Nick Cunningham

Maja Classen’s feature documentary world-premiering in Leipzig, may be highly explicit in its depiction of ‘sex positivity,’ but love, care and consent are at the heart of all the encounters we observe. “My purpose is to build a bridge with this film and to reach a wider audience, people who might be scared and have prejudices against queers and promiscuity,” the director tells BDE. “I want to gently take them by the hand and show them, that there is nothing to be afraid of. It’s all human.”

Following on from their multi award-winning When Spring Came to Bucha (2022), Mila Teshaieva and Marcus Lenz return to the liberated Ukrainian city to follow a set of characters dealing with personal and ethical dilemmas in the years after the full-scale invasion. “A sense of injustice on various levels is spreading inside the nation. What future will these people have, what future will this society get?” Lenz ponders to BDE.

The award for Best Short Film went to the Indian Only If the Baby Cries…by Shadab Farooq. The prize for the best documentary book was awarded to the anthology If I Am to Die, Let it Be a Story, about several Palestinian women living in the Czech Republic or Czech with Palestinian roots. The Respekt magazine award was given to Darja Stomatová and Ján Schrürger from Czech Television for their Ukrainian reportage for Czech TV, while the APA Award went to Slovakian Zuzana Mistríková.

Narrated by German Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller, Alina Cyranek’s feature doc (part-dance, part-animation, part-interview) tells a story of domestic violence and a woman’s attempts to break free from a damaging relationship. It also presents a critique of “a political and social system that prefers to look the other way,” says producer/director Alina Cyranek. The project won the D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize, providing post-production services valued at €10,000.

The DOK Leipzig Head of Industry talks to Business Doc Europe about her professional pro-gramme which commences October 28, running through to November 1. "We are an international co-production platform, so we are looking for projects that connect with international audiences who are keen on auteur-driven, visually and formally interesting creative documentaries,“ she underlines.

Michaela Cajkova of Prague-based Filmotor announced the acquisition on the eve of the 67th DOK Leipzig. Directed by Chris Gude and produced by mutikino, the US/Colombian doc follows a fictitious explorer who is reporting on gold-mining and its commercialization in Venezuela. Paradoxically, the gold diggers both live off nature and destroy it at the same time. (Exclusive trailer)

Running November 13 to 17, Irish Film Festival London will showcase a mix of feature narrative, documentaries and short films shedding fresh light on the country’s culturally dynamic past, present and future. The festival opens with Aoife Kelleher’s feature documentary about Ireland’s first female president Mary Robinson.

The 14th edition of East Doc Platform, a tailor-made production, funding and distribution platform for Central and East European documentaries and organized by the Institute of Documentary Film in association with the One World Film Festival, will take place in Prague March 13-19. The application deadline for submissions is November 15.

Marek Hovorka has no qualms about his festival, arguably the most important doc event in the CEE, situated nearly two hours drive from the Czech capital of Prague. “People are meeting in Jihlava because it's not the capital. It’s like a documentary Woodstock for them. They really are focused on films and talks and meetings inspired by cinema - and by the festival itself,” he tells Business Doc Europe on the eve of Ji.hlava IDFF’s 28th roll-out.

Ten films were nominated for the main prize of €20,000, which was awarded at the close of the Berlin-based fest’s inaugural edition. "Searching for Amani (by Nicole Gormley and Debra Aroko) is a multi-layered film that begins with journalistic investigations into the death of Simon Ali's father and then seamlessly transitions into a story that addresses culture, tradition, identity, and the climate crisis, which affects all of us – though some more directly than others,” said the jury.