Chicago Premiere
Hollywoodgate
Ibrahim Nash'at
Official Selection
Twenty-eight films · four sections · October 28–30, 2026
Twenty-eight documentaries completed in 2024–2026, organized in four competition sections. View schedule
Post-screening Q&A · Photo: Kalai Ramu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Seven titles per section · works completed 2024–2026
Chicago Premiere
Ibrahim Nash'at
Midwest Premiere
Natalie Rae, Angela Patton
Chicago Premiere
Josh Greenbaum
Chicago Premiere
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
US Premiere
Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
Chicago Premiere
Jeanie Finlay
World Premiere
Ruth Leitman
Chicago Premiere
Smriti Mundhra
Chicago Premiere
Mars Verrone
Chicago Premiere
John Hoffman, Christine Turner
Midwest Premiere
Geeta Gandbhir
Midwest Premiere
Kimberly Reed
Midwest Premiere
Molly O'Brien
Chicago Premiere
David Garrett Byars
Opening Film · US Premiere
Shiori Ito
Chicago Premiere
Brendan Bellomo, Aniela Sidorska, Slava Leontyev
North American Premiere
Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan
Midwest Premiere
Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, Michael Toledano
Chicago Premiere
Viktor Kossakovsky
US Premiere
Daniela Völker
Midwest Premiere
Wissam Moussa, Khamis Masharawi, Philip Cox
North American Premiere
Vladimir Perović
Chicago Premiere
Annie Sakkab
Chicago Premiere
Graeme Mathieson, Chris Flanagan
Midwest Premiere
Isabelle Grignon-Francke
Chicago Premiere
Alison McAlpine
Midwest Premiere
Amélie Hardy
Chicago Premiere
Matilde-Luna Perotti
Fourteen feature documentaries and fourteen shorts compete across four sections. Feature juries led by Barbara Kopple award the Golden Lens in both feature sections; short juries award the Silver Lens. The Jury Prize and Social Impact Star honor exceptional craft and public engagement in any section.
Audience ballots are collected at every competition screening. Winners are announced at the closing-night ceremony on Friday, October 30.
Feature · Jury (US & International)
Short · Jury (US & International)
Any section
Social engagement
All competition films