Nick Cunningham

Thomas Jackson’s film about the struggle for the Sámi culture also won Best Original Score. The Best Sound Design award went to Ted Krotkiewski  for the doc All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars, directed by Jennifer Rainsford, while yet another documentary won for Best Editing, Daughters by Jenifer Malmqvist, edited by Åsa Mossberg  and  Line Schou.

Superpower by Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman to world premiere in Berlin. “In a festival that will take place one year after the Russian invasion in Ukraine, it is important to show the film that Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman made under such difficult conditions,” writes the festival. Additionally, Sur l’Adamant by Nicolas Philibert is selected for Main Competition.

“The 2023 edition of the Global Pitch for Global Change is devoted to Climate Change: its consequences on our societies and the concrete solutions implemented around the world,” write organisers of the project pitch event running online 7-8 February and for which 12 projects have been selected (out of 100 submissions from 37 countries) to compete for a cash prize of €3,000.

Doc professionals join a frenzy of co-pro activity as FIPADOC Industry kicks off January 23, heralding in 2023 as France’s Year of Documentary. Highlights of the 4-day event include the presentation of 24 new international projects, 3 new Ukrainian projects and a major focus on Finland and the Baltic countries, as well as a packed programme of panels and workshops. “Let's make it groovy and funky,” Creative Director Christine Camdessus tells BDE.

The five nominated films in the BAFTA Film Award Documentary category are named as All That Breathes, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Fire of Love, Moonage Daydream and Navalny. In the Outstanding Brit Debut section, directors Elena Sánchez Bellot and Maia Kenworthy are nominated for Rebellion. The EE BAFTA Film Awards will take place on Sunday 19 February.

The East Silver documentary market supports producers and distributors from Central and Eastern Europe. Each year approximately 130 films are included. The 20th edition of the East Silver Market will take place at the East Doc Platform in Prague between March 24-30 2023.

Derren Lawford (DARE Pictures) and Alex Tondowski (Tondowski Films) announced January 19 a new strategic partnership that will focus “exclusively on a selection of bold premium documentary productions for the international market.” Fatima Shafiq is hired as Head of Development to focus on new international doc projects.

Seven doc titles including Ukrainian Alisa Kovalenko’s We Will Not Fade Away, about five teenagers living in the conflict-ridden Donbas region of Ukraine who are given brief respite from reality when they are sent on a Himalayan expedition. The Special title Kiss the Future documents how the Dublin band U2 were enlisted to help shine a light on the seemingly forgotten citizens of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.

The leading Greek festival has announced “a multifaceted and intriguing tribute to observational documentary” as the main tribute of the upcoming edition, running 2-12 March. “Masterpieces of world cinema redefine our perspective and interpretation of life and the world, while masterclasses from acclaimed international and Greek filmmakers unfold the secrets of this fascinating cinema genre,” write organisers.

The 28 films (10 docs) that make up the main programme of 53rd Berlinale Forum “celebrate the diversity of cinematic forms, approaches and narratives and explore the predicaments of the past and present in unflinching fashion,” writes the festival. The selection includes new docs by French Claire Simon, Polish Tomasz Wolski and Paris-based Iranian filmmaker Mehran Tamadon.