Nick Cunningham

Director River Finlay talks to BDE about her MeetMarket project that follows Chilean Isabel Allende, one of the world’s most widely read authors, as she “looks beyond the stories she tells the world and confronts the ones she tells herself,” and reckoning with an unresolved past, the passage of time, and the renewed rise of authoritarianism. “Her trailblazing as an author for other women writers really is unparalleled, but mostly she really provides this incredible sense of connection and bravery,” says Finlay of her revered subject.

Guardian Documentaries and arte.tv have joined forces to support filmmakers making documentary shorts, exploring the theme of Democracy at Stake in Europe. Announced at Sheffield DocFest, the initiative opened for submissions 11 June 2026 and invites filmmakers from across Europe to pitch character-led short documentaries examining the challenges facing democratic societies today.

Cara Holmes’ Lesbian Lines not only tells the story of the helplines that were established in Ireland in the late 1970s, and which continue to this day, it also tells a history of gay and political activism within a deeply conservative country over which the Catholic church held (and continues to hold) considerable sway. “They would hate to hear me say this, but these women are absolute heroes of mine in terms of what they've done for me and for future generations coming up,” Holmes tells BDE, both of the helpline staff and the activists who have brought about radical change over past decades.

Film Harbour has picked up Kristof Bilsen’s new feature doc The Apologist which has its world premiere in International Competition at Sheffield DocFest June 11. The film is produced by Belgian-based Limerick Films, and co-produced with Tangerine Tree (NL), Warboys Films (FR) and Wrong Men (BE). “It’s wonderful to have a sales agent of the calibre of Film Harbour work with us and it feels like a testament to the six years which this multi-layered project to unpick the nuances and challenges of apologising which is so important today,” says director Bilsen.

In her short film selected for Sheffield 2026, Netherlands-based Uyghur filmmaker Darya Andijan invokes the ancient myth of Gülem, a forgotten goddess of carpet weaving. The film is highly poetic and personal as it weaves female narratives across borders, all the time set against a background of oppression, and China’s erasure both of the Uyghur language and its sense of identity. “Globalisation is failing us, and people need a different hold on where their home is and what their identity is,” says Andijan.

Netflix announced June 10 the five filmmaking teams, selected from thousands of applications, that will receive funding and professional support during the fourth year of the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund. The filmmakers were selected by a jury of industry experts (pictured above) after pitching their idea for a short documentary films inspired by the prompt, “On the theme of change.”

Chilean Oscar®-nominated director Maite Alberdi will give a June 12 Art of Storytelling masterclass, as well as present her latest documentary A Child of My Own at the 33rd Sheffield DocFest. Chile will furthermore be represented in MeetMarket with three projects: The Weight of Snow (rough cut), directed by Matías Bolla; Inside the Biggest Case on Earth, directed by Renan Flumian, and Isabel Allende: The Documentary, directed by River Finlay. Chiledoc will also host a co-production gathering June 11, with aim of fostering new international collaborations within the doc sector.

DOK Leipzig is seeking XR projects from immersive creators from around the world, and at all stages of development, for its DOK Exchange XR industry program, a 2-day conference and showcase offering an in-depth exploration of XR creation. The application deadline is 1 July, after which applications will be evaluated by an international jury. The 69th edition of DOK Leipzig runs 26 October to 1 November 2026.

On June 5, the Industry awards of Krakow Film Festival were handed out. A total of 23 awards and honourable mentions were presented: seventeen for documentary projects and four for animated projects. The documentary prizes were awarded to projects in the DOCS TO START and DOCS TO GO section. Two honourable mentions went to participants in the Animated in Poland Talent Market.

Tristan da Cunha may be the most remote inhabited island on the planet, but it is nevertheless the place where Loran Bonnardot, a piano-playing doctor from Paris, is determined to settle. His existentialist journey, part-fictionalised, is chronicled by Swiss director Tobias Nölle. “I saw in Loran a castaway from our hyper-competitive society, seeking an authenticity we’ve lost, on an island secluded from our war-torn world; a dream I wanted to transform into a cinematic experience,” he says. The film won The Golden Horn for Best Film in International Competition at Krakow 2026.