Nick Cunningham

Additionally, Direct Action by Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell won Best Film in Encounters, while the Berlinale Documentary Award went to No Other Land by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor. Faruk by Aslı Özge won the Panorama Fipresci Award while Teaches of Peaches won the Teddy for Best Doc. All doc awards…

Twelve Projects announced for Thessaloniki Pitching Forum (plus 3 new prizes including the €10,000 IEFTA Award for Best Documentary in Development), 11 Agora Docs in Progress, as well as five Agora Lab projects at all stages from Greece on which documentary specialists will offer guidance. In the festival’s Meet the Future initiative the focus shifts to rising talents hailing from the Czech Republic.

The renowned Spanish filmmaker will attend the opening ceremony of 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (March 7-17) in order to present his They Shot the Piano Player (2023, pictured) and receive the fest's honorary Golden Alexander for his overall contribution to cinema and culture. Organisers also announce that 66 full-length and short documentaries from Greece will be screened during the upcoming edition.

The Thessaloniki Int’l Doc Fest this year adds the Talking Heads masterclass platform to its Agora Talks programme, designed to “reshape the original form of masterclasses to foster inclusive and safe collective conversations, directly addressing the industry's needs [where] engaging discussions and diverse voices converge, creating an environment for collaborative exploration and innovation.”

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.”