Nick Cunningham

In Petra Seliškar’s new project, Zekir, Zarif and their brothers and sisters have always been shepherds in the beautiful Sar mountain in North Macedonia. But when Zarif, who has just turned 17, begins to dream about a life elsewhere, all sense of family balance is disrupted. “Can we expect the boys to maintain that very demanding life while they have Instagram in their pocket?” asks producer Sara Ferro.

Olga Lucovnicova pitches her Last Letters From My Grandma, produced by Frederik Nicolai of Belgian production company Off World, at AJB Doc Industry 2022. “Fascinated by the mysterious life story of my Russian grandmother, who died of suicide in 1989, I travel (from Europe) to Russia to explore the legacy of (private and collective) Soviet history, but come across severe social changes enforced by the new reign of terror,” she explains.

Georgian producer Elene Margvelashvili talks to Business Doc Europe about her new documentary project focusing on a family living on the border between Georgia and the disputed state of Abkhazian who are staking their future on the cultivation and export of blueberries.

In their project selected for Industry Days Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić tell the tale of shepherdess Gara and daughter Nada whose pastural lives of herding and cheesemaking in the highlands of Montenegro are thrown into disarray by the imposition of an international military base. The filmmakers describe their project to Business Doc Europe.

Between 9-13 September the Sarajevo-based doc fest will present 25 films across four themed sections. As importantly the inaugural Industry Days platform is designed “to support the development of documentary films from across the world, including international and regional (SEE, MENA, Caucasus) productions.” 34 new projects will be presented within 3 pitch categories, with prizes valued at over $80,000. Producer Nejra Kozarić discusses the festival’s new offer to industry professionals.

Nadia Nadim is both a force of nature and an inspiration. A woman who, after escaping Afghanistan as a young girl with her mother and sisters, became one of the world’s greatest footballers, playing for Paris Saint Germain and her adopted country of Denmark. And then she qualified as a surgeon! But she longs to return home to Kabul, if only to find the medals of her father, an army general murdered by the Taliban. Director Anissa Bonnefont discusses the appeal of Nadia.

In A Parked Life, the 52-minute version of which screens in International Competition at AJB Doc, Belgian director Peter Triest clocks up the kilometres on the motorways of Europe with Bulgarian long distance lorry driver Petar. Petar’s hardships are not merely economic. The long periods of absence have put a severe strain on his relationship with his wife back home, and the young son he hardly knows. Director Triest also gets behind the wheel with BDE.

TDF has four competition sections: Feature Length International Competition, Newcomers International Competition, >>Film Forward International Competition and VR International Competition. Thessaloniki Doc Fest is an Oscar® documentary feature qualifying festival. The deadline for submissions is December 8, 2022.

VICE has signed a worldwide license deal on Jason Loftus' Eternal Spring (長春): The Heist of China’s Airwaves. London/Paris/Barcelona-based Sideways Film is repping world sales on the Canadian production on behalf of Lofty Sky Entertainment and director/producer Jason Loftus. Domestic deals with ARTE France/Germany, RTS Switzerland, VG Norway, Current Time (Russian-language, European Territories), and Al Jazeera Doc Channel (MENA), with more announcements to follow.

Visions du Réel has put out the call for non-fiction films and projects for the next edition of the festival running 21-30 April 2023 in Nyon, Switzerland. The film call covers four competition sections (including International and National) and four non-competitive sections, while VdR Industry (April 23-27) requests submissions for early pitches and work-in-progress, plus two development labs.