Business Doc Europe

If you go to Niscemi in Sicily, you’ll find both picturesque woodland and, very incongruously, a US base housing a Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite ground station. Right in front of it lives Valentina, a woman in her 20s, together with her parents. “In the beginning, it [the film] started as a story about the base. But then, as I was discovering that the fight was gone and there was no hope anymore, I met the family. I found their resistance [to the base] very interesting,” director Francesca Scalisi tells BDE.

In Anas Zawahri’s feature doc debut, world-premiering April 16 in Nyon, residents of the shattered city of Homs (Syria) talk about their recent past that delivered little other than devastation within their lives and surroundings. “The film explores the idea of disclosure as a way to confront repressed emotions and heal from internal wounds that have not yet healed,” explains director Zawahri.

In the mountains of Afghanistan, a Hazara family seeks to uncover the truth behind the sudden death of their daughter, Zahra, who moved to Kabul to study. Co-director Yourish is from a Hazara background himself. “The story of Zahra, the story of the family, it doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens within the historical context. It is a continuation of the systematic discrimination against the Hazara people,” he tells Business Doc Europe.

The Ocean Viking has often been in the news in recent years. It is the ship chartered by humanitarian organisation SOS Méditerranée to rescue migrants fleeing by sea from Libya. It has been impounded, harassed by Libyan coast guard vessels and criticised by European politicians - but it has saved countless lives. Jean-Baptiste Bonnet talks to BDE about his new film for which he followed the ship for six weeks.

Mother Vera, which world-premieres in Nyon, follows the eponymous protagonist, a charismatic former heroic addict who had lived in an Orthodox monastery in Belarus for 20 years. “I felt very drawn to her quest,” co-director Embleton reflects on her subject. “She wants to experience all of life, and yet she was in this monastery.”

In Maria Stoianova’s feature doc debut she revisits the Ukraine of her childhood, as well as the world beyond, courtesy of the films that her father, a champion ice skater, shot on his video camera between 1986 and 1994. “I was selecting material for the film, hoping to understand our path from point A to point B. After 2022, it became clear that we were all already at point C, and this, of course, also influenced some of my choices,” she says of her film that world premieres April 13.

The Main Competition of the 21st edition of Millennium Dogs Against Gravity comprises 12 films from around the world directed by a total of 10 female and 9 male directors. The films will compete for six awards across six festival cities, including the Grand Prix - Millennium Bank Award. The Polish fest also revealed the Jury members: Anna Hints, Murtada Elfadl and Lauren Greenfield. The upcoming MDAG runs 10–19 May in cinemas and 21 May to 3 June online.

On April 15 Visions du Réel awarded the 2024 Prix d’honneur to Chinese director Jia Zhang-Ke. French filmmaker Claire Denis, Guest of Honour at the Festival in 2020, paid tribute to him while the prize itself was awarded by Carlo Chatrian, International Feature Film Competition Jury member and former Artistic Director of the Berlinale.

Swiss Films’ Doc topper Charlotte Ducos discusses the six projects nearing completion that have been selected for the SWISS FILMS Previews showcase of April 17. Most of the projects are just about ready to be launched onto the festival circuit. “I think we have a great diversity of storytelling and of background and among the six projects we have three women directors and three women producers. That's important for us,” Ducos underlines to Business Doc Europe.

Each year, Cannes Docs partners with a number of institutions and organizations from different parts of the world to showcase curated selections of docs-in-progress at finalization stage, aiming to hit the circuit within a few weeks or months. These showcases of docs-in-progress are primarily designed for decision makers looking for fresh new titles, in particular festival programmers and sales agents.

Additionally, HBO Max, ARTE, RAI, POV and Al-Jazeera are among the funders that will participate in the Barcelona market, which will take place 6 to 10 May. "DocsBarcelona Industry wants to be a space for critical debate, safe and with an eye on the future. More than ever, we need creators and producers to bring new perspectives and contribute to the critical and artistic spirit through film," says Head of Industry, Èric Motjer.

Fourteen documentaries have been selected for the International Documentary Competition of the 64th Krakow Film Festival, including two productions from Poland. “Events you hear about in media, yet recounted from the personal perspectives of their heroines and heroes. Stories from places seldom ventured into and a fresh look on what seemed thoroughly familiar,” underlines the festival, which runs May 26 to June 2.