Nick Cunningham

The European Film Academy announced November 7 the five documentary nominees in the European Documentary category of the 36th European Film Awards. The award ceremony will take place on 9 December in Berlin and will “celebrate the best of European Film culture.” The nominations are based on the votes of 4,600 members of the European Film Academy.

The next CPH:FORUM will take place from March 18-21 2024, with a November 15 deadline for submissions. Next year the programme will present two new Eurimages Lab Awards: The Innovation Award of €20.000 for experimental projects in development, and The Outreach Award of €30.000 to promote public awareness of experimental projects that are at the end of production or in post-production.

The objective of the online Global Pitch event is to bring together the international documentary film community around engaged themes. In 2024 the focus will be on ‘Mapping the Future of our ecosystem and the documentary genre itself.’ Twelve projects will be selected and presented February 6-7 2024. The deadline for submissions is November 24.

Pia Lundberg has been appointed as the new Artistic Director of Göteborg Film Festival. Lundberg most recently served as Counsellor for Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Sweden in London and will take up the position as Artistic Director on March 1, 2024, succeeding Jonas Holmberg. “I have attended hundreds of film festivals and now finally have the opportunity to help create one,” comments Lundberg.

IDFA 2023 opening film A Picture to Remember by Olga Chernykh has been acquired for world sales by Stranger Films Sales (France). The film will world premiere in IDFA’s Envision competition and marks the first time a Ukrainian film will open the Amsterdam-based fest. “We firmly believe in the therapeutic potential of documentaries like this,” says Stranger Films Sales’ Tijana Djukic.

Ji.hlava IDFF unveiled its winning films October 29. Photophobia by Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík took home the Best Czech Doc Award, while the Opus Bonum Award for Best World Doc went to Elvis Lenić's Ship from Croatia. Maia Gattás Vargas, the Argentine director, was honoured for her original approach, and Hungarian director Béla Tarr received recognition for his contribution to world cinema.

Laura McGann’s feature documentary tells the story of a love which seemed predestined, between two people who were driven by their dedication to the perilous sport of freediving: Alessia Zecchini, an Italian world champion diver, and Irish Stephen Keenan, an adventurer who devoted his life to making sure divers came back up alive. The director discusses her film, which deals, in equal measure, with endurance, danger and death.

In International Comp, the City of Lisbon Award went to la tierra los altares by Sofía Peypoch (Mexico). The RTP International Comp Jury Award was awarded to the Belgian production Terril, by Jorn Plucieniczak. In Portuguese Comp, the HBO Max Award for Best Film went to As Melusinas à Margem do Rio by Melanie Pereira, while the Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores Award was handed to Memories of a Perfect Day by Davina-Maria El Khoury.

Producer and programmer Paula Astorga was unveiled October 29 as the new director of Doclisboa International Film Festival. Astorga directed Mexico’s National Cinematheque from 2010 to 2014, where she was in charge of its ‘complete renovation.’ Former director Miguel Ribeiro, who has worked at Lisboa for 11 years in various capacities, leaves to coordinate and program the cultural space Casa do Comum.

The Ji.hlava New Visions Forum: Europe & U.S. Docs Awards (ten in total) were handed out 27 October as doors closed on this year’s Industry event. Additionally, the festival announced the creation of the Ji.hlava/JB Films co-production project. Next year, up to €110,000 will be distributed to creative documentaries from the region of Central and Eastern Europe.