Cinema For Peace Celebrates Venezuelan Opposition Leaders While Announcing 2026 Nominees Featuring Pope Leo, Jafar Panahi, and Scarlett Johansson

Cinema for Peace Foundation Nominees Announced for Annual Awards

The Cinema for Peace Foundation has revealed its nominees for the prestigious Cinema Dove and Nobel awards, which honor films and individuals addressing significant global issues.

Winners will be announced on February 16 at a gala taking place at the iconic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. This event coincides with the foundation’s World Forum on the Future of Democracy, AI/Tech, and Humankind.

In the running for the Most Valuable Film of the Year award are notable titles including Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor the Great, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, and Oliver Laxe’s Sirât.

Jaka Bizilj, chairman of the foundation, personally informed Panahi of his nomination in New York in December. This conversation took place shortly after Panahi learned he was set to be tried in absentia in Iran. During their discussion, the filmmaker highlighted the plight of his friend, Nobel Prize winner Narges Mohammadi.

In other award categories, the Oscar-longlisted documentary 2000 Metres to Andriivka is competing for the Most Valuable Documentary of the Year award, while political documentaries Coexistence, My Ass! and Cover-Up are nominated for Political Film of the Year.

The nominees for the foundation’s Nobel Prize include Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López. Sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2014 for his democracy efforts, López escaped the country in 2020 while under house arrest, disguised as an electrician.

“The time has come for Leopoldo López, María Machado, and the legitimately elected President Edmundo Urrutia to free and lead their people,” said Bizilj, who has recently communicated with these leaders in exile. He asserted that neither Maduro’s proxies nor the U.S. have the right to govern Venezuela, emphasizing the need for legitimate elected leaders.

Founded in 2008 as an international non-profit organization, the Cinema for Peace Foundation aims to effect change through film. The foundation has collaborated with numerous prominent figures, including Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, and Oliver Stone, as well as activists like exiled Russian Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova.

Notably, in 2020, the organization played a critical role in airlifting the late Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny from Russia to Germany after his poisoning.

The nominees and awards for the Peace Dove and Nobel prizes are determined by the foundation alongside The World Forum. Over the past few years, more than 50 films honored or nominated by Cinema for Peace have received Academy Award nominations, with over 20 winning Oscars in major categories such as Best Picture, Best International Feature, and Best Documentary Feature for films like I Am Still Here, The Zone of Interest, and All Quiet on the Western Front.

Additionally, Cinema for Peace has produced impactful works such as The Crane’s Call, which investigates Russian war crimes in Ukraine, and The Quiet Diplomat, covering former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The nominees for various categories are as follows:

Cinema for Peace Dove For The Most Valuable Film of the Year

Bugonia directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Eleanor the Great directed by Scarlett Johansson
It Was Just an Accident directed by Jafar Panahi
Nuremberg directed by James Vanderbilt
One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Rental Family directed by Hikari
Sirât directed by Oliver Laxe
Two Prosecutors directed by Sergei Loznitsa
The Voice of Hind Rajab directed by Kaouther Ben Hania
The Wizard of the Kremlin directed by Olivier Assayas

Cinema for Peace Dove For The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year

2000 Metres to Andriivka directed by Mstyslav Chernov
Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media directed by Matthew O’Neill & Perri Peltz
Children in the Fire directed by Evgeny Afineevsky
Molly vs The Machine directed by Marc Silver
Of Mud and Blood directed by Jean-Gabriel Leynaud
Steal This Story, Please! directed by Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
The Road Between Us directed by Barry Avrich
The Last Twins directed by Matthew O’Neill & Perri Peltz
There Is Another Way directed by Stephen Apkon
This Ordinary Thing directed by Nick Davis

International Green Film Award

Ocean with David Attenborough directed by Colin Butfield, Toby Nowlan & Keith Scholey
Super Nature directed by Ed Sayers
Trade Secret directed by Abraham Joffe
The Last Dive directed by Cody Sheehy
Yanuni directed by Richard Ladkani

Cinema for Peace Dove for Women’s Empowerment

Cutting Through Rocks directed by Mohammadreza Eyni & Sara Khak
The Last Ambassador directed by Natalie Halla
Love + War directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore directed by Shoshannah Stern
Prime Minister directed by Lindsay Utz & Michelle Walshe
Sally directed by Cristina Costantini
Young Mothers directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne

Cinema for Peace Dove for The Political Film of the Year

Bodyguard of Lies directed by Dan Krauss
Cover-Up directed by Laura Poitras & Mark Obenhaus
Coexistence, My Ass! directed by Amber Fares
Facing War directed by Tommy Gulliksen
Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea directed by Baby Ruth Villarama
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow directed by Julia Loktev
The Six Billion Dollar Man directed by Eugene Jarecki
The Librarians directed by Kim A. Snyder

THE Noble Prize as Guardians of Democracy

Pope Leo for “The Noble Prize as The Man of the Year”
Nancy Pelosi for “The Noble Prize as Guardian of Democracy”
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya for “The Noble Prize as Guardian of Democracy”
Albie Sachs for “The Noble Prize as Guardian of Democracy”
The World Liberty Congress with Masih Alenijad, Leopoldo Lopez, and Garry Kasparov as “Guardians of Democracy”