Davide Abbatescianni

IDFA’s focus programme Dead Angle returns this year with a far-reaching thematic deep dive into the structures that shape civic life. This year, programmer Joost Daamen turns the spotlight on institutions — democratic, administrative, medical, colonial — and on the frictions, contradictions and aspirations that define them. The focus is also placed squarely on archives. “Archives tell us a lot about how a society sees itself… how it shapes a narrative,” Daamen tells BDE.

Filmmaker Antonio Palumbo and co-writer Mariangela Barbanente talk to BDE about their urgent new project which demands justice for a horrific murder committed over 40 years ago. “We do not want to merely recount a crime story,” the creative team tells BDE. “We want to honour Palmina’s life, showcasing her dreams and aspirations as a young girl against the backdrop of poverty in Puglia during the 1970s and 1980s.”

The theatrical distribution of documentaries in Europe has entered a phase of both unprecedented opportunity and increased complexity. At the MIA panel Getting Docs to Theatres: Strategies and Opportunities held on October 9, industry professionals shared insights on marketing, audience engagement, and innovative distribution models that are reshaping the sector. Business Doc Europe reports.

Presented at the Italians Doc It Better showcase, the new documentary by Elisa Motta and Matteo Ferrarini offers a sensorial and poetic journey through sound, while exploring the power of listening as a path to reconnection. “OTO is a film that inverts the traditional hierarchy between sound and image, disrupting the usual grammar of documentary,” the creative team tells Business Doc Europe.

The Lithuanian 4x52’ documentary series Hijacked Life revisits one of the most extraordinary and disturbing true stories of the Cold War era: the first hijacking of a Soviet plane. The project, directed by Andrius Lekavičius, was pitched at this year’s MIA Market. “Blending investigation, cinematic storytelling, and striking visuals, Hijacked Life explores how the dream of freedom can slowly transform into a prison of its own,” Lithuanian producer Jurgita Rakauskaitė explained to the Rome audience.

Presented this week at Rome’s MIA Market (6–10 October), The Eighth Day is a 75-minute feature documentary directed by Sabrina Varani and produced by Tv2000. Set during the Catholic Jubilee Year of 2025, the protagonists of this story are the homeless men and women living on the margins. “The relationship nurtured with the protagonists profoundly changed [Varani’s] perspective, allowing the director to see them not as figures on the margins, but as the center of a ceaseless galaxy of ordinary human activity,” comments Tv2000 exec Anna De Simone.

At a time when historical narratives are increasingly contested, the October 7 MIA panel “What’s the Future of History” gathered broadcasters and commissioning editors to reflect on the place of factual history programming in today’s fractured media landscape. Moderated by Krishan Arora, UK producer and consultant at Mixing Media, the session featured Laurent Filliung (ARTE GEIE), Elisabeth Hagstedt (Histoire TV), Caroline Haidacher (ORF), Sergiy Nadzelskyy (Suspilne, Ukraine), Proinsias Ní Ghrainne (TG4), and Mikael Österby (SVT International).

At this year’s MIA Market, Warsaw-based production powerhouse Madants is pitching The Lawyer, a feature documentary that explores one of the most unbelievable – yet entirely true – stories to come out of Kenya in recent years, that of a top lawyer who had forged his credentials, and taught himself law via YouTube and episodes of Boston Legal. “Our goal is to make The Lawyer a story that resonates far beyond Kenya — a reflection on how ambition, opportunity, and moral boundaries intertwine in today’s world,” says producer Kinga Tasarek of Warsaw-based Madants.

An Italian philanthropist, an enigmatic painting signed ‘P. Gauguin,’ and a decades-long battle for truth: Reflections of Gauguin unfolds like a cinematic thriller set against the labyrinthine world of art authentication. Directed by Heidi Richert and penned together with Carlos Marroquín, the Finnish documentary is being pitched this week at Rome’s MIA Market by Helsinki-based firm Pig and Horse Oy.

For the Caribbean island of Curaçao, baseball is more than just a game — it’s an identity, a lifeline, and a dream. In Baseball Island, an upcoming documentary helmed by Lyangelo Vasquez and pitched at MIA 2025, the national passion for baseball becomes a vivid lens through which to explore the island’s collective spirit, postcolonial legacy, and sense of belonging. “It tells a heart-warming story about a devoted community determined to win the prestigious Little League world championship in the US,” says Dutch producer Thomas den Drijver.