Business Doc Europe

Vincent Sparreboom’s new feature documentary, world-premiering at IDFA, takes viewers to a sanatorium in Ukraine which offers brief respite to soldiers fighting on the front line. In his visual approach, the director was inspired by French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas who believed that if you look into the eyes of the other, you immediately feel a responsibility for their suffering. “That was the goal basically, to look behind the eyes and into the faces of the people who are fighting this war and to really take it in what is the cost of their sacrifice.”

Selected for IDFA Signed, a centrepiece of the festival’s Spotlight on William Greaves programme, and the recent winner of three Critics Choice Documentary Awards, Once Upon A Time In Harlem chronicles a glorious evening of talk, back in 1972, among some of the most important still-surviving figures of the ‘Harlem Renaissance,’ the flowering of African-American authors, artists, musicians and intellectuals during the 1920s and 1930s. Earlier this year, David and Liani Greaves, son and grand-daughter of William, sat down with BDE for a little more talk, about the film and the 50-year journey to complete it.

An obscure parliamentary sitting in the South Caucasus some 33 years ago might not seem the most obvious material for a feature documentary. Yet, in An Incomplete Day in the History of Georgia 10.06.93, Georgian filmmaker Salomé Jashi transforms deteriorating VHS recordings of a debate over the country’s new currency into a portrait of a state struggling to define itself. The 100-minute film, set to world premiere in IDFA’s International Competition, also carries uncomfortable echoes of Georgia’s political present. Director Jashi talks to Business Doc Europe.

Dutch-based Romanian director Raluca Lupaşcu discusses her feature debut about life within a vibrant Roma family in eastern Romania. “They are still holding to their traditions because they were so much persecuted in the past,” Lupaşcu underlines. “Throughout the history, they went from nomads to slaves, and from slaves to victims of the Holocaust. You have to understand their culture to understand where their fight for survival and behaviour comes from. Sometimes, tradition was the only thing they could hold on to.”

Ava DuVernay’s new feature documentary explores how the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects birthright citizenship, has been under savage attack by President Trump and his acolytes. One point that the film underlines is how Confederate iconography remains embedded in US popular culture. “It’s our swastika,” she tells BDE. “In the American South, Black people really know what that means. It really is a silent warning of the hierarchy of this country.”

The Dutch-based Chinese filmmaker discusses his latest feature documentary, The Year of the Ghost, the second film within his very personal trilogy telling of life in his family. It is a film in which animation is used very effectively. “Ghost stories are not just products of our imagination. They can also express a tender wish to soothe our wounds,” expresses HotHotHot. “Animation is one of the best ways to tell ghost stories, allowing me to explore my deepest fears and desires.”

Chile looks set for a busy IDFA with the international premiere of Carmen Castillo’s We Are Still Alive(Lo que en nosotros calla) in Signed section,...

Marking its 40th anniversary, the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) has revealed its theme and first guest announcements for the milestone edition. One of the Southern Hemisphere’s premier industry events for documentary and factual storytelling, AIDC will return to Sydney for the first time in more than 30 years in 2027, made possible by a new Principal Partnership with the NSW Government through Screen NSW.

Artist Dragana Jurišić’s debut feature doc premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival, and is produced by Ireland's Invisible Thread Films in co-production with Croatia's Restart, whose documentary Fiume o morte! by Igor Bezinović won the European Film Award for Best European Documentary in 2026. The Taskovski Films slate also includes IDFA 2025 winner Past Future Continuous and The Netherlands' official Oscar submission Paikar, among others.

Organisers of Cinéma du réel's ParisDOC Works-in-Progress programme have invited submissions for the next edition, running 24-25 March 2027. ParisDOC Works-in-Progress actively supports the distribution, promotion and placement of feature documentaries by linking, at a key stage of the production process, project holders (filmmakers and producers) to industry professionals, organisers underline.

Mexican-Salvadoran filmmaker Tatiana Huezo will be the Guest of Honour at IDFA 2026, which takes place from November 12 to 22. IDFA will present a Retrospective of Huezo’s work, alongside a personal Top 10 film selection. "Huezo's cinema is rooted in close observation and shaped by a highly attentive visual and sonic language—allowing memories and experience to surface through atmosphere and deeply personal stories,” the festival writes.

Bringing together leading voices from science, film and television, alongside a special live performance from Eurovision entry Puuluup, World Congress of Science & Factual Producers (WCSFP), taking place in Tallinn from 9-12 November 2026, will put Estonia's creative and scientific talent in the spotlight as Estonian neuroscientist Jaan Aru, Estonian Film Institute CEO Edith Sepp, physicist and TV presenter Aigar Vaigu join the programme.