Inspiring, Humbling Stories at the EU-Asia Docs 2026 Film Festival

Description

Finding hope in dark times is not always be easy, but the stories told at EU-Asia Docs 2026 may prove as humbling as they are inspiring. Much of the festival celebrates everyday heroes and stoic survivors facing down societal and existential terrors – war, dictatorship, corruption, oppression, violence and prejudice.

Academy Award-winner Mr. Nobody Against Putin (pictured above) profiles a whistleblowing Russian teacher who exposes the truth inside Russia’s state education system, while A Fox Under a Pink Moon chronicles an Afghan artist’s five-year struggle to escape Iran and reunite with her mother in Austria. Elsewhere The Palace of Citizens focuses on the Portuguese parliamentary battle for fair housing, while The Dialogue Police follows a dedicated unit of Swedish police officers tasked with safeguarding free speech. 

Established to bridge relations between the EU and the region, the festival matches 13 European films with four from Asia. Filmmakers representing two titles are flying into Hong Kong for post-screening Q&As: the team behind South Korea’s Karama (winner of Best Documentary at the Jeonju International Film Festival); and Ramiro Cabrera, director of Ponsonbyland. There will also be online Q&As with Alisa Kovalenko, the director of Traces, the Ukrainian winner of the Panorama Audience Award at Berlin International Film; and Christophe Beyssier, director of Ukraine: Life Despite Everything – described as a “testament to the collective exhaustion, fierce resistance, and human endurance of the brave Ukrainian people.”

Screenings take place at Broadway Cinematheque, Premiere Elements and Palace IFC.