Three Master of Film alumni win awards at IDFA 2025

Still 'Four Comrades, One Echo'

Published on November 24, 2025

The Master of Film programme at the Netherlands Film Academy celebrates remarkable success at the 38th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). Three alumni have received prestigious honours, underscoring the calibre of emerging talent nurtured by the school:

Kiva Liu (class of 2025) won the IDFA Forum Award for Best Producers Connection Project with her project Four Comrades, One Echo.
Dawood Hilmandi (class of 2016) received the IDFA Award for Best First Feature for his film Paikar (Netherlands/Afghanistan). In addition, his film was granted a Special Mention in the Best Dutch Film category and also earned the FIPRESCI Award.
Albert Kuhn (class of 2019) was awarded a Special Mention in the Short Documentary competition for his film Dreams for a Better Past (Netherlands/Spain). His film was edited by Diana Toucedo (teacher Master of Film)

The awards cover a wide spectrum of documentary filmmaking—from project development and co-production (Liu) to impactful first features (Hilmandi) and innovative short documentaries (Kuhn).

We congratulates Kiva Liu, Dawood Hilmandi and Albert Kuhn on these outstanding accomplishments and look forward to see their further work on the international stage.