Davide Abbatescianni

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

During Sunny Side of the Doc 2023, Business Doc Europe caught up with Kathryn Bonnici, Head of Acquisitions and Development of Paris-based sales agent Java Films. Founded in 2005 by Roch Bozino, Java Films rapidly established itself as one of Europe’s leading independent distributors, handling both pre-sales and distribution for documentaries.

At Sunny Side of the Doc 2023, BDE caught up with Catherine Le Clef, CEO and Head of Acquisitions and Sales of Paris-based sales agent CAT&Docs. The Paris-based sales doyenne emphasised how “rigour, respect, curiosity, diversity and innovation” underline the company’s editorial policy and commitment “to meet the demands of national and international markets.”

At Sheffield 2023 Business Doc Europe sat down with Kim Christiansen of DR Sales. DR Sales is the international sales department of the Danish public broadcaster and one of the leading Nordic distributors of high-end audiovisual productions – in particular, the team focuses on award-winning documentaries, drama series and children’s content.

At Sheffield 2023 Business Doc Europe spoke with Irena Taskovski, CEO and founder of Taskovski Films, a production and sales outfit based in London and currently celebrating its 20th year of activity. The company CEO described her journey so far, and shared insights into her current editorial policy and approach to the business of doc.

How can the film industry – and in particular documentary makers – move beyond empathy? How can they fight their prejudices and deal with their emotions? How fresh (or outdated) is the concept of impact? These were some of the questions tackled during Mehret Mandefro’s Cannes Docs keynote speech on Doc Day, May 23.