Davide Abbatescianni
MIA feature doc pitch: The Modigliani Affaire by Luca Rea
Luca Rea’s new documentary tells a tale of mischief that may just have led to murder, all set within the high-end art world and along the canals of Livorno. “The Modigliani Affaire is an investigative documentary, a cold case that tells the incredible story of a prank that got out of hand,” the Fandango team behind the film tell Business Doc Europe.
MIA TV special pitch: Jesus Goes to Hollywood by Norbert Busè
As a film subject, there’s nobody quite like Jesus, and Norbert Busè’s new doc project suggests that each new generation needs a new cinematic Messiah. “Famous directors such as Pier Paulo Pasolini, Jean-Luc Godard and Martin Scorsese have brought him before the camera. No life has been filmed as often as his. The Jesus film adaptations are very diverse and always a reflection of their time,” the director tells BDE.
MIA 2023 pitch: Ocean Drive by Jesus Garcès Lambert
Three brothers wish to honour their dying father by fulfilling his dream. But there’s one major snag, the dream is insane, and entails crossing the Atlantic Ocean on two floating cars without any sailing experience. This is the premise of Jesus Garcès Lambert’s new documentary feature project Ocean Drive, pitched at MIA 2023 and produced by industry veteran Alessandro Lostia for Rome-based Indigo Stories.
Nordisk Panorama Forum: Klara Nilsson Grunning, Norwegian Film Institute
During the busy days of Nordisk Panorama Forum 2023, Business Doc Europe caught up with Klara Nilsson Grunning, a commissioner at the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) and one of the body’s decision-makers for documentary features, international co-productions, series and digital storytelling.
AJB DOC Work in Progress: Life is Beautiful by Mohamed Jabaly
Life is Beautiful is the story of a life put on hold by international politics and rigid bureaucracy. The project, helmed by Mohamed Jabaly and based on his own experience of displacement, is being produced by Kristine Ann Skaret for Oslo-based Stray Dogs Norway. Business Doc Europe spoke to Skaret about the documentary, its urgency and its aims.
AJB DOC Main Pitch project: December by Grzegorz Paprzycki
Piotr Śmiechowski, producer at Polish production company Telemark, discusses the new project December in which the final month of the year brings not only snow and frost to Europe but also migrants who are offered neither gifts nor welcome, and whose presence triggers “a battle between empathy and indifference,” he says. AJB DOC Industry runs 9-11 September.
AJB DOC Work in Progress: My Mother, The State by Ieva Ozolina
After a change in Latvian law, Una tries to trace her sister who went missing decades ago during their adoption process. But then Una discovers that she has not one but four sisters, all scattered across the world. Her dramatic story is told in the new doc My Mother, The State by Ieva Ozolina. “Our goal is to deliver to the audience a moving human story which turns into a personal investigative journey,” says producer Madara Melberga.
AJB DOC Main Pitch: Finding the Way Home by Zakaria Mohamed Ali
Business Doc Europe spoke to Ali Ben Mohamed, producer at UK-based outfit BM Entertainment Ltd. who is producing Finding the Way Home, one of the documentary projects being presented in the Main Pitch section of this year’s AJB DOC Industry, running in Sarajevo until 11 September. In the film, a Somali journalist walks back down 'the road of death' in search of his memories, and visits his hometown for the first time in 15 years.
AJB DOC Balkan Star project: Another Film About the War, Father and...
Business Doc Europe caught up with Tamara Babun, producer at Zagreb-based outfit Wolfgang&Dolly LLC. Babun is producing Another Film About the War, Father and Home by Damir Markovina, one of the documentary projects being presented in the Balkan Stars section of this year’s AJB DOC Industry, unspooling in Sarajevo until September 11.
Industry: IceDocs kicks off July 19 in Akranes, Iceland
The Iceland Doc Film Festival, aka IceDocs, kicks off its fifth edition July 19. Located in the village of Akranes and running through July 23, the festival opens with a screening of Bogna Kowalczyk’s Boylesque. “We are always learning and like to bring in people that can expose us to new things or ways of thinking about creation and documentary filmmaking,” co-founder Ingibjörg Halldórsdóttir tells BDE of the festival’s international outlook.
