Nick Cunningham

Cuba and Alaska are two female paramedics working on the frontline in the war against Russia. Serving in the Ukrainian army is obligatory for men, but not for women. These paramedics are therefore volunteers, determined to serve best their country. “This film is about the experience of war from a female perspective, how to be a woman during the full-scale invasion in Ukraine,” says producer Olha Beskhmelnytsina of 2Brave Productions ahead of the May 18 pitch at Cannes Docs.

Frontline is one of two Ukrainian projects being pitched at Cannes Docs 2024 on May 18. It is directed by Alisa Kovalenko who, after the full-scale Russian invasion, went to fight on the Eastern front, leaving her four-year-old son behind. “I felt that I cannot make cinema [anymore], and I didn't see any sense in it. I died for myself as a director,” she tells BDE. “But while I was on the frontline, I also felt that it's important to save memories for my son because I didn't know when or if I will see him again.”

“The film's reflective narrative about Angelica's love for her [former] high school teacher, a French woman in her forties named Miss S, is both captivating and highly relatable,” says producer Brynhildur Þórarinsdóttir of her Swedish Cannes Docs project. “At its core, the film delves into desire as a potent force, encapsulating the essence of yearning and the existential solitude that accompanies it.”

Norwegian Lene Berg is visited by the ghost of her long-dead father, the renowned director Arnljot Berg who, in 1975, was charged with the murder of his third wife. Now, the ghost demands his daughter must start asking the right questions. But what are the right questions? “The perfect investor [in this film] is the investor who believes in art first,” says producer Ellen Ugelstad. “Lene Berg is sculpting a narrative from all aspects of the cinematic range. She is a bold, unwavering artist, who soars past boundaries and defines new territory in her films.”

Producer Malene Flindt Pedersen of Hansen & Pedersen discusses her upcoming Danish/Spanish feature co-pro, set deep within a vulnerable southern Galicia, and presented within the Cannes Docs Nordics Showcase May 17. “Only On Earth will be a cinematic, visually stunning and captivating film about wild horses, cowboys, wild fires and a world tipping out of balance,” Pedersen tells BDE.

Markku Heikkinen’s The Arctic Circle of Lust examines the hidden sexuality of northern Finnish family men which is hidden from their spouses, friends and the surrounding community. “In the film, the viewer gets close to very sensitive…situations in the painful moments of relationships,” says Finnish producer Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen. “The film is intimate and of high visual quality, [depicting] archaic nature and its four seasons, from the darkness of ‘kaamos’ to spring thaw, providing a stark backdrop for private moments.”

“The whole philosophy of Cannes Docs is all about going beyond a strict industry approach, to advocate for creative, author-driven, arthouse documentary cinema, and for all kinds of forward-thinking political values that I feel our community always has, at heart, to champion,” Pierre-Alexis Chevit says on the eve the 2024 event. Core activities this year include a Palestinian showcase, ongoing support of the Ukrainian doc industry via three special screenings & two new project presentations, a host of industry debates on core topics, and interviews with top doccers such as Raoul Peck and Nicolas Philibert.

Sheffield’s Industry Programme and Market runs in conjunction with the Festival (June 12-17) and includes 22 Industry Sessions for delegates, five Marketplace Sessions, three Live Pitch sessions, the Filmmaker Challenge, Alternate Realities Summit, five marketplace Rough Cuts, Craft Summit (a day of five panels and masterclasses) as well as the MeetMarket pitching forum.

“The Polish Panorama does not merely explore our own backyard. Polish creators eagerly travel the world to bring stories that seem distant only at first glance, yet reveal their universality upon closer examination,” write selectors of this year’s local selection. The festival also reveals the jurors who will deliberate across all competition sections at KFF 2024.

The May 12 Awards Ceremony of the third MDAG Industry Awards came at the end of 4 days of deliberation that entailed 4 pitching sessions, 37 projects and over 280 one-on-one meetings. The CANAL+ Poland Award (3,000 euros) was given to Dekonstrukt by Mateusz Góra Kamil Wilk while Sugarland by Julia Smakjam won the Polish Filmmakers Association cash award of PLN 10,000 (2,333 euros). All awards…