INTERVIEWS
London FF interview: Love+War by Chai Vasarhelyi/Jimmy Chin
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.
Doclisboa opening interview: Festival director Hélder Beja
“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.
MIA Doc pitch: I Will Never Marry…by Antonio Palumbo
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.”
London FF Documentary Comp: Super Nature by Ed Sayers
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.
Flanders Film Days: Last Letters From My Grandma by Olga Lucovnicova
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…”
BFI London FF Doc Competition: The Eyes of Ghana by Ben...
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.
NEWS
29th Ji.hlava IDFF unveils full program
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.
Sitges launch for #DocsConnect Conscious Filmmakers Training program
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.”
IDFA reveals competition line-ups for 38th edition
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.
EFA announces Documentary shortlist for European Film Awards 2026
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.
Submissions open for 23rd Millennium Docs Against Gravity
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.
Filmotor picks up DOK Leipzig title Elephants & Squirrels
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.
REVIEWS
Venice FF review – Kim Novak’s Vertigo by Alexandre O. Philippe
An enthralling, illuminating and warm-hearted examination of the life and work of a woman who was self-aware of her image and abilities, but who defied the expectations of the tinsel town system, ultimately charting her own course away from the movie world.
Venice FF review: The Tale of Silyan by Tamara Kotevska
A beautifully mounted documentary-fable, The Tale of Silyan is an astute blend of environmental messaging and magical realism, all tightly structured and crafted to offer up an easy to watch (and economical) film that at times feels more like a genial folk tale than a movie with a hard-hitting eco message. That said, within Kotevska’s unique construction the whole thing works rather wonderfully.
Sheffield Int’l Comp review: Welded Together by Anastasiya Miroshnichenko
A beautifully shot examination of the troubled life of a young welder in modern-day Belarus trying to unite her fractured family against all the odds, Welded Together plays out like a narrative drama, but with a greater sense of emotional resonance, and made with a real sense of heart and compassion.
Sheffield Int’l Comp review: The Gas Station Attendant by Karla Murthy
An affectionate and gently insightful examination of an immigrant story, Karla Murthy’s respectful and thoughtful film charts her father’s journey from India to America, mainly based on a series of recorded interviews with him while he was working the night shift at a Texas gas station. What the doc does quite wonderfully is act as a warm-hearted tribute to an immigrant life and a reflection on the importance of family kindness.