Nick Cunningham

The 27th Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (Baltic Sea Docs) is set to roll from September 3-10 in Riga, Latvia. Established in 1997, the Forum will present 24 film projects. Every year the Forum gathers around 150 documentary film professionals from over 20 countries and serves as an “important meeting hub” for documentary filmmakers from the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and beyond.

Prague-based sales agent Filmotor announced August 29 that it has acquired world rights (except Austria and Italy) for Juliana Gutweniger and Florian Kofler’s feature doc Vista Mare. The film, which world-premiered in Locarno Critics Week, observes the behind-the-scenes work that goes into managing Italy's Northern Adriatic coastal resorts, both in and out of season.

Organisers of the 6th Al Jazeera Balkans International Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC, 8-12 September, Sarajevo) unveiled August 28 this year’s 24-film official selection. Thirteen films play in Competition programme, including the highly lauded My Name is Happy by Nick Read and Ayse Toprak, and When Spring Came to Bucha by Mila Teshaieva and Marcus Lenz. The overall selection presents six world, one international, 12 regional and five Bosnian and Herzegovinian premieres.

B2B Doc CEO Alex Shiriaieff fills in BDE on the 4-day professional programme presented together with Odesa IFF August 28-31 in collaboration with the Gdynia Film Center. The event comprises three industry pitch events, featuring projects from the B2B Doc countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), as well as two masterclasses; on being a film ‘fixer’ in Ukraine, and maintaining personal security in a warzone.

One of the world’s leading human rights film festivals, films are screened across four competitive categories: International Competition for creative documentaries, Right To Know Competition for documentaries making an exceptional contribution to protecting human rights, Czech Competition for local documentaries; and One World Interactive Competition. The fest runs March 20-28 across the Czech Republic.

The homage includes the first two chapters of his While the Green Grass Grows, which competes for the Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig, as well as his Picture of Light (1994) and Gambling, Gods and LSD (2002). “Peter Mettler is a traveller who is constantly sifting through the layers of time and space and the continuum of the filmmaking process,” says programme curator Annina Wettstein. DOK Leipzig will also be showcasing the work of animator Tess Martin.

The international jury for the 6th Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC, 8-12 Sept) comprises director Vitaliy Manskiy, director Bernadett Tuza-Ritter, producer Vanja Jambrović, director Nermin Hamzagić, and producer Mohamed Elmongy. The five-member jury will decide on the best film from the AJB DOC Film Festival competition programme and grant the AJB DOC Main Award.

The project-based training programme, run by the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF), will take place 6 - 11 October 2023 in Germany for the first time, in collaboration with DOK Leipzig. “It brings us great joy to welcome the talented creative teams of documentary feature films and documentary series along with the knowledgeable and inspiring professionals who will be guiding and mentoring these teams," says DOK Industry Head Nadja Tennstedt.

Scottish Documentary Institute’s Bridging the Gap is a training programme designed to support and inspire up to 12 documentary talent teams in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Deadline: Sept 19. The doc organisation is also launching the WRITE NOW Fund, an innovative funding scheme designed for Scotland-based doccers developing their first or second independent feature. Deadline: Sept 25.

The theme “points out the increasingly frequent denial of fundamental rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to, regardless of their origin, beliefs and way of life,” write festival organisers. The sixth Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) will be held from September 8 to 12 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.