The eighth edition of Biarritz-based FIPADOC kicks off January 23, running to January 31. It is the first major doc fest of the year, screening over 150 films from 35 countries, with professional activities taking place January 26 to 29. A key event in the local doc calendar, Industry Days will see a gathering of France’s foremost docmakers, producers, broadcasters and industry professionals.
FIPADOC was launched in 2019, in the halcyon days before Covid, the second coming of Trump, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and the inexorable rise of AI. Has the ethos of the festival changed much since its inception?
“There’s an easy way to answer that,” Managing and Artistic Director Christine Camdessus tells BDE on the eve of the 2026 edition. “We’ve always said we are the festival of true stories, but over the last two or three years, we’ve moved from that to the idea of a ‘citizen’s festival’. We have developed the idea that a documentary film festival, especially in a small town, has a role as a ‘citizen’ because it favours debate, favours discussion, it favours also discovering what is happening elsewhere.”
Creative documentary gives us the space to reflect, to open up the spirit, to be curious and try to understand what’s going on in the world, Camdessus asserts. “You’re not stuck to the news; you have the distance of a work of art.”
The festival opens with The Musician and the Whale by Valentin Paoli (Musical Documentary competition), which is in the presence of both the director and composer Rone, a character within the film.
The 2026 edition will then host nine competitive sections including International Doc Comp & French Doc Comp, as well as Music and Impact competitions. Sidebar events include focusses on Spain and Portugal, family films, Ukraine and its Cultural Counter-Attack, and docs for teens.
In the spirit of debate and participation for all, the FIPADOC Discussions programme will offer sober reflection on the world we live in, notably on Ukraine, Gaza, freedom of information, and the current French outbreak of a debilitating virus in cows.
The ‘About Gaza’s Future’ session (January 26) will screen the feature doc Who Is Still Alive, followed by a discussion with its director Nicolas Wadimoff, Jean-Pierre Filiu, author of Un historien à Gaza, and Yann Ollivier, producer of the film Inside Gaza.
The ‘Ukrainian Season’ event (January 27) will screen War On Art by Andrzej Miękus, followed by a discussion with Andreï Kourkov, Ukrainian writer and member of the French documentary competition jury and Constantin Sigov, Ukrainian philosopher.
‘Whistleblowers and the Right to Information’ (January 28) will show The Six Billion Dollar Man (Impact Documentary competition), followed by a discussion with its director Eugene Jarecki, Anne Savinel-Barras, president of Amnesty International France and Sylvie Kauffmann, journalist at Le Monde.
Finally, the ‘Livestock Farming: Rural Communities in Distress’ session (January 29) will comprise a screening of The Rural Vet (French Documentary competition), followed by a discussion with its director Marianne Kerfriden and Amélie Jolivet, veterinarian and main character of the film.
The idea of the sessions is to explore these incredibly complex issues – not to provide all the answers. Instead, says Camdessus, “we’re coming with artistic proposals that are part of the debate.”
Of course, juggling priorities between the public-facing and industry parts of a festival is always a struggle, but Camdessus’ trademark energy and enthusiasm extends to both. “We try a lot now to create bridges between the programming and what we offer to the professionals,” she says.
FIPADOC has established itself as one of the most important events on the doc circuit for the French industry, as well as being well attended internationally, and with that comes the responsibility to ensure that every aspect of the industry is well served across programming, its pitch events conferences, and networking opportunities.
“We cover the needs of different parts of the industry, being sure that the producers find what they’re looking for, the directors find what they’re looking for, the broadcasters also. It’s about getting the right mix of programming, conferences, pitches and panel discussions, alongside line-ups of the big TV channels, the world of the CNC (Centre national du cinéma), and that everyone has the best opportunity to meet,” Camdessus confirms.
The offer is expanding, too – over 500 directors attended FIPADOC last year, so this year, the festival is creating a dedicated space for directors to meet and network.
What sets FIPADOC apart from other festivals, Camdessus suggests, is the breadth of its offer. Its focus lies not only in arthouse feature docs, but also in shorts, TV, series, VR and ER, with over 150 films programmed. “It gives a very large richness of the French production and international production,” she enthuses.
There’s an advantage in not getting too big, further suggests Camdessus, who is keen to keep the Industry dimension as ‘middle-sized,’ so that “everyone feels ‘well treated’, and with the help of the matchmakers everyone should have the thing they had dreamed of, and finding more than what they expected. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
During Industry Days, local broadcasters, such as France Télévisions, Arte, LCP, Public Sénat, M6, HBO Max, T18, TV3 Catalunya and NOVO19, will describe and unveil their editorial and programming lines, as will institutional partners such as CNC, the Centre national de la musique (CNM) and social partners (Audiens and Thalie Santé) in terms of policy and their offer to the local and international doc industries.
In addition, a significant part of Industry Days programming is devoted to regional players and their issues, through numerous sessions involving partners in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region, such as producer organisations Alca and Peña, and the Naais association of authors.
For international attendees, two pitch sessions will be of key interest. The International Pitches run for two days, spotlighting 24 “ambitious and eclectic” projects in development and production during four themed sessions. The European First Films pitch session works as a springboard for future first or second documentary films to find support in every stage of their production. “It [European First Films pitch] offers a creative framework, both challenging and protective for European new talents,” the festival writes. Additionally, the Regional First Films pitch session provides the opportunity for six young creators from Nouvelle-Aquitaine to present their first documentary film project.
During Industry Days, the results of the Whickers 8th International Annual Documentary Survey will be presented by Jane Ray, The Whickers Artistic Director. The event will once again offer an opportunity to discuss the true cost of independent documentary-making, both financial and emotional, in today’s challenging times. “For the first time data has been collected in Spanish as well as Arabic and English, so we can see key differences. We also explore how power imbalance is affecting emerging talent and the ethics of co-production,” says Ray.
As part of its online presentation, FIPADOC quotes French pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. ‘No one who feels responsible can truly despair.’
“This is what I was trying to say at the beginning with the [idea of the] citizen’s festival. Being aware allows you to hope… awareness shouldn’t drive you to sadness. It should drive you to the solution, openness. Maybe I’m an optimist. Yes, I agree we are in dark times, and it’s not easy to listen to the news every day as I do… but I think the knowledge is a part of the solution,” says Camdessus.
And what final words of practical advice can the FIPADOC boss offer to festival attendees? “Expect four seasons in one day, and bring something with a hood – umbrellas are completely useless in the sea breeze,” Camdessus signs off.
