Nick Cunningham

Organisers call the awards “the world's most prestigious event [December award date still TBA] dedicated to the documentary genre, celebrating the best non-fiction films, TV work, and audio documentaries of the year and seeking to represent excellence in the doc field by emerging and established documentarians worldwide." The call for entries is open until August 5 2024.

Mark Cousins’ study of Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004), narrated by Tilda Swinton, is also the second UK film to win Karlovy Vary’s top prize, after Ken Loach’s Kes (1970). The Crystal Globe is valued at $25,000 US. Sales on A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things are handled by Reservoir Docs.

The three-part series, for which Fremantle has worldwide distribution rights will take “an unfiltered and personal look at the astounding transformation of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky from comedian to iconic war hero.” The BBC will air the three-part series in full this autumn, with a shorter 70-minute film on France Télévisions as part of their documentary strand Le Monde En Face.

Irish multi-hyphenate Nick Kelly (director, screenwriter, pop star, activist, not to mention long distance cyclist) talks to Business Doc Europe about how he cycled from Ireland to Glastonbury carrying his tent and his guitar, to prove that the business of making art doesn’t have to kill the planet. Kelly’s saddle-bound feature doc world premieres July 12 at Galway Film Fleadh.

In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities. The filmmakers discuss their Sundance-winning film Sugarcane.

The lab, running October 17-21 in Sitges, Spain, will focus on the art of pitching, innovative storytelling, and impact distribution. "Making impactful creative films, being successful, changing the world—all of this starts with you,” comments producer and Head Tutor Irena Taskovski. “Our labs combine industry know-how with mindfulness practices and conscious leadership training to empower filmmakers to lead with purpose and creativity.”

The 9th Verzió DocLab (Nov 5-9) is a 5-day intensive editing workshop for directors and editors, organised during the 21st Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Budapest running November 6-13, 2024. Deadline: September 9. The 3rd Verzió Documentary Film Critics Workshop (also Nov 5-9) has an earlier submission deadline of August 1.

The call for projects for the Rome-based Doc Co-Production Market will close July 8, 2024 (5 PM CET). The market accepts submissions across all genres and formats, at different stages of development (not yet in post-production). The projects must be suitable for international co-production, and aimed at representing “independent and diverse voices and perspectives.” The next edition of MIA runs October 14 to 18.

As Swedish artist Victoria Verseau examines her life more than a decade after the transition surgery she underwent in 2012, she also attempts to process the fragmented memories she has of her friend Meril who underwent similar surgery at the same time, but who died three years later. Verseau additionally follows Athena and Aamina, who are on their own journeys towards transition. “It’s a movie made by and about trans people, aiming for an honest portrayal of our lives,” says Verseau.

Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) will examine the theme of ‘Justice?’ during its 7th edition, to be held 13-17 September 2024 in Sarajevo. “Art is tasked with dealing with issues of wider significance, sometimes painful, forbidden, ignored or marginalized, but too important to be quiet about. Our task is to give voice to those who have been denied it, and the festival theme of ‘Justice?’ speaks about and examines precisely that,” write AJB DOC organisers.