Nick Cunningham

This year’s DOK Leipzig Retrospective, titled ‘Film and Protest – Popular Uprisings in the Cold War’, will explore the past by turning a spotlight on the cinematic testimony to resistance against Soviet regimes – a testimony that existed outside of the propagandistic self-portrayal of those in power. The 66th edition of DOK Leipzig will take place 8-15 October 2023.

The Verzió DocLab on Story Development and Editing is a 5-day intensive editing workshop for directors and editors, presented during the 20th Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (Budapest, November 22-29). The dates of the DocLab workshop are November 21-25. Deadline for submissions: 13 September 2023.

Grain Media, Kalabati Pictures and Academy Award-winning director Orlando von Einsiedel commence production on Cycling For Love (working title), about a man who pedalled from his home in India to Sweden to rejoin the woman who had captured his heart. “I was drawn to this as it’s a beautiful and deeply inspiring narrative about young love - a subject matter rarely covered in documentary form,” von Einsiedel comments.

Founded and headed by film critic Amir Labaki, the 29th It’s All True doc fest will take place simultaneously in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro April 4-14 2024. Submissions close on December 8 2023. Winners of the Brazilian and International Feature/Medium-length and Short Film categories automatically qualify for Academy Award nomination consideration in the Best Feature and Best Short Doc categories.

In the powerful and moving I’m Still Here, which world-premieres August 19, we are returned to the early days of the pandemic as the plight of London’s homeless is addressed full-on by the community aid organisation Under One Sky. In the film we meet some of the capital’s homeless, and the volunteers who dedicate their time to help alleviate the suffering on the streets. Co-director Franc Vissers talks to BDE.

Nemanja Vojinović’s Bottlemen wins the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Doc Film (€4,000) while Sara Jurinčić wins the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Doc Short Film with Valerija. Kumjana Novakova picks up the Human Rights Award for Silence of Reason. The Special Jury Award is handed to Fairy Garden by Gergő Somogyvári. Earler this week, Mark Cousins was awarded the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo in recognition of exceptional contribution to the art of film.

Three projects scooped the six awards during the August 17 closing ceremony of CineLink Industry Days. These were the Georgian Adelina: Symphony of Longing and Estrangement by Rati Tsiteladzea; Your Life Without Me by Anna Rubi (Hungary, Sweden); and the Croatian Pavillion 6 by Goran Dević. Docu Rough Cut Boutique is a regional platform dedicated to documentary projects in the advanced phase of the editing process.

The 9th edition of MIA takes place 9-13 October in Rome and on the MIA Digital platform. Early Bird registrations for both on-site and digital access are available at the discounted rate of €250 before August 24. The MIA Doc Co-Production Market is the most important Italian event dedicated to documentary projects at development stage, say organisers, representing “a hotbed of discussion, debate, and confrontation among the most important international executives.”

Nordisk Panorama has unveiled the documentary titles for its 34th edition, running September 21-26 in Malmö, Sweden. Twenty-two docs will play across three competition sections: Best Nordic Documentary, New Nordic Voice Documentary Competition and the City of Malmö Audience Award. A total of €25,000 in prize money is up for grabs. Maria Fredriksson’s The Gullspång Miracle opens the fest Sept 21.

Winner of the DAFilms.com Distribution Award following its Docu Talents from the East pitch this week, Romanian Tudor Platon’s highly personal new doc will explore “the different shapes that love can take between parents and children, and children who become parents themselves.” Producer Carla Fotea (who is also a crucial onscreen presence in the film) pitched the project in Sarajevo.