Interviews

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.”

“What makes us really unique is that we are the only pure market dedicated just to documentary,” underlines Sunny Side’s Mathieu Béjot ahead of the event’s 35th roll-out, the core of which is the presentation of 42 new projects across seven themed strands. “Part of our mission also is to make sure that there's renewal in the industry, and that you don't hear the same pitches from the same companies.” Sunny Side of the Doc 2024 runs June 24-27 in La Rochelle, France.

The 3-day Industry programme of the Belfast-based Docs Ireland festival kicks off June 20 with an ongoing objective to support the production of non-fiction across the whole island of Ireland. “We really just want to support, nurture and foster the island of Ireland’s industry, particularly its emerging filmmakers,” Industry Head Roisín Geraghty tells BDE of her event.

Strike: An Uncivil War, directed by Daniel Gordon, tells the story behind the infamous “battle of Orgreave” in June 1984 between the Yorkshire police and striking mineworkers. It also reveals just how the Thatcher government ripped the heart out of Britain’s mining communities during the year-long miners’ strike. “Irrespective of your political viewpoint, you see the results that happened,” Gordon tells BDE of the social devastation caused by the closure of the mines.

Lhakpa Sherpa isn’t a household name but is likely to become one after Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (Lucy Walker’s new feature documentary about her) goes out on Netflix across 192 countries in July. “It is going to be the first ever movie that Netflix has subtitled in Nepali - which is huge…” the Oscar-nominated director notes. The film had its European premiere June 15 at Sheffield DocFest.

The shocking and extraordinary story of Japanese reality TV star Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi, who was left alone naked in a room for 15 months and whose every move was watched on television by the Japanese public, is told in The Contestant, the startling new documentary by UK director Clair Titley, who talks to Business Doc Europe.

For her debut feature, Scottish-based Spanish filmmaker Inma de Reyes follows the young would-be matador Borja as he prepares for a career in the bullring. “I have never been interested in bullfighting,” admits the director. “My family have never taken me to a bullfight or anything like that. I’m just completely oblivious to that world. But I think now you cannot be neutral in Spain. You’re either in favour or you’re against…”

Dutch director Rieneke Van Santen presents her campaigning doc project 24 Strong, set in Papua New Guinea and which underlines the universal message of press freedom as “an indispensable pillar of any democracy.” The film's story narrative is woven together by the themes of gender equality, corruption, collectivism and survival. “What strikes me most in this story are the women,” says Van Santen. “It's the women that are leading the investigations and that are exposing corrupt businessmen and politicians.”

In the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, 11-year-old Vrej is, in equal part, philosopher, dreamer and realist. He wants to be a dentist, but is fully aware that he is being prepared for combat, as are all the kids of his age, both and girls. “He was just a child full of wonder, full of dreams, but also very much older [than his years],” says director Hairabedian of her subject. “His personality was what really attracted the lens, and that's what kept us going.”

Bosnian Maja Novaković sighs as she contemplates the immense effort it took to make her debut feature doc (sold by Lightdox and premiering in International Competition at Sheffield DocFest). This was a project shot over several years in often freezing conditions. “All I know is that I wanted to shoot a film about alienation and loss, grief, and this feeling of emptiness [experienced] by one man. I wanted to portray his inner silence and his inner world,” Novaković tells BDE.