At the 11th Zurich Human Rights Film Festival (March 26–April 1, 2026), an ecumenical jury appointed by Interfilm Switzerland awarded the Prix Célestine, which comes with a prize of CHF 2,500. The jury awarded the prize to the documentary film “La Beauté de l'Âne” (The Beauty of the Donkey, Switzerland, USA, Kosovo 2025), directed by Dea Gjinovci.
In the jury’s laudatory statement, it reads: "Director Dea Gjinovci sets out with her father, Asllan, to uncover the true circumstances surrounding her grandmother’s death during the Kosovo War. On location, she collaborates with the village community to reenact the events of her father’s childhood and youth that drove him to flee as early as 1968. In doing so, she succeeds in interweaving aesthetics, staging, and documentary. Music, imagery, and amateur actors manage to portray what is difficult to discuss within families. This gives the participants the opportunity to come to terms with their own history."
The jury members were Lea Kunz (teacher), Luca Policante-Roth (pastor), Susanna Rizzi (school social worker), and Martina Wüthrich (psychologist and supervisor). The jury’s composition includes both experienced jurors and newcomers, who are introduced to the process of evaluating films and the criteria of ecumenical festival juries. They previewed and discussed a selection of four films from the HRFF Zurich program, chosen by festival director and artistic director Sascha Lara Bleuler.