Business Doc Europe

Director Chai Vasarhelyi is fulsome in her praise for courageous and “diligent” conflict photographer Lynsey Addario, the subject of the new National Geographic feature doc Love+War. Wherever she is, Addario has “the discipline to do the work to an excellent, uncompromising level…and what is so special about her work is the heart, humanity and emotion she brings to it,” she says. Addario joins Vasarhelyi in conversation with BDE.

“We need to care for the people that bring the films here, and we need to care for the people that come to watch the films - it's like a mantra,” director Helder Beja tells BDE on the eve of Doclisboa 2025. The Portuguese docfest (Oct 16 to 26) presents 211 films from 54 countries, which include 93 feature films and 118 shorts. Thirty-nine of the films play as world premieres, while 31 films are made by Portuguese filmmakers. The 23rd edition of Doclisboa opens October 16 with Palestinian Kamal Aljafari’s With Hasan in Gaza.

Filmmaker Antonio Palumbo and co-writer Mariangela Barbanente talk to BDE about their urgent new project which demands justice for a horrific murder committed over 40 years ago. “We do not want to merely recount a crime story,” the creative team tells BDE. “We want to honour Palmina’s life, showcasing her dreams and aspirations as a young girl against the backdrop of poverty in Puglia during the 1970s and 1980s.”

In his paean to the wonders of nature, feature debutant Ed Sayers turns to old tech, in the form of Super 8, to offer us a new way of seeing. For Super Nature, which world-premieres October 12 at BFI London FF, 40 collaborators from around the world filmed their natural habitat using this wonderfully imperfect format, replete with its scratches, graininess and oversaturation, and submitted their efforts to Sayers. “If anyone who sees this film has any change in their attitude towards the natural world that we live in, and that we are a part of, then great,” he tells BDE.

Belgium-based Moldovan filmmaker Olga Lucovnicova talks to Business Doc Europe about her dramatic new documentary, which previewed at Flanders Film Days. In the film Olga investigates her family legacy of suicide in Russia, starting with her grandma Antonina, whose letters to her son Slava (Olga’s father) set the whole filmic odyssey in motion. “I hoped that with this film, I would reunite the family and then it will be a happy ending,” Olga tells BDE. “But everything changed when the war in Ukraine started…”

Two-time Oscar-winner Ben Proudfoot makes his feature debut with The Eyes of Ghana, produced by Oscar-nominated Moses Bwayo and exec-produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. It is a film about a remarkable political legacy, a love for cinema, and the discovery of a rich cinematic archive far away in a London vault. And at its core is Ghanaian filmmaker Chris Hesse, who has one final mission to undertake before his days come to an end. Proudfoot and Bwayo talk to BDE before the film’s international premiere October 9 at BFI London Film Festival.

The selection includes 15 titles in Opus Bonum International Competition, and 11 titles in First Lights competition for debut films. The Czech Joy comp section presents 18 new Czech docs. In total, 305 films are selected for this year's Ji.hlava IDFF, which include 76 world, 28 international, and 15 European premieres. The festival opens Oct 24 with Virtual Girlfriends by Czech director Barbora Chalupová. “Documentary cinema has long been the most dynamic and inspiring area of filmmaking,” confirms Ji.hlava IDFF director Marek Hovorka. The festival runs Oct 24 to Nov 2.

Doc veteran Irena Taskovski will present the first part of her 3-module program, which seeks to “redefine success in film through wellbeing and conscious leadership,” October 16 to 20 during the Sitges FF. Further sessions will be held next year in Amsterdam during Movies That Matter (March) and at Sunny Side of the Doc (June). “We are creating a space where creativity and wellbeing are not in conflict - but fuel each other,” says Taskovski. “This is how we build lasting filmmaking sustainable carries and success.”

Selections were unveiled October 14 for the main International and Envision competition sections of the upcoming IDFA, running November 13 to 23. The festival also announced selections for the entire IDFA DocLab program, as well as the Luminous and Frontlight sections, and the nominations for all cross-section awards. The festival will open Nov 13 with a selection of short films: As I Lay Dying by Mohammadreza Farzad & Pegah Ahangarani; Intersecting Memory by Shayma' Awawdeh, and happiness by Firat Yücel.

The European Film Academy announced October 14 the shortlists for the European Film Awards 2026, taking place on 17 January 2026 in Berlin. The 38th European Film Awards honour the “greatest achievements in European cinema,” and are presented jointly by the European Film Academy and European Film Academy Productions. Fifteen films are included in the Documentary shortlist.

Millennium Docs Against Gravity is inviting submissions for its 23rd edition, running in cinemas May 8-17 and online May 19 to June 1 2026. The Polish festival takes place simultaneously in seven different cities – Warsaw, Gdynia, Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Poznań, and Łódź. “In May 2025, we invited audiences on a cinematic journey around the world and into themselves,” write organisers. “Over 181,000 people took part in both parts of the festival.” The submissions deadline for the 2026 edition is January 9.

Prague-based sales agent Filmotor has acquired worldwide rights (excluding Switzerland) to Elephants & Squirrels, the debut feature documentary of Swiss filmmaker Gregor Brändli. The film will world premiere in International Competition at DOK Leipzig on October 27, before screening in the Best of Fests section at IDFA 2025.