Nick Cunningham

Kind Hearts sets out to present a candid portrait of first love in all of its newness, inherent uncertainties and future life expectations. Co-director Gerard-Jan Claes explains more about what drove the him and partner Olivia Rochette towards the subject.

The Institute of Documentary Film will present Silver Eye Awards to the best feature and short documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe during the East Silver Market at the 25th Ji.hlava IDFF (October 26 – 31 2021). Ten feature and 10 short nominees.

Manu Riche’s new documentary will deliver a lyrical cri du coeur about fossil fuels and their corrosive effect on the planet. “The film doesn't set out to describe the factual state of our world, nor present a numerical analysis. Instead, it explores how we got here, what caused us to reach this tipping point, the psychology and philosophy that underlie this debacle,” he says.

In Alain Platel and Mirjam Devriendt’s complex and visually stunning feature doc, which screens at RE>CONNEXT before its world-premiere at Film Fest Gent, the question of why we fight is posed not only to dancers in choreographer Platel’s company, but to a range of experts across core academic disciplines. Co-director Devriendt reflects on the hows and the whys of her project.

Creative producer Sien Versteyhe is happy to admit that she has no idea where her RE>CONNEXT project Louise-Marie is going to shoot, other than on a boat on the high seas. As it is a Belgian Navy boat (the film is eponymously titled), its location will be a closely guarded secret. Versteyhe tells Business Doc Europe more about this voyage of discovery.

249 films, 51 world premieres, 46 Portuguese films, 62 countries. The festival will host many top doccers in Lisbon to present their films, including Ulrike Ottinger, who will present her retrospective, Avi Mograbi, Vitaly Mansky, Helke Misselwitz, Nicolas Klotz, Elisabeth Perceval, Marta Popivoda, Sergio Silva and Boris Lehman. The festival runs 21-31 October 2021.

Academy Award-winning director Orlando von Einsiedel (The White Helmets, 2016) talks to Business Doc Europe about his Netflix feature doc telling nine individual stories from across the planet, chronicling the heroism, dedication and ultimately the grass roots activism of folk as they respond in their own way to the increasingly dire pandemic.

The festival to run in Krakow cinemas 29 May to 5 June and online across Poland 3–12 June 2022. First deadline 30 November 2021 for films made before 31 October 2021. Then 31 January 2022 for international films made after 31 October 2021, and 15 February 2022 for Polish films made after 31 October 2021.

The Rhine Flows to the Mediterranean Sea by Offer Avnon will open DOK Leipzig 2021. The film describes the impressions the Israeli director had while living in Germany and the way his perspective changed when he returned to Israel. The 64th edition of DOK Leipzig opens 25 October 2021.

Leading Swiss docfest Visions du Réel has announced the launch of the VdR–Development Lab, the latest program of VdR–Industry dedicated to projects from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The deadline for project submission is October 31. In addition the call for film and project entries for Visions du Réel 2022 is still open. Deadline: November 8.