Business Doc Europe

The genocide in Namibia between 1904 and 1908 is still regarded in Germany with scant interest. German tourists still visit Namibia in huge numbers but few know about the dark shared history between the countries. The new feature doc Sorry for the Genocide, world-premiering June 3 at Doxumentale and co-directed by Theodora Shandé, Matteo Sant'Unione, Lisa Ossenbrink and Elmarie Kapunda, gives a long overdue platform to descendants of those who died. Shandé talks to BDE.

In her short film Hidden, Polish director Monika Kotecka examines the emotions of fear and anxiety, using archive culled from the Educational Film Studio in Łódź, and the application both of polyphonic voices and a soundscape derived from bodily sounds, such as breathing and heartbeat. Severe anxiety, we are told, affects 4.4% of the world’s population. “I didn't want to make an autobiographical film,” Kotecka tells Business Doc Europe. “But of course my own experiences were, let's say, an important starting point.”

Polish filmmaker Paweł Łoziński speaks to Business Doc Europe before the presentation of the inaugural Marcel Łoziński International Documentary Award, devised by Kraków Film Festival and the Polish Documentary Film Directors Guild in honour of his late, great father. Paweł is Marcel’s son, and sat on the jury which will hand the new prize June 3 to Cuban filmmaker David Bim for his debut effort To the West in Zapata. “It is a documentary about the power of love, something essential that allows the protagonists to endure the hardships of their lives,” says Paweł of Bim’s film.

Roni Aboulafia’s thrilling feature documentary chronicles the attempts to extract 167 Afghans from the country after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. “It was an intensely life-changing experience for all of us,” the director tells BDE of the Herculean task. “It’s hard to grasp fully in the moment, but one simple act of sisterhood grew into something enormous and unimaginable. It was beyond what I thought I could handle… At the same time, it was empowering. I learned we are capable of far more than we think.”

Poland’s vibrant documentary sector, and that of Ukraine, will once more be in the frame at KFF Industry, the professional arm of Krakow FF, with attention again focussed on the Docs to Start and Docs to Go presentations of 21 new and ambitious projects. “It seems only natural that, since Ukrainian filmmakers have been cut off from opportunities for artistic and professional development, we should help if we are in a position to do so,” Industry boss Katarzyna Wilk tells BDE of KFF’s solidarity with neighbouring Ukraine.

Brazilian Eliza Capai’s delightful feature documentary engages the talents of a group of young girls, living in one of the poorest parts of Brazil, to examine the business of…well, being young girls (as well as some other big topics, such as death and religion and their future lives). Despite their poverty, such is director Capai’s confidence in her protagonists, who operate as de facto co-creators of her film, we could be watching any kids from any city in the world, and from any socio-economic background. “We were in this fluidity of creation,” Capai delightedly tells BDE.

"The funniest jokes are those told with a serious face," producer Ivanna Khitsinska tells BDE of Ivan Sautkin’s deeply ironic, anthropological investigation into the sense of kinship felt by some Ukrainians with Taras Shevchenko, esteemed poet and Father of the Nation. “Today, international audiences often encounter Ukraine almost exclusively through news about war, destruction, and geopolitics. DNA of the Nation offers a completely different way of seeing the country — through humour, intimacy, absurdity, and deeply human everyday situations.”

While working on a book about ageing, Poland's most beloved linguist, Professor Jerzy Bralczyk, embarks on a cruise with his beloved wife Lucyna. The journey becomes a reflection on love, growing old, shared dreams and the art of enjoying life until the very end. “Their love is mature, funny, tender and completely unsentimental,” producer Marta Dużbabel tells BDE. “They still argue, tease each other, laugh together and support one another. We see many films about falling in love. We rarely see films about staying in love.”

In Polish Siarhei Marchyk’s new project, at rough cut stage and presented at Krakow Industry, Cameo, a young Ukrainian soldier, eager to fight, learns he is about to become a father, and must decide whether or not to desert, choosing between duty and the future of his family. “I spent six months embedded with Cameo's mortar unit,” director/producer Marchyk tells BDE. “The camera was present not only during combat operations but also during moments of vulnerability, boredom, fear, friendship and love. This level of access is one of the film's greatest strengths.”

This week, Berlin-based Doxumentale will screen two documentaries curated by Another Story, the new pan-European initiative dedicated to “reclaiming and recontextualising women’s contributions to documentary cinema.” The stated aim of the organisation is to rediscover and share forgotten female-directed documentary films from the 20th century, “ensuring their legacy reaches new generations in Europe.”

Sheffield DocFest announced May 29 the jury members for the festival’s five competitive sections; International Competition, International First Feature Competition, International Short Film Competition, the Tim Hetherington Award and the International Alternate Realities Competition. Also announced are further additions to the public and industry programme, including two additions to the Talks Programme and three new premieres for the Film Programme. Sheffield DocFest runs from 10 - 15 June.

The awards of the 19th edition of Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival were presented May 26 at the Museum of the 1990s in Belgrade. Juries across all competition sections honoured films distinguished by “artistic originality, cinematic innovation, and strong social and emotional impact.” The Thing To Be Done by Srđan Kovačević picked up the International Competition Award while Sunset by Miloš Jaćimović won Best Film in Serbian Competition. All awards…