Roots & Reels Winners Announced

What an incredible journey this has been!

Yesterday, 7 July 2026, during a special online event with the Top 30 Roots & Reels participants, we proudly announced the winners of this year’s competition.

The online gathering brought together young creators whose works stood out for their creativity, honesty, and powerful engagement with memory, history, identity, and the shared past.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took part in this edition of Roots & Reels: the young creators who shared their stories with imagination and courage, and everyone who watched, voted, commented, shared, and supported the works online.

This year’s submissions reminded us how powerful young voices can be when they reflect on the past and ask meaningful questions about the present and future. Each work brought something unique, thoughtful, and moving to the competition, and we are truly grateful to all participants for their dedication and creativity.

We would also like to thank our jury members for their time, expertise, and thoughtful evaluation of the submissions:

• Prof. Dr. Dhurata Shehri
• Dr. Fernande Raine
• Marcus Bösch
• Dr. Marek Mutor
• Steven Stegers
  

We are delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Roots & Reels competition.

Audience Awards

Most Liked

The Legacy of Taurus
Created by Mustafa and Berkay

Watch here:

Most Commented

A German Legacy That Can’t Be Deported
Created by Tamar

Watch here:

Most Shared

Forbidden… to Be Remembered
Created by Asia

Watch here:

Jury Awards

First Prize

Why?
Created by Susanna and Knarik

Watch here:

Second Prize

They Are Not Forgotten Here
Created by Matej, Filip, Roko and Fran

Watch here:

Third Prize

Renaming Streets
Created by Olha

Watch here:

A huge congratulations to all the winners!

We also want to thank every participant once again. Your work, your questions, and your reflections helped make Roots & Reels a space for dialogue, remembrance, and creative expression.

Thank you for being part of this edition of Roots & Reels. We look forward to continuing to celebrate young people’s stories and the many ways they help us understand the past and ask challenging questions about the future.

This project was organised by the Institute for Democracy, Media and Culture (IDMC), initiated by EUSTORY, and supported by Körber-Stiftung.