For decades, Durham bars and restaurants have known to staff up for a certain April weekend. That’s when thousands of film buffs descend upon downtown Durham to enjoy four days of documentaries, community and conversation. The draw is the Full Frame Documentary Festival, the beloved annual event that temporarily makes Durham the world epicenter for documentary lovers.
This year’s festival, which ran April 3 through 6, screened 49 films from 30 countries across four Durham venues. According to Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies, which runs the festival, attendance was up 20 percent over last year.
From panel discussions and parties to informal hallway conversations, the event seemed infused with joy. Old friends found one another and embraced. New friendships were quickly struck up in lines waiting to see films.
Chris Sims, who took over as CDS director in July of last year, said he was delighted with the overall event and especially proud of the “radical inclusivity” and “profound sense of community reverberating through downtown Durham.”
A popular aspect of Full Frame is the opportunity for both audiences and students to interact directly with the filmmakers. “The festival provides a space for a beginning filmmaker to easily approach an accomplished filmmaker to ask for advice,” Sims explained.
Filmmaker and Duke alum Michelle Lotker ’08 has been in both camps. She began attending Full Frame at the start of her career. Now, she said, “I get to see everybody in the community I admire, see incredible, inspiring films, and just get re-energized for the year ahead.”
As in previous years, the 2025 Full Frame lineup demonstrated the wide range that exists within documentary films. There was real diversity in tone, technique and intention.
Filmmaker Pilar Timpane M.T.S.’13 first attended the festival as an invited fellow during her graduate study at Duke Divinity School. This year, her film “The Last Partera” had its world premiere at Full Frame, where it screened to a sold-out audience. Timpane served as a producer on the film, which tells the powerful story of a 100-year-old Costa Rican midwife passing on her vanishing traditions to a new generation. The film took eight years to complete.
“From the filmmaker’s side, we cherish this festival. There is nothing like it,” Timpane said.
Full Frame co-director and artistic director Sadie Tillery agreed. During the Q&A for “The Librarians,” about a group of librarians fighting book banning, Tillery fought back tears watching film participant Suzette Baker stand on stage and receive thunderous applause. “In that moment, I felt immense gratitude toward Suzette for sharing her story on film, and I felt grateful to the audience for being there to witness it.”
The festival’s top prize went to “Seeds,” a loving portrait of intergenerational Black farmers in Georgia. The film will go on to compete in the Documentary Short Film category at the 2026 Oscars.
In addition to the CDS staff, more than 200 volunteers contributed 3,000 hours to make this year’s festival a success. Alumni interested in attending or volunteering for next year’s Full Frame Festival are encouraged to block out April 16-19, 2026.
For a complete list of 2025 films and prize winners, visit fullframefest.org