Business Doc Europe

Shot on 16mm, its carefully graded black tones echoing the shadowy, ever-shifting levels of diffused light-and-shade as experienced by unsighted people, A Blind Song documents the tac-til Choir on their visit to Japan to explore the ancient tradition of the Goze - blind nomadic female musicians whose tradition dates back to medieval times. BDE talks to directors Stefano Canapa and Natacha Muslera, along with Cécile Sans, responsible for both writing and voice.

Chronicling one person’s experience of travelling across continents to escape a North African prostitution ring, Coming From the Sea follows a young Nigerian woman who embarks on a perilous odyssey across Europe to rebuild her life and protect her child - but the ghosts of her past are never far behind. “I don't like this word migrants we use in France. I prefer exiled people,” producer Emmanuel Gras tells BDE. “I want us to see them not as just figures of people who come, but as human beings, and above all as adventurers and explorers.”

Mahsa Karampour’s In The Ogre’s Mouth screens before a professional audience at this week’s ParisDOC Work-in-Progress platform. The film tells the story of Karampour’s attempts to reach out to her brother Siâvash who moved to the US from Iran to find artistic freedom. “Siâvash expresses himself through satire, provocation, and music; I need analysis, words, and cinema. The film is built in this gap, in the attempt to create a shared space between his music and my camera,’ the director underlines.

‘What we are trying to depict is this volcano as a mirror of the world… we cannot control it, so we have to be in contact with nature, and somehow co-exist together,” says Jasmina Sijercic, producer of a new documentary about the island of Stromboli, where the active volcano is a perpetual presence. Business Doc Europe caught up with her ahead of the ParisDOC Work-in-Progress screening of The Island, directed by Sara Rastegar and Simone Pozzi, on 25th March.

Chilean René Ballesteros’ feature documentary, world-premiering in Paris, follows the stories of two Mapuche men, Juan and Daniel, who were taken from their Chilean homeland as children and adopted by European families in dubious circumstances. A trained psychologist, the film has a personal undertow for the director. “Once I met Albert Maysles…and he told me that the link between being a psychologist and making documentaries is listening,” he tells BDE. “With both Juan and Daniel there was a connection, because I was trying to listen to myself, too.”

Dutch Bart van den Aardweg discusses his dynamic new documentary, shot in both Belgium and The Netherlands, which addresses alienation and how youths may resort either to criminality or radicalisation as an outlet. “I wanted to explore the mind of somebody on the so-called wrong path further and deeper, and to create an interior monologue, to connect their thoughts to the physical shape I had used before. And I knew that I had to live amongst my characters to catch the real story, make them talk to me.”

The winners of the East Doc Platform 2026 were announced on March 24 at the French Institute in Prague, where a total of 16 awards were presented across the programme, recognizing outstanding documentary projects at various stages of development. “The winning projects showcase a compelling and diverse slate defined by bold artistic vision, urgent social themes, and strong international potential,” write organisers.

The Central European Documentary Co-production Market (June 3 – 5) is held every year during the Krakow Film Festival in Poland. Building on its Central European location, CEDOC nurtures a cooperation between East and West, North and South with a special focus on Central European projects and talents. The event, organized since 2015, is part of the DOC LAB POLAND and KFF INDUSTRY program, which consists of workshops, consultations and pitchings of Polish documentary projects (DOCS TO START and DOCS TO GO).

Ji.hlava IDFF has repeated its call for the next Emerging Producers programme that will run 2026 through 2027. Every year the festival selects 18 talented producers (17 European and one representing a guest country, this year Japan), which it provides with educational, networking and promotional support. The applications deadline is March 31.

Traces by Alisa Kovalenko & Marysia Nikitiuk, and Morad Mostafa's Aisha Can't Fly Away win the festival’s Grand Jury Awards. Other winners include Cutting Through Rocks by Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni (Activist Lens); This Is My Body by Jérôme Clément-Wilz (Justice Frame); Between Brothers by Tom Fassaert (Dutch Focus); and Rahhala: Hayya ala Hayya by Lujain Jo (Shorts).

The Greek Documentary Association has repeated its call to the international doc community to sign a petition over the restriction of cultural content on Greek Public Television, and in particular over the transformation of ERT2 into a channel for exclusively sports-oriented programming. “We invite you, as members of the global documentary community, to stand with the Greek Documentary Association in defending a fundamental principle: that culture, documentary storytelling, and the free expression of creative voices must remain at the heart of public broadcasting,” the organisation writes.

Visions du Réel returns for its 57th edition (17 – 26 April 2026) with a programme featuring 164 films from a record 75 countries. While the representation of women continues to increase (44 %) compared to 39% in 2025, the Festival will also feature 7% co-directed films, as well as 1% directed by non-binary people and 48% by men. Among the 128 new films presented, 83 are world premieres and 8 international premieres. 58 first films, including 36 first feature-length films, complete the picture, with no fewer than 26 Swiss (co)productions.