email : Webview : SIMA 2025 Winners Announced — Stories From 30 Countries Awarded in 13th Annual SIMA Awards

February 6, 2025 — All transformation begins with an exploration of truth.

SIMA 2025 WINNERS ANNOUNCED

STORIES FROM 30 COUNTRIES AWARDED IN THE 13TH ANNUAL SOCIAL IMPACT MEDIA AWARDS (SIMA 2025)

February 6, 2025 — All transformation begins with an exploration of truth. It is the spark that exposes, awakens, and dismantles. In the hands of storytellers, it becomes a force of reckoning. The winners of the 13th Annual International Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA 2025) hold up a mirror to our world with an unflinching, intimate, and revelatory gaze.

SIMA, the non-profit impact media agency that celebrates, curates, and distributes documentaries and creative media projects advancing positive social change, announced their 2025 festival winners this morning. Chosen from 68 finalists spanning 37 countries, this year’s winners unearth a world on the brink of radical evolution.

The SIMA 2025 winners traverse an extraordinary spectrum of human experiences, capturing personal resilience, political upheaval, and systemic dissolution. MEDIHA, Best Documentary and Ethos Jury Prize winner, is a harrowing self-portrait that transforms trauma into testimony as its filmmaker navigates survival amid devastating loss. In HOLLYWOODGATE, Best Director winner Ibrahim Nash’at, gains unprecedented access to the Taliban's takeover, capturing chilling shifts in power after the U.S. withdrawal. QUEENDOM, Best Cinematography winner, turns radical artistic defiance into a cinematic act of resistance against Putin’s regime. Academy Award nominee and SIMA 2025 Best Editing winner SUGARCANE excavates the wounds of Indigenous injustice, exposing long-buried abuse at an Indian residential school. From Best Sound winner MARCHING IN THE DARK, which follows one widow’s quiet defiance against cultural abandonment, to Transparency Jury Prize winner BLACK SNOW, which unravels the fight for truth in the face of government disinformation—each film awarded this year stands as a striking testament to the endurance, activism, and hope required in the relentless pursuit of justice.

“SIMA 2025 winners reveal the depths of human resilience, creativity and activism with raw elegance and disarming intimacy that is truly transformative. In a fractured yet fiercely hopeful world, they challenge us to see—and to never look away. Their work is a testament to the power of storytelling to shift perspectives, shape understandings, and birth revolutions. To all the remarkable filmmakers and producers, thank you for your artistry, bravery, and unwavering commitment to fearless authenticity. We are honored to stand with you in championing your vision.” – Daniela Kon Lieberberg, SIMA Founder & CEO

Transcending borders, politics, and silence, and forging a path toward collective action and empathy, this year’s winners continue to unveil the complex intersections of personal courage and collective struggle. IGUALADA, Systemic Change Award Winner (Sponsored by The Foundation for Systemic Change), tells the story of Francia Márquez, a Black woman from rural Colombia who challenges a broken system by launching a presidential campaign, transforming the term “igualada” from an insult into a call for empowerment. A MOVE, Best Short Documentary Director Winner, intimately follows filmmaker Elahe Esmaili’s return to Mashhad, Iran, where her personal journey intersects with the larger fight for women’s freedom and agency, reflecting the seismic shifts ignited by the Woman-Life-Freedom movement. STRANGLED, Lens to Action Jury Prize Winner (Sponsored by the Human Sustainability Project), weaves together the stories of Veasna, Pherng, and Nga, three individuals trapped in the unforgiving grip of microfinance debt, whose lives and livelihoods are systematically dismantled by forces beyond their control. These films offer a profoundly intimate journey into the resilience and resistance required to face—and challenge—the forces that seek to obfuscate and oppress truth in all its many facets.

In addition to spotlighting the gold standard in social impact filmmaking, SIMA 2025 announces the winners of one of the world’s first awards of its kind: the inaugural Impact Campaign Awards, presented to two campaigns that have demonstrated innovative approaches, effective partnerships, and measurable outcomes in driving social change and fostering a sustainable culture of advocacy after the credits roll. THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED, SIMA 2025 Legacy Award winner, follows filmmaker Assia Boundaoui as she uncovers a covert FBI operation that subjected her Arab-American community to mass surveillance. Their accompanying impact campaign raised awareness of the psychological violence caused by federal community surveillance, garnering widespread media coverage and strong support from American Muslim and Arab communities. ANOTHER BODY, the SIMA 2025 Catalyst Award winner—an SXSW winner and an Emmy-nominated documentary—follows one U.S. college student’s quest for justice after discovering deepfake pornography of herself online. Its associated impact campaign, #MyImageMyChoice, is a cultural movement tackling intimate image abuse, pressuring governments and tech companies to #BlockMrDeepfakes and shut down the 3,000+ sites dedicated to online gendered abuse. By implementing innovative strategies that extend beyond the screen, these campaigns set a new precedent in impact producing—moving the conversation beyond quantitative metrics into a new paradigm of qualitative and human-centered advocacy.

