Nick Cunningham

The 22nd edition of the Portuguese docfest will screen 183 films from 55 countries, including 28 world premieres, 19 international premieres and 30 Portuguese films. The International Competition features 12 films from 12 countries and includes five world premieres and six international premieres. The Portuguese Competition presents ten docs of which four are world premieres.

The 2024 DOK Neuland programme presents eleven works from the fields of VR, AR, 360° film, gaming, installation and participatory film. The associated exhibition runs from 29 October to 3 November and is spread across four locations in Leipzig: in the Museum of Fine Arts (MdbK), at the main station, in the Galerie KUB and in the Cinémathèque Leipzig.

Jussi Sandhu’s feature doc project concerns the world’s first higher-education programme for social media, launched in Tampere, Finland. “But I’m No Influencer explores the questions of education export and social media through the eyes of a Filipino immigrant, Mark. But what should we all really learn about Influencing?” asks producer Pasi Hakkio. “It deals with global questions of education and social media. Rarely can such a character-driven story open up themes this big.”

DOK Leipzig has revealed further highlights of the DOK Industry Programme for the 67th festival edition (28 October - 3 November), in addition to the already announced DOK Co-Pro Market Selection, Ex Oriente Film workshop and Generation Ukraine showcase. Other features include DOK Archive Market Screenings and Talks and the DOK Project Presentation Generation Africa 2.0, and more…

Albert Serra’s bullfighting doc won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Festival's 72nd edition. The film follows bullfighter Andrés Roca Rey over the course of a single day. The feature doc Chaplin – Spirit of the Tramp by Carmen Chaplin won the Irizar Basque Film Award. The festival ran September 20-28.

Producer Sandra Enkvist tells BDE about her new project, directed by Vesa Kuosmanen, which pulls back the curtain on a dramatic period in Finland’s queer history. “In the 80s, the fear of AIDS was universal, and its legacy still echoes in the lives of the survivors among us. We want to make a film which breaks free from the fear that has shaped so much of queer history,” she says.

The prizes of the 35th Nordisk Panorama were handed out September 24. Best Nordic Documentary went to Life is Beautiful by Mohamed Jabaly while the New Nordic Voice gong was won by Camilla Jämting for Project Dad. The Young Nordic Award prize went to Marianne Olsen Ulrichsen for Warrior Heart. The City of Malmö's Audience Award was granted to Balomania by Sissel Morell Dargis. Nordic Documentary Producer Award to Danish Sara Stockmann.

“This project is vital because it tells a story that is both deeply personal and universally resonant. Its themes of family, dependency, and the human need for connection are timeless, and its heartfelt portrayal of these issues will undoubtedly engage audiences worldwide,” says producer Juha Löppönen of The Beauty of Errors, a portrait of a family for whom home is the epicentre of everything.

The Norwegian/Finnish In Cod We Trust is described as a portrait of a town, and a meditation on home and belonging. “To a fishing village, at the very top of the world, in the far north of Norway, people from all over the world have come in search of a better life. It creates an exciting symbiosis of people, and a society completely out of the ordinary,” producer Benedikte Bredesen tells Business Doc Europe of her FFA project.

Riding with Death is a poetic feature documentary that shows the emotional impacts of the tuberculosis outbreaks in Finland between 1920-60, and details the sanatorium culture that emerged. “We feel that after the Covid-19 experience, the film gives us necessary historical perspective. Many of us suffered alone during Covid-19, but it did not have to be that way. The rich sanatorium culture in Finland shows us another approach,” says producer Markku Tuurna.