Nick Cunningham

The training and promotion program designed for European doc producers will run in Ji.hlava in October 2022 and in Berlin February 2023. The program is organized and curated by the Ji.hlava IDFF whose 26th edition will take place October 25-30 in the Czech Republic. The application deadline for the programme is March 31 2022.

Myanmar Diaries wins Berlinale Doc Award. Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to Rithy Panh for Everything Will Be Ok. Encounters Best Film: Mutzenbacher. Encounters Jury Award to See You Friday, Robinson. In Generation, key winners are Kind Hearts (Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus), Alis (Crystal Bear for Best Film, 14Plus) and Born in Damascus (Crystal Bear for Best Film, 14Plus).

Netflix is launching Feb 16 ten short docs created by recipients of the Documentary Talent Fund. The filmmakers from across the UK each received £40,000 to create their own film, answering the brief: “Britain’s Not Boring And Here’s a Story.” The films will live-stream Friday at 7pm, in the UK’s first ever TikTok Live Line-Up, available to Netflix’s 21.9million TikTok followers.

Infiltrating the highly secretive diamond industry, the Jason Kohn doc uncovers a threat to the lucrative trade that could devalue every diamond ever mined, effectively destroying the universal symbol of love and commitment. Dogwoof will present to buyers at MipTV. Showtime holds worldwide rights and will air the film in the USA and Canada, with a North American Premiere at SXSW.

There may be no DocSalon at EFM 2022, but today (Feb 15) the focus is on Archive, albeit scaled down from previous years. Experts Adelheid Heftberger (Bundesarchiv), Simon Witter (British Pathé) and researcher/producers Monika Preischl and Elizabeth Klinck preview today's events and explain to Business Doc Europe how the past two years have been a boom time for the sector.

Al Jazeera Balkans International Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) has put out the call to makers and production companies to submit their films for its fifth edition, which will take place in Sarajevo 9-13 September 2022. The AJB DOC Film Festival is organized by TV broadcaster Al Jazeera Balkans in cooperation with Al Jazeera Media Network and Al Jazeera Media Institute in Doha. Submission deadline: May 25.

Tine Kugler discusses her feature documentary, which world-premiered at Berlinale. Concerning a boy born on the wrong side of the Berlin tracks (and certainly no angel), the film is audacious, engaging and moving in equal measure, and proves that the bonds of familial love are as powerful within society’s underbelly as anywhere else across the human spectrum.

Two years on from the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) launch at Berlinale 2020, co-directors Brigid O’Shea and Marion Schmidt remind Business Doc Europe of the association’s raison d’être, explain its modus operandi, underline the importance of docfests both as thought hubs and venues for business/creative interaction, and give an overview of DAE activities during Berlin 2022.

The 3-module training program (Serbia/Croatia/Italy) seeks up to 10 women filmmakers with strong creative doc projects at all stages of production who are seeking further support to upgrade their professional skills and develop their films with leading experts to deliver them to a wider professional audience. Application deadline: Feb 18 2022.

The first film selected for Berlinale from the Central African Republic, We, Students! is a complex study both of the country’s youth and a university education system which is both physically rundown and seemingly blighted by corruption. Director Rafiki and producer Boris Lojkine speak to Business Doc Europe.