The SIMA 2025 Winners are now eligible for entry into Cinema Across Borders, SIMA’s global traveling series that reaches over 30 countries annually. These screenings span diverse forums—from film festivals in Buenos Aires to remote villages in Liberia—sparking dialogues, shifting perspectives, mobilizing local activism, and empowering changemakers and organizations to amplify their impact. Additionally, select 2025 short documentaries and impact videos are now eligible to join SIMA Academy, SIMA’s award-winning global education platform. Reaching over 140,000 students in 100+ countries, these films invigorate teacher training programs, youth advocacy workshops, student film clubs, and local impact projects, inspiring the next generation of changemakers.

MEDIA + PRESS

Contact Erinn Sullivan, CMO, SIMA Studios, erinn@simastudios.org

MEET THE WINNERS

MEDIA KIT

SPONSORS

SIMA’s Sponsors are committed to the collaborative effort of honoring the most thought-provoking documentary films of our time. The 13th Annual SIMA Awards are powered by SIMA Studios, The Foundation for Systemic Change, Human Sustainability Project, FIPADOC, International Documentary Association (IDA), Firelight Media, DC/DOX, Double Exposure, Undocumented Filmmakers Collective, Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC), Documentary Australia, Armenian Film Society, GEN Center for Arts and Sciences, and Instituto Multimedia DerHumALC (IMD).

DOCUMENTARY AWARDS + JURY PRIZES

MEDIHA | Best Documentary and Ethos Jury Prize | Hasan Oswald | United States, Iraq, Turkey, Syria

HOLLYWOODGATE | Best Director | Ibrahim Nash'at | Germany, Afghanistan

QUEENDOM | Best Cinematography | Agniia Galdanova | Russia, United States

SUGARCANE | Best Editing | Julian Brave Noisecat and Emily Kassie | Canada

MARCHING IN THE DARK | Best Sound | Kinshuk Surjan | Belgium, Netherlands, India

IGUALADA | Systemic Change Award (Sponsored by The Foundation for Systemic Change) | Juan Mejia | Colombia

BLACK SNOW | Transparency Jury Prize | Alina Simone | Siberia, United States

UNTIL HE'S BACK | Best Documentary and Best Sound (Short Doc) | Jacqueline Baylon | Morocco

A MOVE (خونه) | Best Director (Short Doc) | Elahe Esmaili | Iran

CHASING ROO | Best Cinematography (Short Doc) | Skye Fitzgerald | Australia

THE LAST ICE AGE | Best Editing (Short Doc) | Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee and Adam Loften | Iceland

WE EXIST IN MEMORY (EXISTIMOS EN LA MEMORIA) | Stylistic Achievement Jury Prize | Darian Woehr | United States, Venezuela

STRANGLED | Lens to Action Jury Prize (Sponsored by Human Sustainability Project) | Robin Narciso and Thomas Cristofoletti | Cambodia

IMPACT VIDEO AWARDS + JURY PRIZES

UNCLE BULLY'S SURF SKOOL | Humanitas Award | Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday | United States

HUSH NOW. | Creative Activism Award | Laen Sanches | France

WHERE 4X4S FAIL | Innovation Jury Prize | Emily Stoker | United Kingdom, Peru

A HAND TO HOLD | Impact Jury Prize | Reed Martin | United States

XR + INTERACTIVE AWARD + JURY PRIZE

ORIGEN, CHAPTER 1: JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST | Immersive Impact Award | Emilia Sánchez Chiquetti | Brazil

SOUL PAINT | Creative Advocacy Jury Prize | Sarah Ticho and Niki Smit | United Kingdom, Netherlands

IMPACT CAMPAIGN AWARDS

PRODUCTION COMPANY AWARDS

MULTITUDE FILMS | Vital Voices Award | United States

CLIN D'OEIL FILMS | Creative Impact Award | Belgium

SPECIAL MENTIONS

BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT | Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp | Uganda

BYE BYE TIBERIAS | Lina Soualem | France, Palestine

SABBATH QUEEN | Sandi Dubowski | United States

ZURAWSKI V TEXAS | Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault | United States

ENCHUKUNOTO (THE RETURN) | Laissa Malih | Kenya

M/OTHER | Iris Zaki | Israel

PUBLIC DEFENDER | Andrea Kalin | United States

ADIDAS OWNS THE REALITY | Keil Troisi and Igor Vamos | United States

DANCING PAST THE ODDS | Jeanette Lim | Singapore

MURMURATION | Patricia Bergeron and Ali Kays | Canada

THIS IS MY HEART (CECI EST MON COEUR) | Nicolas Blies and Stéphane Hueber-Blies | Luxembourg

A TOWN CALLED VICTORIA (Impact Campaign) | Impact Campaign Producers: Li Lu and Michael Latt | Film Director: Li Lu | Organizations: Time and Place and Film Exchange | United States

BIG FIGHT IN LITTLE CHINATOWN (Impact Campaign) | Impact Campaign Producer: Karen Cho | Film Director: Karen Cho | Organization: Eyesteelfilm | Canada

HOME IS SOMEWHERE ELSE (Impact Campaign) | Impact Campaign Producer: Mariana Marin | Film Directors: Carlos Hagerman and Jorge Villalobos | Organization: Shine Global Inc | Mexico, USA

VICTIM /SUSPECT (Impact Campaign) | Impact Campaign Producer: Eliza Licht | Film Director: Nancy Schwartzman | Organization: Red Owl | United States

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