Business Doc Europe

As Swedish artist Victoria Verseau examines her life more than a decade after the transition surgery she underwent in 2012, she also attempts to process the fragmented memories she has of her friend Meril who underwent similar surgery at the same time, but who died three years later. Verseau additionally follows Athena and Aamina, who are on their own journeys towards transition. “It’s a movie made by and about trans people, aiming for an honest portrayal of our lives,” says Verseau.

Not many films happen by accident. However, Ukrainian director (and soldier) Oleh Sentsov freely admits that his new project Real (world-premiering this week at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival) was not planned in advance. “It was everything that the go-pro shot that day,” he tells BDE of his film shot in the front-line trenches during the counter-offensive against the Russian invasion. “Usually, when you see videos from the war, they are edited. This is what makes Real different. It is just raw footage.”

Liz Gibbons will sit alongside fellow Beeb commissioners in La Rochelle on a panel named Meet the Execs (Tues 25 June 4pm), during which the BBC toppers will give Sunny Side delegates an insight into just how and why they greenlight films and programmes. The execs will also talk about their perspectives on co-production and acquisitions. Gibbons explains more to BDE.

Since his appointment as Head of Documentary at Screen Australia in January, Richard Huddleston has been relishing the opportunity to act as “chief cheerleader” for the sector. “It has been fascinating; it has been rewarding; it has been challenging. Above all, being head of documentary filmmaking at a national funding agency, it’s an absolute privilege,” he tells BDE.

It’s a decade now since Elizabeth Klinck, the renowned archive producer and copyright clearance specialist, approached Sunny Side of the Doc together with a small team of history producers to suggest that “history and archive” should be included as a key part of the festival alongside its other strands. This year, as she tells BDE, she will host two debates; on ‘Archives, AI and Ethics,’ and ‘Archives at Risk.’

ShareDoc founder Anne Marie Borsboom talks to Business Doc Europe about her QR code initiative that enables immediate financial engagement by audiences as soon as the credits roll. “We exist to amplify the social impact of documentaries for the protagonists/charities involved in the project,” she says. “We believe in guiding the audience towards immediate action while bridging the gap between the documentary industry and documentary lovers.”

Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) will examine the theme of ‘Justice?’ during its 7th edition, to be held 13-17 September 2024 in Sarajevo. “Art is tasked with dealing with issues of wider significance, sometimes painful, forbidden, ignored or marginalized, but too important to be quiet about. Our task is to give voice to those who have been denied it, and the festival theme of ‘Justice?’ speaks about and examines precisely that,” write AJB DOC organisers.

Over four days, the La Rochelle market hosted 2100 participants from 68 countries, over 1000 companies, 90 exhibitors, and 250 international decision-makers including major broadcasters, streamers, foundations, distributors, financiers, and museums from across the world. Award Winners from seven pitch sessions were announced plus numerous other cash and in-kind prizes.

After snagging the Best Pitch award in the Global Issues section of this year’s Sunny Side of the Doc (24-27 June), Business Doc Europe spoke to Renaud Lavergne, Factstory producer of Inside Gaza, helmed by Hélène Lam Trong and the Agence France Press (AFP) Gaza team. Lavergne and his crew embarked on the project after the events of October 7.

BDE takes a closer look at one of the buzziest projects pitched in the Science section of Sunny Side of the Doc 2024 as seasoned producer Massimo Arvat unpacks the core themes and features of his new project Unconventional Gardeners, helmed by Alessandro Bernard and Paolo Ceretto. The feature is being produced by Italy’s Zenit Arti Audiovisive and Germany’s Dirk Manthey Film with backing from Italy’s Ministry of Culture, the Piemonte Doc Film Fund and the Trentino Film Commission.

At Sunny Side of the Doc 2024, Business Doc Europe caught up with Frankie Fenton, director of the feature-length project How to Stop a War. Fenton’s latest effort will be pitched in the History strand of the French industry event on June 27. During our chat, Fenton touched on the project’s inception, its visual look and style and the timely themes it tackles.

The Czech doc fest reminds the international doc sector of its June 30 deadline, and unveils this year’s visual concept, that of islands, as authored again by the award-winning book graphic designer and illustrator Juraj Horváth. Ji.hlava will also present a major retrospective of directors Vit Klusák and Filip Remunda and their leading Czech production company Hypermarket Film. More news…