Nick Cunningham

The 2024 film programme includes 48 world, 14 international, 17 European and 29 UK premieres from 56 countries of production. The International Competition consists of eight world prems including Tilda Swinton’s feature directorial debut (co-directed with Bartek Dziadosz). The 31st Sheffield DocFest runs June 12-17. The complete Industry programme will be announced May 15.

In The Witness, Spanish filmmaker Pere Salom tells the story of Eduardo Palmer, a prolific filmmaker who documented the rise to power of Fidel Castro in Cuba in the 1950s, but who also took part in the counter-revolution against the regime, eventually settling in exile in the US. “Palmer is, on the one hand, an important and respected producer in many Latin American countries. But on the other hand, he is completely unknown to most people. I want that to change,” Salom tells BDE.

Chilean producer María José Díaz discusses her mixed reality mindfulness project, inspired by the native forests of southern Chile. “The experience [enables] the user to transform their daily life space, like their home or office, into a cosy cabin in a remote place called Cañón del Blanco, a mountain landscape with native temperate forests rich in biodiversity and the presence of millenary trees,” she tells Business Doc Europe.

The archive-based portrait of Roberto Rossellini promises to tell the Italian master’s story and in the process ‘debunk the clichés surrounding the myth’. “For those who love cinema, Rossellini is the genius of great masterpieces, such as Rome, Open City. For those who love great stories, he is the man of scandalous love affairs. He is a fascinating personality, where life and art merge. [This film] is a biopic that can fascinate a wide audience,” producer/director Raffaela Brunetti tells Business Doc Europe.

One Inch Eastward will be the second film in a trilogy about the Washington/Moscow relationship that played out some 30+ years ago. Moscow Nights, the first film, told the story of how Gorbachev, Reagan and Bush ended the Cold War. This new film concerns the Yeltsin and Clinton era. “We were drawn in to these stories by our love of the archives, then we became fascinated by what they revealed to our filmmakers’ eye,” producer Brendan Culleton tells Business Doc Europe.

“I didn’t fully choose the subject, it also chose me,” says Spanish filmmaker Guillermo F Florez of his feature doc nearing completion and presenting this week in Barcelona. “I found myself embarked in the most unexpected project: a comedy about an old woman planning her suicide.” That old woman is the irrepressible Carmen (86), who lived through the Civil War, was previously a nun, was married then divorced in a conservative society, and then took several lovers, thereby following her own very unique path.

Born to Fight explores the developmental journey of Tunisian female kickboxer Nawres from 2017 to 2024 within the context of the Arab Spring. “While many stories focus solely on the journey to Europe and the challenges faced there, this film shines a spotlight on the resilience and determination of those who opt to confront adversity head-on in their own communities,” Danish producer Rikke Tambo tells BDE.

Dutch Juul van der Laan describes her interactive project I M U as “an AI essay film installation in which I, the maker, manipulate the viewer’s image using deepfake - live. It is a personal confrontation with the technology and a meditative intervention on what the self and your self-image really are.” The project is presented within the inaugural New Tech Pitch session at DocsBarcelona Industry.

Six new teams are announced to compete for prize funding for innovative new audio projects June 15 at Sheffield DocFest 2024. A grand first prize of £5,000 will be awarded, with £2,000 going to the runner up. The award is designed to celebrate the global trend towards solo and episodic listening to factual audio. Sheffield DocFest runs June 12-17.

The True Film by Christina Zimmermann wins the DOK.digital – Award for New Narrative Formats, while the DOK.archive award goes to Our Sister Angela – Black Power in the GDR by Katharina Warda and Jascha Hannover. The DOK.talent Award is given to the project Politik ist persönlich by Indira Geisel (HFF München). All awards…