and one that interprets and reshapes reality through the filmmaker's gaze.

Pick a lot win a lot | Konstantinos Merentitis | Greece, 2024 • 26:05

In this hybrid film, I followed Nektarios for a day, capturing his unique rhythm and persistence. What began as a mockumentary transformed into an honest exploration of a man surviving a fast-changing city. Through Nektarios, the film highlights overlooked, real moments, proving that behind every passerby lies an unknown, profound world deserving to be seen.

Before the meal got cold | Alkistis Kafetzi | Greece, 2025 • 17:42

A short observational documentary that, through the simple, everyday routine of a family gathering, unfolds the story of a woman who lived against the social norms of gender and her time — independent, contradictory, and bold. A portrait that emerges through the silences, conversations, and subtle tensions of a family meal.

Wired | Anna Maria Parcharidou | Greece, 2026 • 9:47

Simos, a professional sound recordist, explores the soundscapes of Thessaloniki. A past trip to Ghana triggers a blend of Greece’s daily acoustic reality with the sounds of Africa. Moving through urban and natural landscapes, we follow an associative journey based on pure listening, where the realistic recording of sound ultimately reveals an unexpected, inherent poetry.

Housing problem | Marko Plejić | Croatia, 2026 • 14:45

A short hybrid documentary about Dujo, a student who must quickly find a new place to live after being abruptly evicted by his landlord, all while trying to continue his studies in the city. Through a blend of staged scenes and real-life interactions, filmed by the protagonist, the film deals with the sharp rise of rent prices in Croatia's capital.

Behind the shadows | Konstantinos Potamianos | China, Greece, 2025 • 12:59

A cultural bridge between a shadow puppeteer from Greece and one from China, where shadow puppetry is believed to have originated over 2,000 years ago. The director’s childhood memories inspired the film, which was made to explore the routes of Greek shadow puppetry.

The story of an illegal Excavation | Michalis Giannakakis | Greece, 2025 • 23:42

Giorgos Fygetakis narrates the story of the illegal excavation in Agios Georgios, Sitia, in the late 1960s.

Even iron rusts and breaks, but man remains | Jana Švarc | Serbia, 2025 • 12:32

The accordion echoes across the fields and springs while Jordanka walks with her dogs. She does not cry when she wants to and she does not laugh when she wants to - because that’s all she knows.

A Winter's Return | Stratis Alvanos | Greece, 2025 • 11:41

A return to the village during Christmas becomes an opportunity for a quiet journey of memory and rediscovery in the snowy landscape. Amidst the peaceful images of the village, the warmth of the local café, and the voices of children, this personal documentary explores themes of return, family, and the search for belonging.

Hadetia - Α Cartography of Sound: The Itinerary of Bells in Drama | Nikoleta Laskidou, Theodora Eustathopoulou | Greece, 2025 • 5:17

Hadetia (customs) explores the acoustic landscape of bell rituals in Drama, Northern Greece and invites the viewers into a space where the resonant bells dominate the area. Acting as a sensory mediation between sound, place and time, it reveals a connection of cultural continuity and collective memory.

Bontle | Marie Ruwet | Belgium, 2024 • 21:00

Bontle tells the story of Marie, a young woman marked by her time in Soweto, where the beauty of adventure collapses in the face of trauma. Supported by a group of local skaters, she embarks on a healing journey that will carry her far beyond Africa. Four years later, she returns to these lands to confront her past and find inner peace.

*Caution: Includes potentially distressing material, such as violence or trauma.

We Were No Desert | Agustina Comedi, Chiachio & Giannone | Argentina, 2024 • 13:00

Born from an installation by Argentine textile artists Chiachio & Giannone, this film challenges the choreography of the “Pericón,” the national folk dance, to question the portrayal of a homeland projected as white, binary, and civilized.

Ademi | Zhamilya Sakhari | Germany, 2025 • 20:00

ADEMI is the story of Ali, a drag artist who finds freedom on stage and his mother, who stands by his side despite inner conflicts and the continuing severe social repression in Kazakhstan.

Romanticism | Raphaël Delorme-Duc, Max Bédrune | Belgium, 2025 • 12:57

A long journey to Galicia becomes the setting for intimate exchanges between a grandmother and a young couple, where memories, questions about love, and the family legacy of past generations intertwine.

Bury Me تقبرني | Mariana Rosteck | Greece, Lebanon, United Kingdom, 2025 • 18:54

Three generations of Lebanese women spend a summer together reminiscing in their family home in Greece. Following the eldest granddaughter’s Greek Orthodox wedding, they commemorate parts of their identities through re-interpreted and performed renditions of key memories, delving into the hopes, yearning and guilt surrounding their Lebanese heritage.

AYG [Dawn] | Arnold Ghazaryan, Siranush Vardanyan, Maria Matinyan | Armenia, 2025 • 20:22

AYG [Dawn] follows teenagers Arman and Nver—childhood friends from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) whose lives were forever changed by war and forced displacement. As they rebuild their futures in unfamiliar villages across Armenia, their friendship remains a powerful source of strength and connection, despite distance, loss, and uncertainty.

Echo from the edge | Jo Alice Kimmy | Poland, United Kingdom, 2026 • 17:32

It is a poetic/essay documentary composed from quiet, atmospheric images of the Białowieża Forest and the militarised Polish- Belarusian border, woven together with an immersive soundscape. Through the landscape, the voice of an Afghan man reflects on his attempted crossing, his story echoing through the forest itself. The film gently invites viewers to step into a space where beauty and brutality coexist.

Masterclass | Seeing Differently: The Cinematic Language of Bugboy.

Lucas Paleocrassas - Director 

Carlos Muñoz - Director of Photography

In this masterclass, the director and director of photography will jointly share the creative process and experience of shooting an observational documentary that took three years to make.

