Nick Cunningham

The leading Greek docfest has announced the films in its three competition sections; International Competition, Newcomers competition and >>Film Forward competition. Competing documentaries are enjoying their world, international, or European premiere in the Festival, while the International Competition Golden Alexander winner will secure its place in the Oscars’ shortlist.

Exiled Iranian director Farahnaz Sharifi talks to Business Doc Europe about her film which tells a parallel history of Iran since the 1979 revolution, culled from personal archives. “At a time when power structures strive to narrate history in ways that hide important and popular segments, it becomes all the more crucial to share personal details and micro-narratives,” says Farahnaz. Sold by CAT&Docs, My Stolen Planet world premieres February 21.

Directors Kris Bowers and Ben Proudfoot discuss their Oscar nominated short film The Last Repair Shop with two-time Academy Award winning film composer Hans Zimmer. Produced by Breakwater Studios, the film concerns a Los Angeles downtown warehouse where a handful of devoted craftspeople keep over 80,000 student instruments in good repair.

84 world, 32 international and 9 European prems feature at CPH:DOX 2024, whose film programme is this year presented in cinemas across Copenhagen and 42 Danish municipalities. Artistic Director Niklas Engstrøm says: “In a world increasingly marked by polarization, we must be willing to challenge our own established truths and engage in meaningful dialogues with those holding different opinions and perspectives.” The 21st edition of CPH:DOX runs March 13-24.

CPH:LAB is CPH:DOX’s talent development programme aimed at fostering innovative documentary filmmaking and projects engaging with young audiences. The 2024 cohort of will present their work at the INTER:ACTIVE SYMPOSIUM, which this year will feature a series of presentations under the theme 'Who owns the narrative?'. Participants will explore the evolving creative landscape, challenge dominant narratives, and discuss the future of storytelling.

This year, the European Film Awards ceremony will be held for the first time in Switzerland. The 37th edition of Europe’s leading awards event will be presented Saturday, 7 December 2024 at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (KKL Luzern). A varied support programme of screenings, debates and events will be held throughout the year in Switzerland which will take visitors on “a journey of discovery through Swiss and European filmmaking.”

The feature doc Oasis, which world-premiered in Berlinale Forum paints an evocative (at times provocative) picture of Chile’s recent turbulent history in which the country’s disenfranchised communities demanded the country’s constitution be rewritten better to meet their needs. “Our documentary raises questions about issues that are universal and reflect the challenges that all of humanity is facing,” says co-director Uribe.

In its ninth year, the February 19 Face to Face With German Films showcase seeks to increase the visibility of German filmmakers by presenting them to leading international players attending Berlinale. One of the German talents this year is Hamburg-based multi award-winning documentary filmmaker Moritz Müller-Preißer who will be presenting his feature debut God’s Other Plan in early 2024. He talks to Business Doc Europe.

"This is not about us. This is about the people of Ukraine... the story of Mariupol is a symbol of everything that has happened, a symbol of struggle, a symbol of faith," said Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov on receiving the award. He ended by declaring, "Let's keep fighting.” In the film, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a team of journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war’s atrocities.

Told in five distinct acts that span the period between the Prague Spring of 1968 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Klára Tasovská’s I’m Not Everything I Want to Be chronicles the journey towards both artistic freedom and sexual liberation undertaken by renowned Czech photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková. Her story is told using approximately 3000 still photographs and the diaries she kept from those years.