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| 2024 | Winner | The Teacher | Farah Nabulsi | Palestine |
| Special Mention | The Teacher Who Promised the Sea | Patricia Font | Spain | |
| 2023 | Feature | Divertimento | Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar | France |
| Documentary | Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power | Geeta Gandbhir, Sam Polland | USA | |
| 2022 | Feature | Amira | Mohamed Diab | Egypt, Jordan |
| Documentary | The Janes | Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes | USA | |
| 2021 | Feature | Broken Keys | Jimmy Keyrouz | Lebanon |
| 2020 | Feature | A Son | Mehdi M. Barsaoui | Tunisia, France |
| Documentary | Máxima | Claudia Sparrow | Peru | |
| 2019 | Feature | Balloon | Michael Herbig | Germany |
| Documentary | It Must Schwing! The Blue Note Story | Eric Friedler | Germany | |
| 2018 | Feature | Tulipani: Love, Honor, and a Bicycle | Mike van Diem | Netherlands, Italy, Canada |
| Documentary | Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami | Sophie Fiennes | USA | |
| 2017 | Feature | At the End of the Tunnel | Rodrigo Grande | Argentina, Spain |
| Documentary | Last Men in Aleppo | director Feras Fayyad, co-director Steen Johannessen | Denmark, Syria | |
| 2016 | Feature | The Idol | Hany Abu-Assad | UK, Palestine |
| Documentary | Our Last Tango | German Kral | Argentina | |
| 2015 | Feature | Margarita, with a Straw | Shonali Bose | India |
| Documentary | Tap World | Dean Hargrove | USA | |
| 2014 | Feature | Belle | Amma Asante | UK |
| Documentary | Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia | Nicholas Wrathall | USA | |
| 2013 | Feature | Touch of the Light | Chang Jung-Chi | Taiwan, Hong Kong |
| Documentary | Who Cares? | Mara Mourão | Brazil | |
| 2012 | Feature | Monsieur Lazhar | Philippe Falardeau | Canada |
| Documentary | Marley | Kevin MacDonald | UK | |
| 2011 | Feature | The Hedgehog | Mona Achache | France |
| Documentary | The Green Wave | Ali Samadi Ahadi | Germany | |
| 2010 | Soundtrack for a Revolution | Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman | USA | |
| 2009 | Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love | Chai Vasarhelyi | Senegal, France, Egypt, USA | |
| 2008 | Katyn | Andrzej Wajda | Poland | |
| 2007 | The Cats of Mirikitani | Linda Hattendorf | USA | |
| 2006 | Music Is My Life, Politics My Mistress: Oscar Brown Jr. | donnie l. betts | USA | |
| 2005 | Innocent Voices | Luis Mandoki | Mexico | |
| 2004 | Paper Clips | Joe Fab, Elliot Berlin | USA | |
| Dance Cuba: Dreams of Flight | Cynthia Newport, Barbara Kopple, Boris Ivan Crespo | USA | ||
| 2003 | Together | Chen Kaige | China, South Korea | |
| 2002 | The Ballad of Bering Strait | Nina Gilden Seavey | USA, Japan | |
| The Tunnel | Roland Suso Richter | Germany | ||
| 2001 | Himalaya | Eric Valli | France, Switzerland, UK | |
| Lumumba | Raoul Peck | France, Belgium, Germany, Haiti | ||
| 2000 | Genghis Blues | Roko & Adrian Belic | USA | |
| 1999 | Buena Vista Social Club | Wim Wenders | Germany, USA | |
| 1998 | Windhorse | Paul Wagner | USA | |
| 1997 | Shall We Dance? | Masayuki Suo | Japan | |
| 1996 | Celestial Clockwork | Fina Torres | France, Venezuela | |
| W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices | Louis Massiah | USA | ||
| 1995 | The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love | Maria Maggenti | USA |
| 2024 | Let Me Go | Maxime Rappaz | Switzerland, France, Belgium |
| 2023 | Xalé | Moussa Sène Absa | Senegal, Ivory Coast |
| 2022 | Once Upon a Time in Calcutta | Aditya Vikram Sengupta | India, France, Norway |
| 2021 | What You Don't Know About Me | Rolando Colla | Switzerland, Italy |
