Nick Cunningham

The Russian project Freedom Squared, directed by Anastasia Zverkova and set on the coldest point on the planet, deals with the theme of isolation. “The subject connects universal matters with extremely timely issues of humanity, spirituality and science,” said the jury on handing over the €5000 award. Plus six Docu Rough Cut Boutique prizes awarded.

Sheffield Doc Fest announced August 19 that Cíntia Gil has resigned from her position as Festival Director “as a result of artistic differences over the present and future direction of the Festival with the Board of Trustees.” Director of Partnerships Sylvia Bednarz will act as Interim Managing Director with immediate effect.

In her beautiful and lyrical short documentary set on a remote Adriatic island, Croatian visual artist Tanja Deman delivers a wake-up call to a world that continues to sleepwalk towards environmental catastrophe caused by climate change. The filmmaker talks to Business Doc Europe.

At first sight, Szani, Tina and Emese, the three young women who together make up the self-monikered Divas gang, may seem vacuous and little deserving of analysis. But beneath the make-up, the social media chit chat and myriad fears about appearance lie three human souls whose stories are both vital and worthy of telling. Director Máté Kőrösi explains to BDE.

When award-winning Bosnian filmmaker Srđan Šarenac heard about a prison in the tiny Brazilian city of Pirajui which organizes beauty contests for its female inmates, he was determined that this would be his next project, and was equally determined to use it to campaign for progressive prison reform across Europe. He explains more to Business Doc Europe.

IDFA has announced first details of its 2021 edition, delivering acclaimed filmmakers Hito Steyerl and Artavazd Pelechian to Amsterdam alongside programs celebrating their work. The festival will also pay homage to renowned Dutch filmmaker Johan van der Keuken, marking the 25th anniversary of his masterly Amsterdam Global Village.

Nebulae, Doclisboa's industry space, will present its third edition 21-31 October 2021, for the first time in hybrid format. Film professionals from all over the world will meet again in Lisbon 21-25 of October, when on-site activities will take place. To ensure participation for all, online activities will run to October 31.

Organised by the Ji.hlava Int’l Documentary Film Festival, this week’s Docu Talents from the East programme presents eight feature-length creative doc projects from Central and Eastern Europe in production or post-production stage to industry toppers with the aim of assisting project completion and enhancing the distribution possibilities.

Following on from Philippa Kowarsky’s appointment as Commissioning Editor of BBC Storyville, Cinephil is teaming up with UK-based WestEnd Films. Olivier Tournaud (pictured) will take over as Cinephil Managing Director, while Harry Vaughn is joining from Sundance as Head of Acquisitions and US Sales.

For Polish director Paweł Łoziński, what started off as mere curiosity turned into an obsession. For two and half years he interviewed passers-by from his balcony, discussing their problems, asking them what they thought was the meaning of life, inviting them to be a hero in his film. His resulting doc world-premiered this week in Locarno Semaine de la critique.