Interaction 2026 – Festival and Industry Awards announced

On Monday evening, 24 August, the winners of the competition programme of this year’s Interaction: Short Docs Festival, as well as the recipients of the Industry Awards, were announced during the awards ceremony held at the Marble Yard in Požega.

The Best Film Award in the festival’s competition programme was decided by a jury comprising Ivan Marković, Jola Wieczorek and Theo Panagopoulos, while the recipients of the Industry Awards were selected by Iris Elezi, Rada Šešić and Wouter Jansen. Discover this year’s award winners below!

Interaction Festival 2026 Award Winners

Best Film Award 
Daria’s Night Flowers
Maryam Tafakory (Iran, UK, France) 

The jury’s statement: Woven from archival images that evoke womanhood and patriarchy, domesticity and disconnection, the film brings images from the past into the present, creating an intimate, trance-like state. 

Re-framed, re-edited and hand painted footage from old Iranian films is being elevated into a new narrative which offers multiple readings, circling around themes of oppression, resistance and ab/use of medicine. 

Through its strong cinematic collage, the film reflects on the representation of women in Iranian cinema and, by extension, Iranian society. A fairy-tale narrative that captivates, unsettles, and lingers long after the film ends.

Deeply poetic, personal and political, the winner of the Best Film Award is “Daria’s Night Flowers” by Maryam Tafakory.

Provided by: Sirogojno Company

Special Mention
Beneath Which Rivers Flow
Ali Yahya (Iraq)

The jury’s statement: In a misty marshland landscape, a man whose face appears ageless seems more deeply connected with the water and animals than with any of the humans in the small community. It is equally his gaze, the quiet care with which he tends his animals, and the formal and audiovisual language of the film that together create both a quiet sense of belonging and a haunting sense of danger.

From a minimalist, observational documentary approach, the film makes a quiet but decisive shift into science fiction. Through its subtle and precise direction, the film moves from an intimate portrait to a broader image of environmental decline — an abstract image of an unstable world.

The Special Mention goes to “Beneath Which River Flows” by Ali Yahya.

Youth Jury Award 
If You Don’t Like It, Look Away
MargauxFournier (France)

The jury’s statement: Visual representation of older women’s bodies without stereotypes, embracing sensuality, desire, and uninhibited freedom. The filmmaker offers an honest portrayal of aging and the naked body in the sunlight, challenging social norms. The film balances provocation with warmth and humanity; its humor is not directed at the characters, but emerges from their spontaneity, self confidence, youthful spirit, and complete lack of inhibition.

That is why, we decided to award the Youth Jury Award to “If You Don’t Like It, Look Away”, directed by Margaux Fournier. The message we take away from the film is that, after all, the most important thing is to preserve a youthful spirit.

Audience Award 
Daria’s Night Flowers
Maryam Tafakory (Iran, UK, France) 

Industry Award Winners

Square Eyes Festival Consultation Award
Hole
Director: Danilo Stanimirović
Production: Nikola Spasić – Inkubator Rezon (Serbia) 

Consultation Award By Rada Šešić 
Silence of the Classroom
Director: Isidora Bulatović
Production: Jasmina Karajlović i Jelena Šarić – Bridge&Beyond (Montenegro)