Nick Cunningham

Documentary, more than any other medium, embraces, analyses and contextualises events in this world that we all inhabit. Which is why documentary is the perfect medium for Stonebreakers, Valerio Ciriaci’s project about the tearing down of historical monuments within a very contemporary US. Business Doc Europe chisels away at the director.

Drummers, like goalkeepers, are a totally different breed. They play by different rules, as evidenced by Topper Headon, who beat the sticks for The Clash in the first days of punk, and who is the subject of a new feature project by Lionel Guedj, who rocks (the casbah) with Business Doc Europe.

In his 6-part/3-part series Massimo Brega will follow in the footsteps of Odysseus along his epic journey back from the Trojan War. The director will traverse The Mediterranean, shedding new light both on the Greek hero and his chronicler Homer, ultimately looking to determine whether the epic voyage ever really took place. Producer Camilla Tartaglione of Italian production house Kepach weaves a tale for BDE.

The three core October documentary festivals, all part of the Doc Alliance network, have agreed to change dates in 2022, allowing for full industry attendance at each. “Next year we will be one after the other sequential…We are very happy to shift our dates,” says DOK Leipzig chief Christoph Terhechte.

Ji.hlava IDFF (October 26–31) marks its quarter century with a return to theatres, a 300-film celebration of Czech and international documentary, retrospectives both on Romanian experimental film and on the theme of 'roots’, a section dedicated to the American essayist Susan Sontag and an Inspiration Forum discussion with gender studies ‘legend’ Judith Butler.

The former head of CBC English Services was selected for the position after a months-long international search following the departure of former executive director Brett Hendrie in March 2021. She will assume responsibility for the strategic leadership and management of the annual Festival, industry programs and other special year-round initiatives starting November 4.

The 29th edition of co-production and co-financing market IDFA Forum offers a “dynamic slate of artistic approaches, subjects, and points of view to the international documentary industry.” Confirmed decision makers from ARTE, BBC, Hulu, Netflix, Sundance Film Institute, The Whickers, Topic, Museum of Moving Image, TIME Studios, VeeR, PHI Centre, and Diversion cinema, among others.

The RE>CONNEXT 2021 doc ALL-IN by Volkan Üce has won Best Documentary at this year’s Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, while Lagardère has signed up to handle international sales on Luc Lemaitre’s doc series The Offensive, produced by Panenka, which was presented during last year’s event. The series is also nominated in the Social Issues documentary category, at the New York TV & Film Awards.

MIA 2021 opens October 13, running through October 17, with a wide-ranging doc and unscripted programme that presents a solid mix of new project pitches, screenings, key notes and panel discussions. Programme head Marco Spagnoli tells Business Doc Europe what to expect. “MIA is a market of ideas,” he underlines.

It may score low on D-Rating (documentary) but the upcoming FilmBath Festival (October 28-November 4) scores a whopping 79% on its F-Rating, meaning that more than three-quarters of festival selections are directed by women.