Business Doc Europe

One of the cornerstones of Japanese broadcaster NHK’s offer at Sunny Side 2026 will be its new documentary about the completion of the Tower of Jesus on Antoni Gaudi's spectacular Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. The new film, exec-produced by NHK’s Masumi Hoshino, will premiere in Japan on June 28 before its international roll-out. “The fact that we were granted exclusive access to film the Sagrada Família, and to document its construction continuously over such a long period of time, represents a major strength for NHK,” Hoshino tells Business Doc Europe.

Flemish production house Harald House arrives in La Rochelle with a diverse slate of documentary projects, ranging from a journey into the mind of the late, great David Lynch, to a feature doc about a team of para-cyclists who chase their dream of competing on the world stage, even as bombs descend on their home city of Gaza. “Creatively, we are drawn to films that can have an impact, whether that impact is cultural, artistic or social,” company CEO Kristian Van der Heyden tells Business Doc Europe.

For a while at the end of 2025, the future of Sunny Side of the Doc seemed very much in doubt, but after agreeing a strategic partnership with Documentary Campus, the market returns June 22-24 to La Rochelle for its 37th edition. As ever, the core remit is to connect producers with key decision-makers in order to accelerate co-pro and business opportunities but, as Doc Campus MD Donata von Perfall tells BDE, gone are the pitch events, replaced in 2026 by a “more collaborative, discussion-driven” Meet & Match model. “The goal was efficient, meaningful exchange rather than performance,” she says.

Director River Finlay talks to BDE about her MeetMarket project that follows Chilean Isabel Allende, one of the world’s most widely read authors, as she “looks beyond the stories she tells the world and confronts the ones she tells herself,” and reckoning with an unresolved past, the passage of time, and the renewed rise of authoritarianism. “Her trailblazing as an author for other women writers really is unparalleled, but mostly she really provides this incredible sense of connection and bravery,” says Finlay of her revered subject.

Norwegian filmmaker Even Sigstad tells the story of how intrepid Norwegian climber Kristin Harila broke mountaineering records in 2023 when she and her Nepalese climbing partner, Tenjen Lama Sherpa, scaled 14 of the world’s highest peaks in the space of only 92 days. The trip, though, developed a very dark side when they were accused of leaving an injured Pakistani porter to die on K2. “We couldn’t foresee how the whole story would evolve and the controversy around it,” Sigstad reflects on the mountaineering story that turned into something very different and far more complex.

Try! follows four players from four Irish teams to the Mixed Ability Rugby World Cup in Spain, where 32 teams from 16 countries go head to head in fifteen-a-side, full-contact rugby played by people with and without physical and learning disabilities. ““There are so many stories. The biggest challenge for us was trying to find out which of these characters we should focus on because everybody involved in that community, just to get to the pitch, they have to overcome so many obstacles,” director Oisín Mistéil tells BDE.

Archive is in the frame at SSD on June 24, as top US doccer Louise Rosen moderates two sessions of fundamental interest to attendees. The morning Archives and New Alliances event will offer up three examples of how to monetise archive content, while the afternoon Archive Showcase session “reimagines the archive pitch as a creative encounter.” During the latter event, participating companies (Reuters, British Pathé and Getty Images) will muse on the stories out there as yet to be discovered, all emanating from “a recent discovery…a newly restored [archive] gem.”

A 30-year industry veteran with previous top-level postings at both ARTE and Netflix, Mark Edwards will replace Bastien Gauclère who is moving to Bolivia to oversee French film and audiovisual policy for the Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela). The next edition of Fipadoc Pro will run January 25-28 2027 in Biarritz.

New Zealand’s Doc Edge Festival, running June 24 to August 2 across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, will showcase 87 films and immersive projects, including 28 world premieres, 12 international premieres and 23 Asia Pacific premieres. “Doc Edge continues to bring the world's most compelling documentary storytellers to Aotearoa,” says Dan Shanan, Executive Director. “We're excited to welcome filmmakers and subjects from around the world whose work explores everything from political resistance and artificial intelligence to grief, identity, music, conflict and social change."

Gaëtan Bruel, president of France’s National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), announced June 22 the launch of a new documentary market in Strasbourg in June 2027. “By establishing itself in Strasbourg, at the heart of Europe, this market will ambitiously carry the core values of documentary: rigor, diversity, and openness to the world,” he commented.

The Visions du Réel Foundation announced June 22 the appointment of Anne Delseth as Artistic Director and Co-director of the Festival. A member of the Selection Committee since 2023 and a recognised figure in the Swiss and international film industry, Anne Delseth will take up her position at the end of August 2026. She will succeed Emilie Bujès who, after nine editions at the helm of VdR, will take over as Artistic Director of the Geneva International Film Festival.

Espresso Media, the UK-based independent factual sales outfit, heads to Sunny Side of the Doc with a new slate spanning factual entertainment, premium science, true crime, world affairs, social documentary and history. “In a challenging distribution landscape for independent factual producers, it matters to us that we keep championing ambitious, high quality documentary work across every genre we operate in," comments Colette Webber, Acquisitions Manager.