Cannes 23

Producer Chris Pickard spills the beans to Business Doc Europe about arguably the most pertinent and relevant doc on the Croisette this year. “What always surprises people is that there is no documentary on the history of Cannes,” he says. Which is why he and production colleague Mark Adams, together with directors Blanshard and Penny, decided to plug a very big gap.

The May 21 Chile showcase of four docs-in-progress is designed for international decision makers looking for new titles, in particular festival programmers and sales agents. In the main, the new Chilean projects (presented by Chiledoc) are looking for post-production funding or general gap financing, and are sometimes still open to co-production opportunities. Some of the projects’ producers talk to BDE.

How to keep mind and body intact when surrounded by intense emotional and psychological pressures is at the compassionate heart of On The Edge which follows liaison psychiatrist Dr Jamal Abdel Kader and his colleagues as they offer care and support to patients from the emergency room to the intensive care unit.

The great German has two films in selection at Cannes 2023, the 3D doc Anselm (Special Screening) and the fiction Perfect Days in Competition. “Working on my documentaries, I always find myself trying to introduce fictional elements or at least parts of the language of fictional storytelling that I want to apply to the documentary language. And vice versa, in fictional films, I try as hard as I can to bring in documentary methods,” he tells BDE.

On May 20, Cannes Docs hosts a special Italian showcase focused on four Italian works-in-progress at advanced post-production. The initiative was organised by Cinecittà on behalf of the Directorate General of Italy’s Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with Doc/it, who tells how the projects are characterised by a strong international appeal for both festivals and theatres and are “ready to meet the expectations of the market.”

In his second 3D documentary (and fourth 3D feature), German director Wim Wenders once again proves himself a master of the third dimension, with his in-depth exploration of the über-sized and immersive work of compatriot artist Anselm Kiefer. Like his Pina (2011), this new documentary does not feel experimental at all, but fully accomplished. As if 3D documentaries weren’t the exception, but a well-established part of the arthouse mainstream.

The Scandi showcase of four docs-in-progress is designed for decision makers looking for new titles, in particular festival programmers and sales agents. In the main, projects are looking for post-production funding or general gap financing, and are sometimes still open to co-production opportunities. The lead countries on the four projects are Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The projects’ producers talk to BDE.

Documentaries on the Croisette may be sailing on a sea of fiction, but a safe harbour for all doccers can be found at Cannes Docs in the Riviera, where Pierre-Alexis Chevit and his colleagues have again created a bespoke market programme of pitches, presentations, key notes, debates and special screenings, culminating with the thought forum Doc Day on May 23. The Cannes Docs chief explains his event to BDE.

In Room 999, Lubna Playoust picks up where Wim Wenders left off with his 1983 film, Room 666, in which he invited sixteen of his fellow directors to speak about the future of cinema. Alice Rohrwacher made a telling observation, Playoust tells BDE, that when something is as powerful and potentially dangerous as the camera, you are better advised to go behind it rather than in front of it…

It’s just over a decade since London-based Indian director Dheeraj Akolkar made his Liv and Ingmar (2012), about the personal and creative relationship between Norwegian star Liv Ullmann and the revered Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman. His new film Liv Ullmann - A Road Less Travelled, screens this week in Cannes Classics. “I’ve had the privilege and gift of seeing the person behind the persona,” Akolkar says of his subject.