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‘6TM’ and ‘Searching for SmarterChild’ Win Top Honors at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum

The international documentary forum presented 13 industry awards to emerging film projects, while Danish producer Signe Byrge Sørensen received the APA World Excellence Award.

Two projects exploring markedly different subjects — community life through magical realism and humanity’s complicated relationship with artificial intelligence — took top honors at the 2026 Ji.hlava New Visions Forum, where 13 industry awards were presented Friday, October 30.

The annual forum, held during the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, brought together 29 projects from Europe, the United States and East and Southeast Asia. The selections, spanning development, production and postproduction, competed for financial support, technical services and professional opportunities intended to advance their completion and international distribution.

The Ji.hlava New Visions Award for the most promising European project went to “6TM,” directed by Karim Akalay and produced by Walid Bekhti of Belgium. The project combines magical realism, comedy, and social commentary, using a collaborative storytelling approach rooted in lived experience.

The jury praised the film for challenging conventional representations and expanding opportunities for communities to participate in telling their own stories. It described the project as offering “a fresh vision of European cinema,” particularly through its emphasis on inclusion and creative collaboration.

The award includes visual postproduction services valued at approximately €15,000 from UPP, along with sound mixing and a final sound master valued at €5,000 from Soundsquare.

The award for the most promising U.S. project went to “Searching for SmarterChild,” directed by Lindsey Sitz and Zan Gillies and produced by Erin Williams-Weir. The United States-Canada production received a $7,000 cash award through a partnership with the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival, known as AmDocs.

The documentary revisits SmarterChild, an early internet chatbot that became a familiar presence for users in the early 2000s. Through the filmmakers’ childhood interactions with the technology, the project considers how people develop emotional connections with artificial intelligence and what those relationships reveal about human behavior.

The jury singled out the film’s ability to connect an earlier chapter of internet culture with contemporary questions surrounding AI. Its assessment emphasized the project's originality and its potential to engage audiences in discussions about the technologies people create and the ways they interact with them.

The three-member jury consisted of Katrine Kiilgaard, managing director of Denmark’s CPH; Anda Ionescu, managing partner and producer at Romania’s Tangaj Production; and Robert Y. Chang, co-producer at the American documentary series “POV.”

Beyond the two principal awards, the forum recognized projects at various stages of production through partnerships with international film organizations.

“Iridescence,” directed by Dominika Kováčová and Kilhan Wittock, received the Cannes Docs–Marché du Film Award, securing a place as a spotlighted project at Cannes Docs in 2027.

“Planet A,” directed by Emelie Mahdavian and produced by Charlotte Hailstone, received two honors: the Docs Connect Taskovski training award, providing mentorship on festival, marketing, and distribution strategy, and the Jacob Burns Film Center Award, which offers a creative residency in Pleasantville, New York.

The Ukrainian project “If Only the Pines Could Speak,” directed by Yelyzaveta Myshkalenko and produced by Diana Nazaruk, also earned two awards: the EURODOC Award, providing professional training and membership, and selection for the Bratislava Industry Days 2027 Works in Progress presentation.

Other recipients included “Monument of Revolution,” “Daughters of the Pit,” “Male Fantasies,” “The 13th Fish,” “A Spectre Is Haunting Europe” and “Words We Never Say,” recognized through industry programs offering consultation, residencies, festival access and development support.

The festival separately presented the APA World Excellence Award 2026 to Danish producer Signe Byrge Sørensen, recognizing her contribution to international filmmaking and her achievements in world cinema.

The New Visions Forum serves as a meeting point for filmmakers, producers, sales representatives, distributors, and festival programmers seeking international partnerships. Its support extends beyond conventional documentary filmmaking to hybrid works, experimental projects and other audiovisual forms.

For the participating filmmakers, the awards provide resources that can be particularly valuable in independent production, where access to post-production facilities, financing, and international industry networks can determine whether a project reaches audiences.

The full list of recipients and award details is available on the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival website.