Nick Cunningham

VdR Industry, the professional arm of Swiss docfest Visions du Réel (April 4-13), announced Feb 28 that it will welcome six country delegations in 2025, and unveiled the juries within its VdR–Industry, Eurimages Co-Production Development and visions sud est sections. Four new awards will be handed out this year, bringing the total prize pot to CHF 80,000 (EUR 85,500). VdR Industry runs April 6-9.

Hailing from 28 countries worldwide, the 40 producers will develop their documentary projects and their careers over the coming eight months within groups led by Jean-Laurent Csinidis (Les Films de Force Majeure), Heino Deckert (Ma.ja.de) and Gema Juarez Allen (Gema Films). Three sessions will be held during 2025 in Biella (Italy, March), Ljubljana (Slovenia, June) and Cork (Ireland, October).

Crickmar will lead the expansion of Lightdox’s distribution reach and impact in the UK and Ireland. With over a decade of experience as a film programmer, consultant, and industry manager, he has worked with festivals such as the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Cork International Film Festival, Docs Ireland, FIPADOC and Africa in Motion. Lightdox recently an-nounced the UK & Ireland theatrical release of Oksana Karpovych’s award-winning documen-tary Intercepted.

Varejão will give a masterclass in Nyon and will present a retrospective of her films. A filmmaker “deeply attuned to the sensitive world,” Cláudia Varejão has directed 4 feature-length films and 7 shorts, all of which share a strong feminist perspective, tackling themes such as emancipation, personal relationships, intimacy and everyday life. “Her strikingly coherent filmography is filled with moments of great sensitivity, combined with the precision of a photographer's eye,” says Émilie Bujès, VdR Artistic Director.

More than 200 new films representing different stories from across the globe: a record number of 94 world premieres, 23 international premieres and 8 European premieres are featured in this year's festival. Running from March 19-30, CPH:DOX introduces a new thematic section in 2025, focusing on human rights and the rules-based international order - Right Here, Right Now.

The Berlinale Documentary Award went to Holding Liat by Brandon Kramer, produced by Darren Aronofsky, Lance Kramer, Yoni Brook, Ari Handel, Justin A. Gonçalves. The Panorama Audience Award was won by The Moelln Letters by Martina Priessner, while in the Teddys, the Best Documentary/Essay Film Award was won by Satanische Sau (Satanic Sow) by Rosa von Praunheim. The Golden Bear for Best Short Film went to Lesley Loksi Chan for Lloyd Wong, Unfinished.

The renowned artist and activist Ai Weiwei will present his latest doc ‘Animality’ and will engage in a discussion on the intersection of art and activism. Israeli architect Eyal Weizman will speak after the screening of 'Rule of Stone' which reveals how architecture has been used as a tool of control and displacement since Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967. The INTER:ACTIVE line-up is presented under the theme of Untamed: Humanity Rewilded, and promises a “provocative and immersive experience that urges audiences to reimagine humanity’s role within the natural world.”

Launched in 2019, First Window is dedicated to documentary debuts of features and short films by young creators enrolled in art schools, university film programmes, filmmaking courses of any kind, or creating outside of any specific training environment. From 22 to 29 March, the thirteen films will be screened at Paris’s Reflet Médicis, and will be available online on a dedicated section of the Mediapart website, where visitors can vote for their favourite film.

Trapped in the freezing forest between Belarus and Poland, 16-year-old Kurdish refugee Runa must assume all family responsibilities for her father and brothers after the death of their mother. In her hybrid doc receiving its US premiere at Slamdance, Polish Agnieszka Zwiefka follows Runa as she tries to create a new life for her family in Poland, in the process telling a story both terrifying and inspirational. “This is actually our obligation as documentary filmmakers. Who would we be if we didn't react to such a humanitarian crisis at our doorstep,” Zwiefka underlines to BDE.

Presented in partnership with Documentary Campus, CPH:CONFERENCE will take place this year from March 24-28, bringing together a “stellar” line-up of filmmakers, industry leaders, and visionaries, including Christo Grozev, James Jones, Alexis Bloom, Kate Townsend, Sam Soko, Mstyslav Chernov, Nathan Grossman and many more.