CIRCLE, the training programme and “safe space” for women and gender expansive filmmakers, has unveiled its selection for the seventh edition of its flagship programme Women Doc Accelerator.
Ten filmmakers and their projects have been chosen from 117 submissions by the selection committee of writer and producer Suzy Gillet, programmer and project manager Babette Dieu, producer Kesmat El Sayed, film scholar Jelena Mišeljić, and director/producer Rok Biček.
The ten selected projects for the new CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator are as follows:
- AL BAYT. Francesca Bertin, Director, writer (Germany). Co-director: Laura Stauth. Producer: Karsten Krause (Fünferfilm). Country of production: Germany. The film recalls the previous life of three generations of women living in a former cotton estate in Egypt’s Nile Delta.
- AMAZONAS. Clara Lopez Rubio, Director, writer (Spain). Producer: Isabella Parra (Caleidoscopio Cine). Countries of production: Spain, Germany. The director spent time with the Waorani tribe as a witness to the rift of an entire community of indigenous women in the face of industrial development.
- HOPE AGAINST HOPE. Mina Keshavarz, Director, producer, writer. Co-Producers: Christophe Bruncher, Anita Filk.
- A LETTER TO MY CHILDREN (PISMO MOJOJ DJECI). Ines Tanović, Director (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Producer: Ines Tanovic (DOKUMENT Sarajevo). Country of production: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ines Tanovic (restores the history of the connection of a German and a Bosnian family through archive material.
- LETTERS FROM HOME. Xin Fang, Director (China). Producer: Xin Fang (Independent). Countries of production: China. Coproducer: Nicole Tsien (United States). Director Xin Fang returns to her hometown in China after many years spent in the USA.
- MATY OR THE REAL LIFE. Fagamou Ndiaye, Director (Senegal). Producer: Marie Ka (Picture Box). Countries of production: Senegal. The film tells the story of a Senegalese woman on the verge of marrying.
- PORTRAIT OF A. Rand Beiruty, Director, producer (Jordan). Producer: Jude Kawwa & Rand Beiruty (Shaghab Films). Countries of production: Jordan, Germany. A film about a young Roma immigrant mother.
- SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW. Koval Bhatia, Director, producer (India). Producer: Koval Bhatia (A Little Anarky Films). Country of production: India. Co-producer: Riham Ezzaldeen (What Took You So Long, United States). The director confronts her ideas of family, healing and loss through the relationship with her childhood teacher.
- THE WARRIORS & THE SWAN Åsne Høgetveit, Producer (Koko Film AS, Norway). Director: Trude Berge Ottersen (Norway). Country of production: Norway. Co-producer: Fredrik Lange and Carl Javer (Vilda Bomben AB, Sweden). The film reverses the narrative of Norway as a peaceful country.
- THE WHITE WATERS. Flora Linghwa Huang, Director, producer, writer (Taiwan). Producer: Flora Linghwa Huang and Kumi Kunming Fu (Scorching Sun Production). Country of production: Taiwan. Where hardness and fatiguing labour have shaped the lives of three immigrant women.
Biljana Tutorov, founder of CIRCLE, comments: “It’s incredible that CIRCLE is welcoming its seventh generation of documentary filmmakers. Time is flying and I have a feeling that this adventure takes its own shape and course, finding its natural place in the industry landscape. Solidarity is what we need most today. Together we can see, hear and do so much more. We can create and deepen the safe space for us and our projects. Often we confound ourselves with our projects, it’s a common place for all documentary filmmakers. The new cohort’s takes on the world are personal and bold. Ten amazing filmmakers from all continents will gather to work together over months to come. I can’t wait to see what this alchemy of experiences and cultures will produce in all of us.”
Brigid O’Shea, mentor at CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator, adds: “As we welcome our next group to start their circle journey, I also reflect on the significant success of our CIRCLE alumni, their personal growth alongside professionals and their films and projects circulating the globe. I can’t wait to see what this group has in store.”
CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator is a year-round training initiative, open to projects and professionals in all stages. The program consists of three modules, taking place in Greece in July, in partnership with Evia Film Project of Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Agora, in Serbia in September and in Italy during Trieste’s When East Meets West event in January 2025.
Among CIRCLE’s alumni are Ever Since I Knew Myself by Maka Gogaladze (world premiere at Visions du Réel 2024); Twice Colonized by Lin Alluna (world premiere Sundance 2023, opening film HotDocs and CPH:DOX 2023, Sheffield Docs 2023, ‘Ted Rogers’ Best Feature Length Documentary Award at Canadian Screen Awards 2024); XiXi by Fan Wu (world premiere at HotDocs 2024, winner of the Emerging International Filmmaker Award); La Singla by Paloma Zapata (opening film Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival 2023, HotDocs 2023 Official Selection, Audience Award and jury special mention at Docs Barcelona 2023, Málaga Film Festival, Ficci Festival, Krakow Film Festival, the Doxa Film Festival, Docs València and others); The Eclipse by Nataša Urban (winner DOX:AWARD at CPH:DOX 2022, Special Mention International Competition – DokuFest Prizren, MakeDox Onion Award for Best Film, nominated for the European Film Award, DocLisboa, Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, IDFA Best of Fests, Jihlava International Documentary Festivals and many others); Light Falls Vertical by Efthymia Zymvragaki (world Premiere at IDFA 2022, nominated for IDFA Best First Feature Award, Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival 2023, Málaga Film Festival, DOK.fest München, Docs Barcelona and the Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara, TIDF – Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2024); and This Rain will Never Stop by Alina Gorlova (IDFA 2020 Award for Best First Appearance among others).
