Nick Cunningham

Sunny Side will present a June 23 case study of 8 BILLION, developed by Waterbear and described as “an exciting multi-media initiative and online community for shared visions, hopes and beliefs joining forces to defend Planet Earth.” Waterbear answers questions on the project posed by Business Doc Europe.

Loose talk in a Warsaw restaurant brought down the Polish government, but the transcripts of those conversations, it seems, may have been made on the orders of the Kremlin. Konrad Szołajski’s investigative doc seeks to get to the heart of the matter.

Together with Central and Eastern Europe partners, IDF will present the region’s doc industries at Sunny Side plus a catalogue of 40+ projects. Additionally, it will publish results of a survey of CEE representation at key doc events, and will showcase new projects in development and production. Sunny Side also hosts the Ex Oriente workshop.

The Finland showcase at this year's Sunny Side features seven new doc projects in development. “We want to reflect upon #storytellingmatters by sharing interesting stories by Finnish documentarists that highlight how important themes resonate across the globe,” says Vera Ruokonen, Audiovisual Producers Finland project manager.

The Chilean offer at Sunny Side of the Doc includes the Chile-Canada miniseries Extreme of the Americas, about climate change, which is selected for the market’s Wildlife & Conservation pitch section, as well as four other new doc projects to be presented June 21 during the market’s Chilean presentation.

Isa Willinger’s new doc project stems from the assertion made by the late Ukrainian director Kira Muratova that “women are slaves, so they make vengeful films. They tell it like it is.” Willinger will set out to test this claim through discussion with some of contemporary cinema’s most fervent and articulate female voices. Producer Alex Tondowski talks to BDE.

The gongs were handed out June 18 at the end of the 13th edition of FIDLab (June 14-18). Out of more than 500 international applications, 16 projects representing 15 production countries formed the 2021 selection. 285 one-to-one meetings were held during the 4-day event. FIDLab is the international co-production platform of FIDMarseille.

Seven documentaries receive support, one of them a minority co-production. In total, 20 new films received production support totalling €4.5 million, including eight features, four of which are international co-productions with a minority Finnish share.

Ahead of Sunny Side of the Doc’s June 21 kick-off, Director of Strategy and Development Mathieu Béjot emphasises his event’s core remit (“its DNA”) to forge co-production and co-financing opportunities and to underline how, more than ever, ‘storytelling matters.’

Best Film in International Competition was 'Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: This Land Is Our Land!' while the Special Jury Award went to Equatorial Constellations. In UK Competition, 'Ali and His Miracle Sheep' won Best Film as 'Portrait of Kaye' (Ben Reed, UK) won the Special Jury Award. Audience Award to Charm Circle.