| 2020 | Our Lady of the Nile | Atiq Rahimi | France, Belgium, Rwanda |
| Honorable Mention | 1982 | Oualid Mouaness | Lebanon |
| 2019 | Profile | Timur Bekmambetov | USA, UK, Russia, Cyprus |
| 2018 | Wajib | Annemarie Jacir | Palestine, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, France, Germany, Norway |
| Special Jury Award | The Guilty | Gustav Möller | Denmark |
| 2017 | The Preacher | Magdy Ahmed Ali | Egypt |
| Special Jury Award | A Window to Rosália | Caroline Leone | Brazil, Argentina |
| 2016 | Viva | Paddy Breathnach | Ireland |
| Special Jury Award | 3000 Nights | Mai Masri | Palestine, France, Qatar, Jordan, UAE, Lebanon |
| 2015 | Margarita, with a Straw | Shonali Bose | India |
| Special Jury Award | God Loves the Fighter | Damian Marcano | Trinidad, Tobago |
| 2014 | The Verdict | Jan Verheyen | Belgium |
| Special Jury Award | Rock the Casbah | Laila Marrakchi | France, Morocco |
| 2013 | The Deep | Baltasar Kormákur | Iceland |
| Special Jury Award | Shun Li and the Poet | Andrea Segre | Italy |
| 2012 | Facing Mirrors | Negar Azarbayjani | Iran |
| Special Jury Award | Found Memories | Julia Murat | Brazil, Argentina, France |
| 2011 | A Brand new Life | Ounie Lecomte | South Korea, France |
| 2010 | Zero | Pawel Borowski | Poland |
| Special Jury Award | Autumn Adagio | Tsuki Inoue | Japan |
| 2009 | Snow | Aida Begic | Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, France, Iran |
| Special Jury Award | The Necessities of Life | Benoit Pilon | Canada |
| 2008 | Paloma's Delight | Nadir Mokneche | Algeria, France |
| Special Jury Award | La Zona | Rodrigo Plá | Spain, Mexico |
| 2007 | Red Road | Andrea Arnold | United Kingdom, Denmark |
| 2006 | October 17, 1961 | Alain Tasma | France |
| Special Jury Award | Three Times | Hou Hsiao-Hsien | Taiwan |
| 2005 | The Hero | Zeze Gamboa | Angola |
| 2024 | Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Unholy War on Democracy | Stephen Ujlaki | USA |
| Honorable Mention | Rainbow Warrior | Edward McGurn | UK, France |
| 2023 | Lakota Nation vs. United States | Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli | USA |
| 2022 | We Still Here | Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi | Puerto Rico |
| 2021 | Writing with Fire | Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh | India |
| 2020 | La Llorona | Jayro Bustamante | Guatemala |
| Honorable Mention | Pureza | Renato Barbieri | Brazil |
| 2019 | ¡Las Sandinistas! | Jenny Murray | Nicaragua, USA |
| 2018 | Naila and the Uprising | Julia Bacha | Palestine |
| 2017 | 150 Milligrams | Emmanuelle Bercot | France |
| Honorable Mention | The Good Postman | Tonislav Hristov | Finland, Bulgaria |
| 2016 | Ixcanul | Jayro Bustamante | France, Guatemala |
| 2015 | Limited Partnership | Thomas Miller | USA |
| 2014 | Al Helm: Martin Luther King in Palestine | Connie Field | USA |
| 2013 | Fire in the Blood | Dylan Mohan Gray | India |
| 2012 | Granito: How to Nail a Dictator | Pamela Yates | USA |
| 2011 | Crime After Crime | Yoav Potash | USA |
| 2010 | The Balibo Conspiracy | Robert Connolly | Australia |
| 2024 | Blue Hour | J.D. Shields | USA |
| Honorable Mention | Make a Wish, Benóný! | Katla Sólnes | Iceland |
| MetroShorts | Room to Breathe | Dave Haft | USA |
| Honorable Mention | build me through the image | Paula Hung | USA |
| 2023 | You Left me Alone | Lauren Fondren | USA |
| Honorable Mention | Sobre Elas | Bruna Arcangelo | Brazil |
| MetroShorts | A Chocolate Lens | Gabriel Veras | USA |
| 2022 | Sons of Toledo | Monty Cole | USA |
| MetroShorts | Sonora | Johnny Holder, Pablo Camacho | Colombia |
