Nick Cunningham

Moody will lead the BFI Doc Society Fund team in managing all aspects of the UK-wide BFI Doc Society Fund and will collaborate with Doc Society directors Shanida Scotland and Sandra Whipham on “the strategic direction of Doc Society’s role as the BFI’s UK-wide delegate partner for documentary,” Doc Society announced July 4. It also underlined that the Feature Fund is now up and running and inviting applications.

Bram Ruiter’s experimental short Here & Elsewhere, world-premiering at Karlovy Vary, is both beguilingly simple and satisfyingly complex. It is a work the director describes as “a romantic film in which water is a guiding force for a journey with an unclear destination.” It is also a film that forefronts the lyricism of Jorge Luis Borges and the fragmented observations of Heraclitus.

In 2012, Georgia’s ruling ENM party ran a toothless election campaign – quite literally. In parts of the country voters were enticed into having all their rotten teeth removed, to be replaced with shiny new dentures after the election. The problem was that the ENM party lost, and the incoming Georgian Dream party saw no need to fulfil the promise. Director Luka Beradze chews over questions on his film, as posed by BDE.

Representatives to be chosen from 15 regions in Europe. The restructuring will take place in two stages, allowing current board members elected in December 2022 for a two-year period to finish their mandate until the end of 2024. “These changes will make for a more diverse and more democratically representative board to serve the European Film Academy,” says the European Film Academy’s Chair Mike Downey.

The leading Czech docfest invites submissions from “diverse audiovisual formats” such as fiction with documentary aspects, hybrid, experimental, short films, docu and web series, cinema expanded projects, games with documentary aspects, as well as VR+AR+Live documentaries. Cash awards are on offer for the most promising projects. The deadline for applications August 15.

The film, about contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer, world-premiered as a Cannes Special screening in May 2023. Anselm is produced by Karsten Brünig for Road Movies and executive produced by Jeremy Thomas. The deal was negotiated by Thomas’ HanWay on behalf of the filmmakers. This “unique cinematic experience” examines artist Kiefer’s work and reveals his life path, inspiration, and creative process.

The new Democracy Story Unit will “bring storytellers into an ecosystem together with academics, activists, journalists and social scientists to think together about what narratives are most needed and most effective.” The Unit will host its first global Democracy Story Lab in London Nov 27 to Dec 1, with a second edition in Rio in February 2024. Doc Society has put out a call for projects (short docs, feature docs, non-fiction podcasts) and finished works looking for Impact support.

MIA International Audiovisual Market (Rome, October 9-13) has put out the call for applications for this year’s Doc Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum. The Market is committed to providing exposure to documentary projects in development. The event’s international selection committee selects up to 15 projects “with high artistic standing and distribution potential.” The deadline for applications is 5pm CET, July 7.

After baring his soul (and that of his partner Devorah Baum) in the warm and funny New York-based 2022 doc Husband (2022), Josh Appignanesi embarks upon an altogether different journey in My Extinction, one from indifference to full-on engagement as he turns his mind to the looming threat of climate change. The film world-premieres June 29 in London. Appignanesi bares even more of his soul to Business Doc Europe.

Over four days, the market attracted 2,000+ participants from 64 different countries, 1,000 companies, 90 exhibitors and 300 international decision-makers including major global broadcasters, streamers, foundations, sales agents, funders and museums. "Sunny Side of the Doc is asserting its unique status as the international market place for all forms of storytelling and documentary,” said Director of Strategy Mathieu Béjot.