The documentary Traces by Ukrainian directors Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk won the Panorama Audience Award at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, Ukrainska Pravda reports.

The world premiere of the Ukrainian documentary Traces took place on February 16 in the Panorama Dokumente program.

The film focuses on Ukrainian women who, during Russia's aggression against Ukraine, endured sexual violence and torture and refuse to remain silent, the Ukrainian State Film Agency said.

The Ukrainian State Film Agency said that director Alisa Kovalenko knows this difficult subject from within, saying she had also suffered conflict-related sexual violence while in captivity in Donbas at the very start of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

She became one of the first women in Ukraine to speak about it publicly.

As Traces was not part of the official selection, it did not compete for the Golden Bear or Silver Bear. Its nomination in the Panorama section made it eligible for the audience award. The Panorama Audience Award for best feature film and best documentary at Berlinale has been awarded since 1999.