Amnesty International Slovenia Human Rights Film Award
(Competition Section)

The jury consisting of Lea Aymard, Urška Djukić and Ayat Najafi selected a winner from the five films competing for the Best Human Rights Documentary Award: Man in Black (Wang Bing); Total Trust (Zhang Jialing); Bottlemen (Nemanja Vojinović); Silence of Reason (Kumjana Novakova) and Snatched from the Source (Maja Weiss).

The 26th Documentary Film Festival Amnesty International Slovenia Best Human Rights Award goes to Silence of Reason by Kumjana Novakova, which challenges the myth of normalizing mass rape and sexual slavery as inherent parts of every warfare and the "inevitable" consequence of any military conflict.

Jury motivation
When the reasoning falls silent, we easily look away and man-made disasters become normal. We no longer see others as equal human beings. We simply look away and remain in our comfort silence. Whether it's the ongoing conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine or the climate catastrophes, or the human rights violations against oppressed people all around the world. It seems like humanity lost its way. 

The award for best human rights documentary goes to the film Silence of Reason directed by Kumjana Novakova, which recalls one of the darkest episodes of contemporary Europe, when many in the world looked the other way as women's bodies became the battlefield for misogynistic and frustrated men.