“The film of your future is already rolling” – the Budapest International Documentary Film Festival kicks off with 60 films
The 12th Budapest International Documentary Festival (BIDF) will take place between 24 January and 1 February 2026. The programme includes 60 films and 250 screenings in the capital and at 12 locations across the country. Numerous filmmakers, directors and protagonists will attend Hungary’s largest documentary showcase in person to speak about the making of their films.
Budapest International Documentary Film Festival 2026
This year’s programme is as diverse as the world we live in. One film, for instance, introduces a Chinese dating guru, while another follows a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist who is trying to cope with challenges on two fronts: at home and in the midst of war. We hear from Ukrainian students who continue going to school under the threat of bombings, eyewitnesses of an Israeli terrorist attack, and we witness the gruelling days of a surgeon operating in Gaza.
The festival will also present a film offering exclusive footage from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s final, arduous year in office. Other topics include Kenyan essay writers who produce university papers for elite students as paid contractors. The programme further explores dementia, the drama of intergenerational divides within families, and the strength of love in old age.
From 24 January 2026, audiences will be able to watch sixty festival films over the course of a week, including 33 competition titles vying for the international jury’s recognition. A total of 250 screenings will be held at BIDF, with the productions shown not only at Budapest’s Cinema City Mammut but also in 12 cities across Hungary (Békéscsaba, Debrecen, Eger, Győr, Jászberény, Kecskemét, Pécs, Sopron, Szeged, Székesfehérvár, Szombathely and Veszprém). Visitors will have the chance to see documentaries by Oscar, Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Toronto IFF and IDFA award-winning filmmakers – many of whom will travel to Hungary in person.
“At the Budapest International Documentary Festival, the films reflect the message conveyed by our poster: the film of your future is already rolling! It shows a confident, pregnant woman smiling while holding her belly. The future of your family is in your hands – as is the future of the world, of knowledge, of truth, and of your relationships. These are the ideas around which the films revolve, each featuring protagonists who wish to take an active role in shaping their own future,” said documentary director Ágnes Sós, BIDF co-founder and festival director.
The official programme:
In your hands – the future of knowledge
- Megszakadt kapcsolat / Connected
- Senki tanár úr Putyin ellen / Mr. Nobody Against Putin
- Hawa asszony és a talibán / Writing Hawa
- Árnyék tudósok / The Shadow Scholars
- Agatha virágzó almanachja / Agatha’s Almanac
- Megáll az ész / Change My Mind
- Időbélyeg / Timestamp
Kezedben az igazság jövője / In your hands – the future of justice
- Natchez, a rabszolgatartók fellegvára / Natchez
- A Bibi akták / The Bibi Files
- A víz alá merült falu / The Town that Drove Away
- Mákvirág / I, Poppy
- Család vagy háború / Love+War
- Megszegett ígéret / The Promise
- 80 dühös újságíró / 80 Angry Journalists
Kezedben a családod jövője / In your hands – the future of your family:
- Az örökség és Mi, az örökösök / We, the Inheritors
- Az apokalipszis gyermeke / Child of Dust
- Összeolvadva / Welded Together
- A Zapata-mocsár meséi / To the West, in Zapata
- Drága Nansie nagyink / Nansie
- Álmot láttam / I Saw a ‘Suno’
Kezedben a kapcsolatod jövője / In your hands – the future of your relationship
- Randi-piac / The Dating Game
- Bolonduljunk meg inkább együtt! / Better Go Mad in the Wild
- Jutalom az Esőért / Reward for the Rain
- Észak-dél férfi-nő / North South Man Woman
- À la Orna és Ella / Orna and Ella
- Megsebzett szívek / Love Hurts
- Huncut barátnék / Double Trouble
Kezedben a világ jövője / In your hands – the future of the world
- Dermedt csend Izlandon / The Day Iceland Stood Still
- Az utolsó küldetés / Facing War
- Isten – nők / Girls & Gods
- Az Eukrán / The Eukrainian
- Végeláthatatlan út / The Road Between Us
- A misszió / The Mission
Further information is available on the festival’s official website. Tickets for the week-long festival will go on sale on 10 December.