Documentary Competition
Films competing in this competition broaden our horizons and invigorate our understanding of the planet and its inhabitants through careful research, deft argumentation, and stunning cinematography. Documentary art is fundamentally about audience persuasion: What is the Truth? Why should we care? How should we act? The best documentarians convince audiences that their argument is unequivocally the Truth, that it is worthy of widespread concern, and that their recommendations are the best suited to address the issue at hand.
The Documentary Competition jury, comprised of filmmakers, journalists, and industry professionals, selects the winning filmmaker, who will be announced at the Golden Space Needle Awards May 25 and awarded a cash prize of $5,000.
Between Goodbyes
USA | 2024 | 96 min. | Jota Mun
A Dutch adoptee and her Korean birth parents try to build familial bonds across languages and cultural differences.
Billy
Canada (Québec) | 2024 | 107 min. | Lawrence Côté-Collins
Lawrence Côté-Collins inspects the life of former friend Billy Poulin, now in prison, through his own stockpile of video footage.
Drowned Land
USA | 2025 | 86 min. | Colleen Thurston (Choctaw Nation)
The Choctaw Nation fights against cultural displacement and the developers who wish to dam and divert the Kiamichi River.
Freeing Juanita
USA | 2024 | 74 min. | Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers
An Indigenous couple make a treacherous journey across Guatemala and into Mexico to demand the emancipation of their niece.
The Librarians
USA | 2025 | 88 min. | Kim A. Snyder
Librarians fight tooth and nail to protect us from the pervasive conservative censorship that threatens to eliminate free thought.
Suburban Fury
USA | 2024 | 118 min. | Robinson Devor
A probing biography of Sara Jane Moore, the FBI informant and single mother who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
Unclickable
Greece | 2024 | 74 min. | Babis Makridis
Follow the creation and devastating impact of a digital advertising fraud operation.
Viktor
Denmark | 2024 | 89 min. | Olivier Sarbil
Join a deaf Ukrainian war photographer Viktor on the frontlines in this wholly immersive and terrifying documentary.