A story in 14 words | Eirini Steirou | Greece, 2020 • 11:50

In this hybrid first person account, a Greek islander opens up to his filmmaker granddaughter about his violent coming-­‐of-­‐age as a refugee, warrior and political prisoner in North Africa during WWII. An experimental representation of personal war memory that combines home movie and archival footage.

Simply Divine | Mélody Boulissière, Bogdan Stamatin | Romania, 2025 • 14:07

1939, Romania. A soldier follows a young woman. Their love story begins. The soldier is called to the front and their love fades into the war.

Collective Memory | Cristina Colmenares | Colombia, Peru, 2025 • 14:59

In 1983, during the darkest days of Peru’s Armed Conflict with the Shining Path, masked soldiers entered Adelina’s home and took her husband away. She would never see him again. After facing silence and contempt from the Police and Army, Adelina joins forces with the many other women who have lost their husbands and children to soldiers who were supposed to protect them. Together, they will unite to demand justice.

Dying for Europe |  Nikos Pilos | Greece, 2017 • 17:12
The largest migratory flow recorded in history since World War II is revealed through fragments of personal stories. The heartrending trilogy focuses on the strength and hope of those who dare to dream a better life in Europe and are willing to even give their lives for a ‘new’ life.
6657 | Ana Bizjak | Slovenia, 2025 • 11:52

The documentary film portrays the everyday life inside a dairy cow barn. At the center of the narrative is cow number 6657, whom the viewer first encounters early in the morning, during her initial milking by the farmer. Her number is also the title of the film, as she becomes the central point for understanding the routine and the system in which she exists.

Not ordained | Katjuša Peterka | Slovenia, 2026 • 12:50

In a small village in the Goričko region, where the local church is watched over by Saint George, Joško quietly finds his place. His time at the altar is his deepest calling, bringing him a sense of inner peace. He recently lost his mother, and in his faith, he seeks gentle comfort, as if in the silence of the rituals he’s trying to hear her voice.

The silence of pomegranates | Clara Baj | France, Italy, 2025 • 9:20

In a coastal town in Calabria, southern Italy, a woman who prefers to remain anonymous breaks the silence surrounding the issue of abortion in the region. By denouncing the abuses of medical institutions through a poetic and experimental lens, Il silenzio dei melograni is a creative short documentary film that seeks to highlight the privileges and inequalities women face in accessing their own reproductive rights.

*Caution: Includes potentially distressing material, such as violence or trauma.

Fragments of Life from the Place I Call Home | Andreas Lazidis | Greece, 2025 • 17:55

The film is a personal and experimental documentary that explores absence and memory through the filmmaker’s family empty house. Combining archival footage from the time his grandparents lived there with present-day images of the empty space, the film reflects on how memory lingers in architecture and how spaces preserve traces of human presence.

KITE | Thanos Psichogios | Greece, 2025 • 14:34

Clean Monday. Panos, now grown, returns to a childhood ritual—flying a kite with his father, a tradition marking the start of Lent in Greece. But memories are never simple. Sounds and images, fragments of the past, weave together to reconstruct their bond. A documentary about the fragile father-son relationship and the restless power of memory.

Discarded | Sheona Mitchley | South Africa, 2025 • 23:00

A charismatic street recycler navigates survival, identity and family bonds on Johannesburg's gritty streets, revealing the fleeting nature of existence and the resilience of the human spirit.

Is Gang Stalking Real | Theodore Collatos | United States, 2025 • 16:45

A raw, unflinching look at a friendship haunted by meth-fueled paranoia, and fragile moments of clarity behind bars.

Life After Death | George Katsimichas | Greece, 2025 • 22:40

For the past three and a half years, Vasso has lived alone after losing her husband, the love of her life. Inviting us into her home, she revisits the memories they shared, recounting how they met and fell in love. Through her heartfelt reflections, she reveals how love, memory, and devotion continue to endure beyond loss.

Dimitris Kapantais / SOOC
Dimitris Kapantais / SOOC

1st DOTS International Documentary Film Festival 2025

The first edition of DOTS International Documentary Film Festival, held from October 3rd to 5th, 2025, has concluded with great success. Over the course of three inspiring days, we screened 36 remarkable documentary films from 15 different countries, held insightful masterclasses, special screenings, and engaging Q&A sessions with filmmakers and audiences.

all we have is our stories

This unforgettable experience would not have been possible without the invaluable support and collaboration of the many dedicated people who stood by us throughout the festival. Their passion and commitment were essential in making the festival a unique celebration of powerful stories and creative dialogue.

A big thank you to everyone who supported us along the way:

Aimiliana Sofia | Anna Pipilika | Aspasia Zouliati | Chara Paisiadou | Efi Christodoulopoulou | Eleftheria Nikolaidou | Ioanna Spanou | Ioulia Stamouli | Katerina Fassea | Meropi Kaloudi Laini | Nefeli Georgiadou | Vasia Kanellopoulou.

Festival Experience Coordinators

Festival Moderator | Translator

Marianna Rantou

Audio - Visual Technicians

Giannis Kyriazopoulos | Spyros Paparoulias

Videographer

Filippos Ferentinos

Photographers

Dimitris Kapantais / SOOC | Nick Palaiologos / SOOC

Social Media Manager

Maria Karapanagiotou

Voice over Artist

Haris Pagonidou

to everyone who submitted their films and shared their creative work with us.

to everyone who attended and supported DOTS festival.

Technical Support

Giannis "BLIK" Zilos

Contact Us

PLYFA space
Korytsas 39, Votanikos, 104 47 Athens, Greece.

hello@dotsfestival.com

Location