CIRCLE Doc Accelerator will present four “cinematic, personal and political films” by alumni during its Cannes Docs showcase on May 18.
CIRCLE Doc Accelerator is an annual training programme founded in 2018, open to up to 10 women and gender-expansive directors and producers who are developing documentary projects with strong international appeal.
The initiative consists of three modules, based on group work and shared among a carefully-curated constellation of participants and mentors. The group work is combined with individual consultations.
Since its launch, CIRCLE has supported 50 directors and producers from 35 different countries. “We often work with participants with projects in very early development, bringing them to the attention of the international industry, production companies and other training programs,” write organisers.
Of all the projects developed through CIRCLE, 95% have either received international funding or premiered at some of the most prestigious film festivals around the world, organises say.
Additionally, CIRCLE projects showcased in Cannes have gone on to achieve great success after the Marché, becoming “strong presences” on the international festival circuit. CIRCLE projects won the top awards at the Showcase in 2022, 2021 and 2020.
Previous winners include Twice Colonized by Lin Alluna, which won the Docs-In-Progress award in Cannes last year before premiering in Sundance and opening both CPH:DOX and Hot Docs; Ágnes Horváth-Szabó and Anna Nemet’s Beauty of the Beast (Nordisk Panorama Award 2020) and Cent’anni by Maja Prelog (IEFTA Docs-In-Progress Award 2021).
“We are happy to present the four cinematic, personal and political films by Circle alumni in Cannes 2025 for the sixth time. This showcase will also mark the celebration of Circle seventh’s birthday,” said Biljana Tutorov, Circle’s program director. “We are ready to step in to a new cycle with a great community of more than 120 doc and fiction women and gender-expansive filmmakers who have developed their projects in Circle. Together we work to expand the notion of a safe space we co-created together, inspired by new possibilities and technologies.”
CIRCLE DOC ACCELERATOR SHOWCASE PROJECTS
- BERLINER by Anna Khazaradze. Produced by: Nino Chichua, Natalia Gagunashvili | 1991 Productions, Georgia. Countries of production: Georgia, Germany. Runtime: 90′ / 52′. Expected release: Spring 2027. Budget: €488,885 (4% in place). Looking for: Co-producer, financiers, broadcasters, sales. Synopsis: Nana, a Georgian translator based in Berlin, serves as a bridge for asylum seekers, helping them share their stories through translation and navigate the challenges of starting a new life.
- DEAR by Ramona Mos. Produced by: Julia Cöllen | Fünfer Film, Germany. Countries of production: Germany, Norway. Runtime: 95′. Expected release: February 2026. Production stage: Production budget: €425,000 (75% in place). Looking for: Festivals, sales agents, distributors, buyers, gap financing. Synopsis: In DEAR, the director unveils her personal story of a six-year journey with her mother and close friends on an ever-changing and seemingly never-ending road of courage, despair and resilience. As they lift each other up in the most dire moments, their journey turns into a struggle for justice and the efforts to preserve their own reality and solidarity pulls them back from despair.
- HOPE AGAINST HOPE by Mina Keshavarz. Produced by Mina Keshavarz | MinDoc Film Production, Christophe Bruncher | Ici et Là Productions, France, Anita Norfold | FolkFilm, Norway. Country of production: France, Norway. Runtime: 100′. Expected release: Beginning of 2027. Production stage: Production. Budget: 52,96% in place. Looking for: Gap financing, distributors, festivals. Synopsis: Spanning a quarter of a century, Hope Against Hope is the filmmaker’s own story and an intimate look at how political and social conflicts shape us.
- SOMETHING FAMILIAR by Rachel Close. Produced by: Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, Elena Martin | Manifest Film, Romania, Aleksandra Bilic | My Accomplice, UK. Countries of production: Romania, UK. Runtime: 80′. Expected release: First quarter 2026. Production stage: Early post-production (editing). Budget: €368,000 (65% in place). Looking for: Festivals, sales agents, gap financing. Synopsis: While trying to help a fellow adoptee find her birth mother, British-Romanian filmmaker Rachel delves back into her own family story looking for healing and closure. Launching an international search for her missing sisters she unearths a tragic legacy of abuse and exploitation. Can she harness the creative power of self-authorship to interrogate the ghosts of her past and write a new script for her future?
