Nick Cunningham

Doc industry vet, and former IDA Board member, Louise Rosen is stepping down from her role as IDA Interim Managing Director in early March to return to her production roots with the Ford Foundation-funded Gender Project, as well as several other soon-to-be-announced book-based projects. “As a former IDA Board Member, it has been deeply satisfying to be of service during this period of transition,” Rosen says of her departure.

Danish NGO The Why will release on YouTube 50 carefully selected fact-based docs on themes “directly affecting Russian-speaking citizens,” such as corruption, war, children’s rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ issues and slavery. “It is absolutely crucial that we bring this information to Russian speakers now, as we watch Ukraine still battling for freedom one year on from the invasion,” says WHY CEO Mette Hoffmann Meyer.

Organisers of the 25th Thessaloniki International Doc Fest announced March 2 the cancellation of tonight’s opening ceremony, as well as all festive events and concerts previously scheduled during the three-day mourning period following the tragic rail disaster of March 1. The screenings of the films and Agora’s activities will continue. “In these hours of grief and pain, our thoughts stand by with the families of the victims, to whom we express our most sincere condolences.”

The Special Guest of the upcoming Visions du Réel (Nyon, Switzerland, 21-30 April 2023) will be Oscar-nominated, multi award-winning Italian director, screenwriter and editor Alice Rohrwacher, whose “daring vision” will be showcased in a masterclass (Saturday 22 April) and during a retrospective of her fiction, hybrid and documentary work.

As Allison Gardner points out to Business Doc Europe, documentary looms large in the programme of the 19th Glasgow Film Festival, running 1-12 March. “I think Scotland punches above its weight in terms of the documentaries it produces,” she says. “There has been great support for that genre, and so we have featured a lot over the years.”

Between March 6-9 in New York, and March 7-11 in Bucharest, the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival will screen a selection of documentaries from the festival’s 2022 competition sections. The programme in NY includes animation master Jan Švankmajer’s Kunstkamera while the Budapest outing includes Audience Award winner Happily Ever After and Best Czech Doc Kapr Code.

Deadline of May 31 to submit projects and participate in the second edition of Al Jazeera Documentary (AJD) Industry Days @ AJB DOC that will take place 9-11 September in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The total prize fund offered by Al Jazeera Doc Channel, Al Jazeera Balkans and project partners in 2022 was $80,000 (US). A comparable prize fund will be allocated in 2023.

Nicolas Philibert wins top Berlinale prize for Sur l’Adamant, his film about a unique day-care centre in Paris. Tatiana Huezo’s El eco (The Echo) wins The Documentary Award and Best Director in Encounters. The GWFF First Feature Award, endowed with a whopping €50,000 was picked up by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann for The Klezmer Project. All documentary prizes and special mentions…

The 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival will be held from March 2-12 2023 both in-person and online. A total of 237 short and full-length documentaries will be screened. This year's line-up showcases a total of 99 world, international and European premieres. The festival will open March 2 with the world-premiere of La Singla (Spain/Germany) by Paloma Zapata, and will close March 12 with the international premiere of the Dutch doc My Pet and Me by Johan Kramer.

The Organization of Ukrainian Producers has produced several documentaries to mark the anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. In How to Survive… 40 neighbours in one house contribute to a set of rules on how to survive occupation. The film premieres 24 February, the anniversary of the Russian invasion, on the Ukrainian TV channel STB.