Davide Abbatescianni

French-Algerian producer and first-time director Mia Bendrimia took the Agora stage alongside producer Kira Simon-Kennedy to introduce their documentary project, Magma. Simon-Kennedy, a seasoned producer who was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category for Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension (2022), is backing the film through Paris-based Nazar Films, a company founded by Bendrimia and dedicated to “crafting impactful stories from the SWANA and Mediterranean worlds.”

Yamashita’s Gold is a mythical treasure, allegedly buried by the Japanese Army across the Philippine archipelago during World War II. Many believe most of it remains hidden to this day, and among those who have tried to find it are Jack and his father, who have dedicated their lives to the search, spending millions in the process. “The film deals with addiction and obsession - it was important to show how it affected those around him,” Gex explains his Newcomers Competition documentary to BDE.

Ahead of the 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, Business Doc Europe spoke with Angeliki Vergou, Head of Agora, the festival’s industry branch that unfolds both on-site and virtually. “Thessaloniki has always been a melting pot of cultures and civilisations, and that’s why we bring all these diverse voices together here,” she says.

A February 17 Doc Salon panel explored the making of Timestamp, the only documentary selected for the Berlinale’s main competition. The feature, helmed by Ukrainian filmmaker Kateryna Gornostai and produced by Olha Bregman and Zoya Lytvyn, delves into the experiences of educators and students living through the war in Ukraine.

On Feb 17, EFM hosted the Inventive Ambitions – Financing Non-Fiction panel, which saw the participation of Melanie Adernach (producer, Made in Germany), Emanuel Rotstein (Head of Docs, Icon Docs), Mascha Wilke (Head of EVZ Academy and EVZ Foundation), and Sylvia Grass (Senior Commissioning Editor, ARTE/Bayerischer Rundfunk). Together, they explored the challenges and opportunities of financing non-fiction projects in the current media landscape, which has been heavily shaken by geopolitical turmoil and economic hardship.

On 16 February, EFM hosted an intimate roundtable discussion titled "Non-Fiction Awards Campaigns," moderated by Matt Carey, Deadline’s Documentary Editor. Carey interviewed Salma Abdalla, recently appointed Head of Communications at the Austrian Film Institute and a seasoned sales professional, having formerly headed up Autlook. The core topic of the talk was award campaign strategies for documentaries.

On 15 February, the EFM hosted a panel titled “Encouraging Growth: The Journeys of Highly Acclaimed Documentaries,” moderated by Deadline’s Matt Carey. The event featured Mediawan’s Head of Doc Sales, Arianna Castoldi, and Les Films du Losange’s Head of Int’l Sales, Alice Lesort, who discussed the remarkable trajectories of Johan Grimonprez’s Oscar-nominated Soundtrack to a Coup d’État and Mati Diop’s Golden Bear winner Dahomey, two films that have resonated strongly with both audiences and critics worldwide.

Business Doc Europe caught up with Paula Ossandón Cabrera, Director of Chiledoc. During our chat we zoomed in on a recent survey published by the body highlighting the Southern American country’s thriving non-fiction scene, areas for improvement, co-productions, nurturing talents and, of course, Chile’s presence at this year’s Berlinale and EFM.

Do You Love Me is Lana Daher’s personal journey through the fractured historical, social, cultural, and political landscapes of Beirut. Using mainly archive footage, the film weaves together the past and the present in a quest to better understand Lebanon’s history and current status. Business Doc Europe sat down with the helmer, who presented her doc project at this year’s IDFA.

BDE caught up with Chinese-Dutch film producer Jia Zhao, who spoke about her new documentary project Whispers in May, showcased in the IDFA Forum and helmed by Dongnan Chen. The feature, produced by China’s Tail Bite Tail Films and Dutch outfit Muyi Film, follows Qinghua, a Yi ethnic teen, who sets out on a road trip with her two best friends to find a skirt for the menstruation rite of passage.