Nick Cunningham

As Catherine le Clef of Paris sales house Cat and Docs eyes up IDFA 2020 with five films in official selection and two more in Docs for Sale, she tells how, while her company has suffered no negative impact of the pandemic, her new ‘online’ modus operandi is far from ideal.

IDFA Head of Industry Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen talks to Business Doc Europe about this year's Forum (16-20 November) that not only catapults new projects towards funding and production, but also enables existing doc projects to engage in the type of co-pro interaction they have been denied by the pandemic.

“Filmmakers, young and old, showed up when the whole industry needed them. Watching these films makes one confident that cinema will survive,” Creative Director Orwa Nyrabia tells Business Doc Europe of the IDFA 2020 harvest.

Dutch CORE Sales Manager Margaret Stanneveld talks to Business Doc Europe about the large slate of home-grown (and beyond) documentaries that she and her team will be selling at Docs for Sale 2020.

48th annual British Documentary Awards saw Best Documentary Award to For Sama and Channel 4's Jade: The Reality Star Who Change Britain take two awards. Acclaimed filmmaker Asif Kapadia recognised with the BBC Grierson Trustees' Award.

Sheffield Doc/Fest rounds off the 2020 edition with the Ghosts & Apparitions Film and Arts Programme running online from Friday 13 November to 26 November.

The European Film Academy and EFA Productions, in a virtual event presented jointly with the Seville European Film Festival, announced November 10 the nominations for the 33rd European Film Awards. Number of doc nominations increased to six.

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) will celebrate its 50th edition in a reimagined format. Adapting to the Covid-19 restrictions, IFFR changes to an expanded multi-part hybrid structure, spanning from February to June 2021.

440 new titles from 80 countries across all continents. IDFA 2020 official selection titles comprise roughly one third of DfS selection, 54 of which will world-premiere at the festival. World-prems are still available for 137 films in the catalogue. Also included is IDFA Forum Rough Cut screenings.

“The desire to learn about the world cannot be restricted by physical limitations,” says Verzió 17 director Oksana Sarkisova. The Hungarian human rights festival goes online 10-22 November with a programme of 50 films from 39 countries. Programme includes a Hungarian documentary competition for the first time.