Nick Cunningham

New York’s Museum of the Moving Image has announced the complete line-up for the 12th edition of First Look, MoMI’s festival of new and innovative international cinema which will take place March 15–19, 2023. The festival “introduces New York audiences to formally inventive works that seek to redefine the art form while engaging in a wide range of subjects and styles.”

Maurice O’Brien’s feature debut, about one man’s desire both to build and conquer a Wall of Death, is a madcap story of derring-do, obsession and pain, both physical and emotional, with a large dose of artistic ego thrown in for good measure. But the end result, as much in cinematic as in real-life terms, is quite magical. Director O’Brien and producer Grant Keir talk to BDE.

Formula One may not be to everybody’s taste, but it sure makes for compelling documentary. Torquil Jones’ latest film tells a high octane story of speed, rivalry and obsession, but this time from the perspective of the loved ones who are left behind to pick up the pieces after tragedy and mayhem ensue. “You have these two men [Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi]…to be in the moment with them, the sensation is incredible…but the negative side of it is, you get collateral damage,” the director tells BDE.

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.