| 2021 | We Travel | Ethan Payne, B. Brian Foster | USA |
| 2020 | A Mother | Natasha K. Ngaiza | USA |
| Honorable Mention | Acuitzeramo | Miguel Ángel Caballero | USA, Mexico |
| 2019 | 4 Corners | Andre Muir | USA |
| 2018 | A Brief Spark Bookended by Darkness | Brent Green | USA |
| Honorable Mention | Return | Pang-chuan Huang | France |
| 2017 | The Law of Averages | Elizabeth Rose | Canada, USA |
| Visions of an Island | Sky Hopinka | USA | |
| 2016 | Nkosi Coiffure | Federike Migom | Belgium |
| Honorable Mention | Wifey Redux | Robert Mckeon | Ireland |
| 2015 | The Secret World of Foley | Daniel Jewel | UK |
| 2014 | Seasick | Eva Cvijanovic | Canada |
| 2023 | The Sixth Child | Léopold Legrand | France |
| 2022 | The Right to Happiness | Claudio Rossi Massimi | Italy |
| 2021 | Broken Keys | Jimmy Keyrouz | Lebanon |
| Special Commendation | One Careful Owner | Bernabe Rico | Spain |
| 2020 | 1982 | Oualid Mouaness | Lebanon |
| Special Commendation | Yalda: A Night For Forgiveness | Massoud Bakhshi | Iran |
| 2019 | One Last Deal | Klaus Härö | Finland |
| Special Commendations | Supa Modo | Likarion Wainaina | Kenya, Germany |
| 2018 | Outside In | Lynn Shelton | USA |
| Special Commendations | A Season in France | Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | France |
| Special Commendations | Tulipani: Love, Honor, and a Bicycle | Mike van Diem | Netherlands, Italy, Canada |
| 2017 | The Net | Kim Ki-duk | South Korea |
| 2016 | Paths of the Soul | Zhang Yang | China |
| Special Commendations | Behavior | Ernesto Darnas | Cuba |
| 2015 | Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Alfonso Gomez-Rejon | USA |
| Special Commendations | Today | Reza Mirkarimi | Iran |
| Special Commendations | The Dark Horse | James Napier Robertson | New Zealand |
| 2014 | Rock the Casbah | Laila Marrakchi | France, Morocco |
| 2013 | The New World | Jaap van Heusden | Netherlands |
| Special Commendations | Paris Under Watch | Cédric Jimenez | France |
| Special Commendations | La Playa DC | Juan Andrés Arango | Colombia |
| 2012 | The Snows of Kilimanjaro | Robert Guediguian | France |
| Special Commendations | Monsieur Lazhar | Philippe Falardeau | Canada |
| 2011 | Bardsongs | Sander Francken | The Netherlands |
| 2010 | Saviors in the Night | Ludi Boeken | France |
| 2009 | Departures | Yojiro Takita | Japan |
| Special Commendations | The Necessities of Life | Benoit Pilon | Canada |
| Special Commendations | Kabei | Yoji Yamada | Japan |
| 2019 | Simple Wedding | Sara Zandieh | USA |
| Documentary | Fading Portraits | Ali Shilandari | Iran |
| 2018 | No: A Flamenco Tale | Jose Luis Tirado | Spain |
| Honorable Mention | Hotel Salvation | Shubhashish Bhutiani | India |
| 2017 | Behind the Clouds | Cecilia Verheyden | Belgium |
| 2016 | Magallanes | Salvador del Solar | Peru, Columbia, Argentina, Spain |
| 2015 | Happy Times | Luis Javier M. Henaine | Mexico |
| 2014 | Harmony Lessons | Emir Baigazin | Germany, France, Kazakhstan |
| 2013 | Check Mate | José María Cabral | Dominican Republic |
| 2012 | Abu, Son of Adam | Salim Ahmed | India |
2024 by Khubab Hassan
2024 by Paul Lee
2024 by Aidan Xavier Moriarty
2023 by Alene Boghosian
2023 by Paul Lee
2023 by Aidan Xavier Moriarty
2022 by Alyssa Chandler
2022 by Paul Lee
2022 by Elissa Padula
2021 by Melissa Campbell
2021 by Damien Krzesinski
2020 by Faith McKane
2020 by Nathan Ridings
2019 by Rachel Barnes
2019 by Courtney James
2018 by Sungtaek Lim
2018 by Sayf Turkomani
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011 - Filmfest DC 25th Anniversary
P.O. Box 21396 Washington, DC 20009
202-234-FILM
Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
filmfestdc@filmfestdc.org