Davide Abbatescianni

On May 23, the Plage du CNC hosted the Cannes Docs talk ‘Cinema and the Pleasures of the Impossible.’ The event, moderated by writer-director and producer Guetty Felin, saw the participation of director and DOP Kirsten Johnson, President of the 2023 OEil d’or Jury. BDE reports.

Mirjam Wiekenkamp of Amsterdam-based Noise Film and TV talked to the Cannes Docs professional audience May 22 about the business of repping European docs, as well as the complex work performed by publicists across both old and new media.

Cannes Docs hosted a panel May 21 titled ‘The (market) value of creative documentaries.’ The talk was moderated by Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) co-director Brigid O’Shea, and saw the participation of Visions du Réel’s artistic director Emilie Bujès, the Museum Of The Moving Image’s Associate Curator of Film Edo Choi, and Grasshopper Film’s founder Ryan Krivoshey.

On May 20, Cannes Docs hosts a special Italian showcase focused on four Italian works-in-progress at advanced post-production. The initiative was organised by Cinecittà on behalf of the Directorate General of Italy’s Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with Doc/it, who tells how the projects are characterised by a strong international appeal for both festivals and theatres and are “ready to meet the expectations of the market.”

Last week CPH:DOX hosted a chat with Academy Award-winning US documentary filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin who discussed their latest endeavour, Wild Life, produced by National Geographic Films. The conversation was moderated by Thom Powers, programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival, co-founder of DOC NYC and host of the Pure Non Fiction podcast.

CPH:DOX last week hosted a conversation on the craft of doc with two brilliant women filmmakers – Estonia’s Anna Hints, director of Smoke Sauna Sisterhood and Chile’s Maite Alberdi, director of The Eternal Memory, both Sundance-winning films. The talk, moderated by film journalist Wendy Mitchell, focused on these docs, in particular on their protagonists’ vulnerability, the directors’ sense of moral compass and some of their artistic and technical choices.

On March 20 CPH:DOX hosted a 90-minute conversation between Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy winning British director Asif Kapadia and Thom Powers, programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival, co-founder of DOC NYC and host of the Pure Non Fiction podcast. The event was part of the Morning with Filmmakers initiative organised by the festival.

FIFDH hosted the launch of the #JeSuisNoires global campaign on 14 March. Journalist-turned-filmmaker Rachel M’Bon explained how hers was the first Swiss film to give Black women a voice about the reality they live in. “When I decided to make this movie it was because I felt very concerned about the under-representation of Black women in media and the systemic racism in this country.”

This week Geneva-based FIFDH Impact Days presented a particularly poignant case study which revolved around the Ukrainian project Peace for Nina and which saw the participation of the project’s director and producer, Ukraine’s Zhanna Maksymenko-Dovhych, and Swiss-Albanian filmmaker Dea Gjinovici, who is also producing.

Geneva’s FIFDH Impact Days showcased a successful case study revolving around STEPS, a groundbreaking, 360-degree documentary project that aims to promote social change throughout Africa. “War, conflicts, deep inequality, forced displacement, the climate crisis… Never before have we such a responsibility as media creators and human rights activists,” said STEPS’ Don Edkins.