Nick Cunningham

The Grand Prix for International Documentary was awarded to the Oscar-nominated Black Box Diaries by Shiori Itô, while the Grand Prix for French Documentary went to Bosco Grande by Giuseppe Schillaci. In Fipadoc Pro, the Best International Pitch Award went to Yugo Goes to America by Filip Grujič & Aleksa Borković, while Lucas Vernier won the Best French Pitch Award for Seven and One. All Awards…

Cutting Through Rocks by Sara Khaki wins World Cinema Grand Jury Doc Prize while the Mr. Nobody Against Putin by David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin wins the World Cinema Doc Special Jury Award. The Directing Award: World Cinema Doc went to 2000 Meters to Andriivka by Mstyslav Chernov. On the US front, the Grand Jury Prize Doc went to Seeds by Brittany Shyne, while the Directing Award: U.S. Docu was won by Geeta Gandbhir for The Perfect Neighbor.

The 2025 edition of CPH:FORUM, CPH:DOX’s flagship financing and co-pro event, will bring together 75 directors and producers representing 26 countries who will present 30 new documentary projects spanning early to late development and production. “We hope for this edition to be a space for community and dialogue - that demonstrates the power of documentary,” says Mara Gourd-Mercado, Head of Industry & Training.

Core to the Geneva-based industry programme is the pitch of 12 international film projects developed during the Impact Lab training programme, and 4 further impact projects in Swiss Focus 2025. Designed for filmmakers, NGOs & international organisations, philanthropists, impact practitioners and distributors, and offering case studies, networking events and examples of best practices from around the world, FIFDH Impact Days will run 9-11 March 2025.

Head of Fipadoc Industry Bastien Gauclère and Head of Co-production Forum Ove Rishøj Jensen talk to BDE about their professional documentary event which kicks off the business year in Europe. “You really pitch into an industry with a lot of muscle,” says Rishøj Jensen of the 24-project International Pitch which is a core element of the programme. “If you come as a non-French producer…you pitch to a French documentary industry that has very good co-production opportunities.”

The Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival will honour French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert, “who dares to permeate the innermost depths of the human psyche,” and American director and photographer Lauren Greenfield, “who foregrounds the decay of the American nouveau-riche society,” during its 27th edition, running March 6-16.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced January 23 2025 the nominations in the documentary categories of the 97th Academy Awards®. Five films will now advance to each of the Documentary Feature Film and Documentary Short Film categories. One hundred sixty-nine films were originally eligible for consideration within the Doc Feature category, while 104 films qualified for consideration in the Short Doc category. In December 2024 the shortlists were whittled down to 15 films within each category.

The 20 international delegations include the Baghdad Film Institute and Basque Audiovisual. INTRO:DOX guest speakers to include Martijn te Pas, programmer and documentary consultant from e u R O P E doconsultancy; Kim Christiansen, Executive Producer of Documentaries and Co-productions at DR Sales, and Jane Mote, editorial consultant for The Whickers.

Visions du Réel announced January 23 that Brit filmmaker Asif Kapadia will be the opening speaker of the 23rd edition of VdR–Industry, the Festival’s four-day programme of activities designed for film professionals. The director, screenwriter and producer has won an Oscar (for Amy), a Grammy, a European Film Award and several BAFTAs. Kapadia will give a masterclass in Nyon on Sunday 6 April.

Leading documentary market Sunny Side of the Doc has revealed the 18 project selections for the SSD x LCM pitch sessions of the first LatAm Content Meeting, taking place from March 10–12 in Rio de Janeiro. The pitch sessions will be divided into three categories: Current Affairs & Investigation, Nature & Environment, and Factual Entertainment.