In the Panorama Dokumente category, Die Mollner Briefe by Martina Priessner won the top prize for best documentary
The 2025 Berlin International Film Festival has officially revealed the winners of the Panorama Audience Awards, with Spanish drama Sorda (Deaf) by Eva Libertad claiming the top prize for best feature film, while German documentary Die Mollner Briefe (The Moelln Letters) took home the award in the Panorama Dokumente category. The winners were determined by audience votes, making them a direct reflection of public sentiment at the festival.
Sorda tells the poignant story of Angela (Miriam Garlo) and Hector (Alvaro Cervantes), an inter-abled couple in Spain who are preparing for the birth of their child. Angela, who is deaf, faces pressure from her hearing parents to wear hearing aids, despite being part of a vibrant and supportive deaf community. After giving birth, Angela grapples with the fear that she will not be able to fully connect with her child, a fear that strains her relationship with her hearing husband, Hector. Directed by Eva Libertad, the film explores themes of identity, family dynamics, and the complexities of living with a disability. Produced by Distinto Films, Nexus CreaFilms, and A Contracorriente Films, Sorda is being sold globally by Madrid-based Latido Films.
In the Panorama Dokumente category, Die Mollner Briefe by Martina Priessner won the top prize for best documentary. The film revisits the tragic 1992 arson attack in the German town of Mölln, where neo-Nazis set fire to the homes of Turkish-German families, killing three people and injuring several others. The documentary follows survivors, including Ibrahim Arslan, who was a child at the time, as they uncover hundreds of condolence letters that were sent by the public but never delivered to the victims’ families. Priessner’s film takes a deep dive into the long-term effects of the attack, highlighting the bureaucratic mishandling of historical memory and the intergenerational trauma that still lingers over 30 years later. The documentary, produced by Berlin-based inselfilm production, is being distributed globally by New Docs.
Both Sorda and Die Mollner Briefe were praised for their emotional depth and powerful storytelling, resonating deeply with festival-goers. As the Berlin International Film Festival draws to a close on February 23, these films stand out as powerful testaments to the enduring power of cinema to address important social issues.
